THE CHURCH WHERE I BELONG

INGRID PESCHKE, MANAGING EDITOR

There was no church. At least not the familiar building and faces I was accustomed to from the Christian Science church I'd grown up attending. And yet, the summer I spent as a college student teaching English in Japan taught me a lot about the real meaning of Church—and of my own commitment to it.

I'd brought along my "portable" Pastor—my Bible and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures—and a Christian Science Quarterly so I could study the weekly Bible Lessons. My first Sunday alone in my apartment, I brought my Pastor out onto the balcony overlooking busy city streets and began to read the sermon aloud. That was my church. And it set the tone for the rest of my time in Japan. My Pastor guided me home when I was lost one night and gave me the words to communicate with new friends. It healed me of homesickness and challenged me to be open and receptive to each new window of opportunity that opened.

Those summer months taught me that the things I loved about Church were universal concepts available everywhere. And the church members who nurtured me as a child—and since—had provided just the example I needed to glimpse that.

Mary Baker Eddy's vision for the Church of Christ, Scientist, wasn't merely about walls and people, but a spiritual structure built on a foundation of truth and healing. You get a clear glimpse of this when you read her description of Church, which we've reprinted on page 6 to launch this week's issue. And, as LaMeice Harding writes in our lead article this week, "Although our churches have been constructed with human hands, their divine purpose must be shown in the way we lives our lives" (see p.8). The Rabbi David Louis is a good example of living the spirit of a universal, healing church. "I decided that Christian Science is truth," he says," and that I intend to find out what it is, study this, devote my life to this. And that's exactly what I've done" (see p. 12).

WHAT I SAY UNTO YOU I SAY UNTO ALL, WATCH.
—JESUS

The Christian Science Sentinel was founded in 1898 by Mary Baker Eddy, and its mission remains the same: "to hold guard over Truth, Life, and Love." The Sentinel continues to report on the unlimited ways that the healing power and presence of the Christ activates, uplifts, and transforms the lives of everyday people around the world.

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