It was a lot of fun helping to reorganize content for clarity, better user experience, and effective communication for Association members and guests.

Be sure to check out the Articles and Lectures page if you’d like to read Mr. Bowles articles or hear a few of his articles.

This story was contributed by Karen McMullen, of Denton, Texas, and shares how she helped organize a Girl Scout badge earning opportunity for her local troop. Check it out, and see if you can think of other fun and interesting ways to reach out to your local community!

Free Girl Scout Badge Workshop on “Who was Mary Baker Eddy?” for Women’s History Month

24 Girls Scouts learned about Mary Baker Eddy, The Christian Science Monitor, and The Christian Science Reading room in 2 workshops. Brownies, Juniors and Caddett Girl Scouts were invited through the local Girl Scout Service Unit. The first workshop filled up in 15 minutes of posting the event and there was a waiting list of 20 more girls so we added a second workshop the following weekend.

Here is what we did:

We started the workshop with a 9 minute video on Mary Baker Eddy – provided by the Mary Baker Eddy Library for the Betterment of Humanity. The video is a great tool to quickly cover her history and accomplishments. We used that material to have a discussion of her struggles and how she was able to overcome them. The Christian Science Monitor has a section in the weekly magazine called “People Making a Difference”. We reviewed a few articles from that section and asked the girls to write a brief description of how they would like to make a difference in their communities on a worksheet provided by the MBE Library. Then we moved on the a simple craft. In one of Eddy’s homes she had a cross stitch that read “ Do Right, Fear Not”. We had the girls cross stitch this phrase on card stock for them to finish at home and save. The idea tied in so well with how they could make a difference in the world. Next, we played a simple game of cat’s cradle with the younger girls. We had divided into 3 smaller groups, so the for the last activity we all came back together and preformed brief skits about the articles the girls wrote on how they would make a difference in the world. We all ate Eddy’s favorite food, ice cream, as we watched the skits. All the girls left with a certificate of completion for their badge and a copy of The Christian Science Monitor.

This event was Simple, Easy, Low Cost, Effective outreach to our community. If you would like to have details on how to do this in your area I would be happy to share.

Karen McMullen
dkammc@verizon.net

We’re pleased to once again be providing the technical support for the Healing 101 Series of talks. This is the 3rd year we’ve participated by filming, hosting the live webinar, editing the replay videos and publishing them on the healing101.sharethepractice.org site and our YouTube channel. We redesigned the site this year for better long-term accessibility and mobile-friendly display. You can easily access all the lecture replays there. The mailing list has grown to over 1,000 subscribers, and the Facebook page has over 500 likes.

As of April 2018, over 1.4 million minutes of Healing 101 talks have been viewed on our channel. Pretty cool!

You can register on the Healing 101 site to watch the live webinars, or watch the replays below:

We helped First Church of Christ, Scientist Ashland Oregon with the video editing for an excellent series of talks given by Retired Col. Janet Horton, Chaplain, on the topic of healing PTSD.

Watch videos and download the audio files here: https://christianscienceashland.org/2017/10/18/healing-ideas-and-prayer-for-ptsd-post-traumatic-stress-disorder-healed-videos/

The Healing 101 series is returning in
April 2017 with 5 new speakers,
free registration is now open!

We’re excited to announce that Healing 101, the successful Christian Science lecture series that premiered last spring, will be once again available in a new series this April, and you are invited to tune in! There will be 5 lectures in this year’s series, each sharing different perspectives and experiences on the utility and power of healing through prayer, a particular need at this time.

Announcing the 2017 Healing 101 Series Speakers

April 3 Webinar Registration Link  |  Facebook RSVP / Invite Your Friends

April 10 Webinar Registration Link  |  Facebook RSVP / Invite Your Friends

April 17 Webinar Registration Link  |  Facebook RSVP / Invite Your Friends

April 24 Webinar Registration Link  |  Facebook RSVP / Invite Your Friends

May 1 Webinar Registration Link  |  Facebook RSVP / Invite Your Friends

The free talks will be given in person and simultaneously webcast, viewable afterwards for a period online. You can find the live locations (most will be on or near university campuses) or register for one or all the lectures online by visiting the Healing 101 website, or clicking the links above. We also have a Facebook page, and you are invited to check it out, Like it, and invite your friends to each talk that looks interesting!  This is one of the most useful things you can do besides forwarding this email to a friend to help get the word out!

How do I invite my Facebook friends to these talks after I register?

We also have a PDF flyer you can print out and post anywhere you think it would be helpful to share this with the public.  Download it here.

We hope you will be enriched this new line-up.  Feel free to leave a comment on our Facebook page or on any of the individual Event RSVP pages on Facebook.

