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
Church Alive

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.

Many asked questions and shared ideas on Christian Science.

I had many memorable exchanges while serving at our booth. At one point, a mother and her young son, who stood just above eye-level with the top of the table, walked by. The flowers and pumpkins immediately in front of him seemed to captivate his attention. Then he proclaimed with joy, “Look, Mommy, Thanksgiving!” He reached out, grabbed both the pumpkin and the display copy of the Thanksgiving Christian Science Bible Lesson, and put them in his mother’s bag. The mother looked at me with a surprised look. I smiled warmly and encouraged them to keep both the pumpkin and that copy of the Bible Lesson. I told them to have a great run and a Happy Thanksgiving later that month.

The positive interaction between the three branch churches that participated, and the fun and camaraderie felt among the staff that served, were tangible. Many nearby vendors and some of the staff for the marathon acknowledged, to some degree, the unseen, healing presence that this table served. An announcement was made over the speaker system inviting all in attendance to visit our booth. Many asked questions and shared ideas on Christian Science.

We did not proselytize, but we simply shared the healing message of Christian Science, as we were inspired to do so, to those who were interested. Some had misperceptions about what Christian Science is, and we were able to have conversations and correct them.

This was the third year that our church has held a booth at this event, and each year we fine-tune and improve our presentation. We look forward to the possibility of another great event in 2012!

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