Church stresses importance of healing

The annual meeting of Christian Scientists, held this week in Boston, emphasized the import of Christ Jesus' Sermon on the Mount as a building block for healing.

from the June 6, 2007 edition

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This spring, the church accepted new members from 33 countries.

At Monday's meeting, three new church officers were named: the president and two readers to conduct The Mother Church services. The church does not have clergy. The Sunday sermon includes selections read from the two books that serve as the church's pastor: the Holy Bible and "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," written by Mrs. Eddy.

The new president is Mark Swinney, a practitioner who teaches Christian Science in Albuquerque, N.M. "The coming year will be a time of looking to ways Jesus' example and Mary Baker Eddy's teachings ... unite and equip us as a family of healers," says Mr. Swinney in an e-mail message.

The new readers are Curtis Wahlberg of Los Angeles and Elizabeth Schaefer of San Antonio, Texas, both practitioners and teachers of Christian Science.

In a report on finances, board member Walter Jones said the church spent $97 million last year, total funds on hand amount to $474 million, and there is no indebtedness. Treasurer Ned Odegaard added that unrestricted monies in the General Fund amount to $146 million.

The two-year-old initiative to engage young people worldwide in the healing mission involves "spiritual activist summits" and Web-based interaction via tmcyouth.com. In Web forums, youths share how they pray about personal, community, and global issues. Podcasts of talks by experienced healers are also available. The next summit will be in Missouri on Labor Day weekend.

This week, several youths at the meeting spoke of how they resolved relationship and employment problems. [Editor's Note: The original version contained an anecdote that has been removed.]

The annual meeting closed with a live musical rendition, by voice and chamber instruments, of "The Master's Voice," composed by Sally DeFord.

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