Items of Interest

Christian Science Camp Welfare Activities

The Camp Welfare workers and state committees appointed for the purpose of ministering to the needs of Christian Scientists and those who have expressed an interest in Christian Science in the training camps of the United States are sending interesting reports to headquarters concerning their activities at these camps. They begin their work by supplying copies of The Christian Science Monitor. This is followed by presentations of the Christian Science textbooks, the Bible and "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker Eddy, and other Christian Science literature, for the Army and Navy libraries, reading rooms, recreation halls, and other buildings, and by making the acquaintance of the men in service whose addresses have been forwarded to them from Boston, and others who they have learned are interested in Christian Science. In many camps the workers are conducting Sunday services and midweek testimony meetings. Elsewhere they assist in arranging transportation for the men to services in near-by towns. Sometimes they take them to places where they may spend the evening in quiet reading or conversation with one another, when no such place is as yet available at camp.

Accomplishment of the initial and most pressing task of organizing the Camp Welfare Activities of The Mother Church, in the states where the very large camps are located and in Hawaii and the Canal Zone (supervised by state committees appointed with the co-operation of branch churches), is now being followed by similar organization of the work in the other states in order to provide suitably for smaller stations and to look after the interests of men from those states who are now serving in the Army and Navy.

Many reports received at headquarters indicate the welcome and encouragement given to the Christian Science workers among Army and Navy men by the chaplains of the various denominations and by the morale officers with whom they co-operate in the effort to minister to the needs of the men in the camps who express an interest in Christian Science. One worker wrote of their high regard for this activity, as expressed by a division chaplain, who said, "I'm behind you one hundred per cent." A chaplain himself wrote a letter of gratitude for the books sent to him, and added: "I want also to express my appreciation for the welfare work your representatives are doing for our soldiers. Too much cannot be done."

A letter from one of the workers tells of a soldier who, when visited at the camp hospital, felt himself to be an atheist after having searched through writings on various religions. His interest in The Christian Science Monitor led to friendly talks with the worker, and his thought was awakened to the fact that all the time he had been searching for the very truth which he now realizes is at hand for him to accept. A sailor just returned from an extended cruise wrote of his gratitude on receiving the books sent him, "so practical in size for our limited amount of space. ... You are to be commended for the fine work you are accomplishing among the men of the armed forces." The mother of a soldier at camp writes, "I want you to know how much I appreciate the wonderful work that is going on, and oh, how much the boys do need it, and we are grateful."

Christian Science is a particular teaching and practice which needs to be carefully preserved. Its Discoverer and Founder, Mary Baker Eddy, devised and provided appropriate means for this purpose. Thus, the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," furnishes the standard statement of Christian Science, and her other writings on this subject have a definitive value not equaled by other authors. Notable among the means devised by Mrs. Eddy for helping to make Christian Science correctly known, and for protecting seekers for Truth from false and misleading teachings, is a By-Law of The Mother Church which reads as follows:

"To become a member of The Mother Church, The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Mass., the applicant must be a believer in the doctrines of Christian Science, according to the platform and teaching contained in the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, by Rev. Mary Baker Eddy. The Bible, together with Science and Health and other works by Mrs. Eddy, shall be his only textbooks for self-instruction in Christian Science, and for teaching and practising metaphysical healing" (Church Manual, Art. IV, Sect. 1).

It is to be observed that this By-Law applies to each and every member of The Mother Church, and that its last provision constitutes a permanent obligation on the part of each and every admitted member.

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