Church Alive September 19, 2011 Issue

The following was written in support of Church Alive, a focus of The First Church of Christ, Scientist, that explores the meaning and possibilities of awakening to the spiritual basis and impact of Church. 

A testimony meeting — anywhere, anytime

By Alice Moseley

Many years ago , after I had been teaching French, I went abroad to study. One Wednesday afternoon, a fellow student and I rented a boat and rowed out onto Lake Geneva in Switzerland. At one point we began talking about Christian Science and what our church services were like. When I told her about our Wednesday testimony meetings, she became very interested.

She wanted to know if I had ever given a testimony, and she asked if I would share one of my healings. I agreed, and as I began, she stopped and asked me to stand up and give it just as I would at church. Soon afterward, I was standing in the middle of a boat giving a testimony! It was a new experience for me, but she was moved by my healing and wanted to know more about Christian Science.

After this impromptu testimony meeting, I gave her Science and Health and some copies of the Sentinel. In subsequent correspondence, she told me she had read Science and Health once through and was going through it again. She had also had a healing of a discordant relationship as a result.