Church Alive May 21, 2012 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 healing presence at a marathon

Roy Gessford

Last November, over 10,000 runners picked up registration packets at the Big Sur International Half Marathon Health and Fitness Expo in Monterey, California. As the participants picked up their complimentary T-shirts and visited booths from local vendors and businesses, many noticed one booth that had been set up to give them spiritual inspiration for their run, through sharing Christian Science with them. Hundreds stopped by the booth and expressed their gratitude for the spiritual uplift that was provided.

When the opportunity first presented itself for First Church of Christ, Scientist, Monterey, to participate in this event, I trusted God to take care of the organization, scheduling, funding—indeed, all aspects. From there, our participation in this event seemed to flow naturally.

The booth was funded by the Monterey branch church and was staffed by members of three branch churches in the area—Monterey, Salinas, and Carmel, on Friday and Saturday. The Carmel branch church provided flowers and Christian Science literature. Individual articles and poems from the Christian Science periodicals that pertained to running were reprinted (with permission from The Christian Science Publishing Society), and were distributed along with Science and Health, the Bible, and issues of The Christian Science Journal and Sentinel.