Cherishing Membership

I have another file on my computer about the Church Manual.  It relates to my deliberations about membership of The Mother Church, and the task of approvers if asked to sign a membership application form.  I note that in the prototype form/s in the Manual (see pages 114-119), the applicant does not sign; only the approver and the countersigner sign.  This may be different in the current forms from The Mother Church. [Ed. No, they seem to be exactly the same. See http://christianscience.com/member-resources/for-churches/mother-church-resources/membership-applications#forms.] 

I copy here from my deliberations on this matter -

Application for Membership Form for The Mother Church, The First Church of Christ, Scientist

An article titled "A Deep Cherishing" in the December, 2012, Christian Science Journal by Liz Butterfield Wallingford [http://journal.christianscience.com/issues/2012/12/130-12/a-deep-cherishing] has alerted me more fully to what it means to apply for membership in The Mother Church.  And, perhaps more importantly, how to approve of the applicant as a worthy future member of that church.

To quote:  "...membership has helped me appreciate the standards set out for Church membership in the Church Manual.  Maintaining these standards, though not always easy, has helped me grow in my understanding and practice of Christian Science.  For instance, Mary Baker Eddy’s instruction that “neither animosity nor mere personal attachment should impel the motives and acts of the members of The Mother Church” (p. 40) isn’t necessarily an easy task.  But I’ve found that it’s precisely when I get personal sense out of the way that I’m most receptive to the divine guidance and inspiration that lead to spiritual growth."

I’ve often heard it said that the form to be completed for Application for Membership of The Mother Church is very simple, in comparison, for instance, to some Branch Church membership application forms.  Indeed it is, when one counts the number of words, and notes that the entire form only takes up two pages of the tiny Manual.   But…when we are sponsoring someone towards that membership, do we take into consideration that the whole Manual is to be obeyed by members of The Mother Church, so that a prospective member should be very familiar with those By-laws and be willing to agree that he or she is willing to live in accord with them?

For instance, to choose only the most familiar by-laws: on pages 40, 41, and 42, we find A Rule for Motives and Acts, Daily Prayer, and Alertness to Duty, all giving guidance for daily Christian living.

On consulting the Concordance to Mary Baker Eddy’s writings other than Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, I found that under “member of The Mother Church” there are 15 passages; under “member of this Church” there are 26; under “members of The Mother Church” 21; and under “members of this Church” there are 17.  We find that these by-laws will most often include the word “shall” or “shall not” to indicate what members must or must not do.  Interestingly, A Rule for Motives and Acts gives us “should” instead of “shall.”  The actual membership form covers all of this when it asks applicants to agree to “enter into full fellowship with the Tenets and Rules of The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Mass.”

The Tenets of The Mother Church set out the religious tenets or formal beliefs of the religion of Christian Science.  These appear on page 497 of  Science and Health and are reiterated as an opening statement to the By-laws (pages 15 and 16 in my copy of the Manual). And, on page 34 of the Manual, we are given a description of what it means to become a member of The Mother Church:

Believe in Christian Science.  Section 1.

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 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.

 

Ah!  An important point is made in the Instructions to Applicants on page 112: the fact that the article “the” shall not be used in the titles of branch churches.  This instruction also appears on page 71 under Article XXIII Sect. 2 Titles.  The capitalized “The” is to be used for “The Mother Church” and “The First Church of Christ, Scientist.”

Joyce Voysey