Growing Church — a live Sentinel Audio Chat
Thursday, October 25, 2012 2pm-3pm EDT
With The Christian Science Board of Directors and Chet Manchester
Jesus expected his church to grow, even to thrive. Mary Baker Eddy prayed daily for the growth of “Christ’s Christianity.” But many Christian denominations, including Christian Science, have faced decades of decline. How can this trend be reversed? Bring your questions to this live web chat with The Christian Science Board of Directors. Hosting the conversation is Mother Church President, Chet Manchester.
» Share your comments and questions below
» Click here to join the chat or to listen to a replay after the chat.
- What ideas do you have for church growth?
- What’s been most helpful to your church or CSO in addressing its challenges?
- What’s your vision for church in the coming century?
Yes, Christian Science is all about healing. Thank you for pointing out that it’s what is in our hearts, the depth of unity in our loving one another undergirds healing. Heart speaking to heart speaks loud and clear. Healing based on Love and its expression is attractive. Putting the “teachings” into practice begins with love, and I’m finding the demand to express love increases as we grow spiritually.
A letter-perfect service may be worthy of a pat on the back, but it may or may not also be a healing service. Simply announcing that this is a healing service doesn’t make it so. It’s the love, the coming together, the making room for and genuinely valuing what each person brings – this transforms the atmosphere from “What I expect of Church” to one of spontaneous love and welcome and healing.
As pointed out, healing and warm expressions of human caring are not mutually exclusive.
Thank you for this discussion.
I see church in the coming century exclusively defined by Christ-healing; this includes a greater body of individuals who have left all to be Christian healers, more instantaneous healing work, Sunday services that consistently heal, Wednesday testimony meetings fully alive with those testifying to healing, and a broader spectrum of humanity seeking out, experiencing, and practicing scientific Christian healing.
My branch church has opened dialog amongst members recently to discuss fine tuning or fulfilling of our vision for Church. Timely topic for many here and probably world wide. I love the collective experience that happens when we share notes. I thoroughly enjoyed visiting the Jamaica Plains church in the Boston area recently. I valued their emphasis on the essentials, putting love on the table, and on the sidewalk (sometimes in the park), Their open door exposes to the sidewalk passers-by what we do in the service and invites them in.
I met a man the other day, I shared a comment I had gotten from The Christian Science Monitor, and he told me he read the newspaper every day. Then he followed by saying: “the main thing wrong with that paper is the first part of it’s name, that should go away, and doesn’t belong with Science” This was as we were leaving the restaurant and I had only half a second to stumble out with a reply (which didn’t do the job I don’t think).. I hope I see him again because it is such a perfect opportunity to make a correction about what Science means grouped with Christianity.
This Question comes to mind. What are the prevalent mis-perceptions of Christian Science that might come across our paths, and their antidotes. And what are the major hang-ups about Christianity as well.
Isobel
I think it’s essential for the members to consistently put the teachings into practice and to demonstrate healing. If this is truly taking place in their thoughts and action, in their services, it will bless the community, and practical steps, whether it’s community service, or changing the physical form of the church, etc., can and should grow out of that.
I’ve often heard people say, “I’m not getting anything from church.” That’s a reason to keep going, not to stop going. Maybe it’s a sign to look at yourself, not at the church, and turn it around to, “What am I giving (thought, prayer, devotion, love, preparation) to Church?”
There’s an article Mary Baker Eddy wrote to a recently-opened church that make some very strong statements about what’s required. Imagine the power of all the members of a church following this guidance:
“Pray without ceasing. Watch diligently; never desert the post of spiritual observation and self-examination…Have no ambition, affection, nor aim apart from holiness…Sacrifice self to bless one another, even as God has blessed you. Forget self in laboring for mankind; then will you woo the weary wanderer to your door, win the pilgrim and stranger to your church, and find access to the heart of humanity.” (Miscellaneous Writings Pg. 154)
Perfectly put. Thank you Al
I think that reaching out to the community in an effort to be a valuable part of the community is really important to growing the idea of church. The society I am a part of is involved in several collaborative projects with other faith groups in our neighborhood in an effort to strengthen the spiritual foundation and sense of community and family in our neighborhood.
Our Sunday School is down to one student these days. We just got a new Sunday School teacher who is incredibly enthusiastic and she has some great ideas about how to nurture growth and relationships with neighboring churches. One idea I LOVE is that we don’t have to wait for more kids to come to our building for our current student to take advantage of the rich experience of interacting with other students. We can connect with other Sunday Schools right away via Skype or google hangout. So we’re working on this idea now.