Many thanks to all of the supporting churches and CSOs who are supporting the 2017 Healing 101 series!

• Christian Science Organization at UC Berkeley
• Christian Science Organization at UC Davis
• Christian Science Organization at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
• First Church of Christ, Scientist, Orinda
• First Church of Christ, Scientist, Oakland
• Tenth Church of Christ, Scientist,Oakland
• First Church of Christ, Scientist, Pleasant Hill
• First Church of Christ, Scientist, Napa
• First Church of Christ, Scientist, Davis
• Christian Science Society, Point Richmond

Wishing you a joyous day,
The Healing 101 organizing team
healing101@sharethepractice.org

Feedback about the 2016 Healing 101 Lecture Series:

“Thank you very, very much. We will treasure this series of lectures and will get back to them as often as needed. They are a cup of fresh water. Since we live in northern Ontario and cannot attend any lecture in person, this effort from the Christian Science community is very valuable. Thank you again.“ — Thomas von Cardinal

“Thank you very much Christie, for this wonderful talk. And our gratitude to Healing 101 Lecture series for making it possible. I used to always want to attend lectures when I saw them announced on the Sentinel, but never was able to because we live in a very rural area. And now, thanks to technology -the so called magic of technology, but it is the reality of technology- I am able to attend these conferences.“ — Teresa Contreras Granguillhome

“I definitely want to share this with my friends.” — Truth Johnston

“Wonderful ideas! Thank you!” — Gail

Click here to visit the website we helped develop for the Healing 101 lecture series featuring 5 lectures in 4 weeks.

http://healing101.sharethepractice.org

My family enjoys attending Sunday church service together, but we each have a different experience. My 12 year old son is in his Sunday School class here in Austin TX where he is a branch church member. My husband sits in the church service (he started coming with us to church quasi-regularly 2 years ago). And I sit in a private room of the Sunday School with a laptop and headset participating in the Sunday service of the Christian Science Society of Dixon Illinois – 1,100 miles away – where I am currently a member.  One recent Sunday, there were 7 people attending the Dixon service; 3 in person and 4 remote via teleconference.  I have the role of musician – meaning that I select the hymns and use the internet teleconference system to play pre-loaded mp3s of the selected hymns for all to sing to. When it is time for a solo, I either play a preloaded song or sometimes I sing a cappella from the Hymn Supplement. (Just to be on the safe side for maintaining good pitch, I sometimes play the vocal recording of the hymn on iTunes, connected to earbuds, so that only I can hear the singer, but everyone else can only hear me.)  After church, we enjoy a family lunch together or sometimes go out with church friends. God is infinitely creative, right?!

Here’s how all of this came about. Last Fall I withdrew my branch church membership from the Austin TX church where I live and started attending a little Christian Science society in Dixon Illinois where my grandma had been a member for many years, many years ago.  The two members that kept the Dixon services going agreed to teleconference their services and meetings so that I could participate. I helped them figure out the technology needed to do this. The Austin branch where I’d been a member of is doing good work in the community and with new members joining regularly, I knew that my withdrawal would not have a negative impact.

Love inspired me to join the Dixon Society and help with the “heavy lifting” associated with resurrecting church.  This dear little group was in the ongoing process of building a new edifice. The new building is a vision towards the next century, not the past. It includes self-sustaining architectural elements to keep maintenance costs low.  Our desire is to be part of the community and have a home that welcomes spiritual discovery. We want to be attractive to the un-churched and those that are spiritual but not religious. Flexible seating will allow the congregation to sit in embracing circles, more typical of sharing conversations rather than a speaker podium / audience. Our hope is to also help revitalize interfaith inclusivity in the town.

Once we started teleconferencing our services, we immediately increased our Wednesday evening meetings from once a month to weekly.  We rotate Wednesday’s First Reader. I’m able to provide the Wednesday evening readings from my comfortable lazy-boy chair in Austin Texas. Two other members who were  “official members” on the books, but had moved away several years earlier, returned as regular participants.  One of them has taken on the role of treasurer which is accomplished through online banking and cloud services. I’ve taken on the role of clerk and handle email and voice messages. I also maintain our new website and Facebook page.  We’ve even set up our church phone system in the ‘cloud’ – it’s a free service that allows us to have a church phone that’s always accessible. Typically now, there are 3 people in the building, and 3 or more of us participating from remote locations.  It’s fun to think about how the active membership has doubled this past year, simply by being open to new ideas and being willing to serve where there’s a need, rather than by what’s convenient or based on outdated concepts of geographical limitations.

While all this was getting put into place last Fall, my 12 year old son decided that he wanted to join the Austin branch church where I had just withdrawn my membership and where he’s attended as a regular Sunday School student. He also joined The Mother Church this past Spring.  In addition, my husband of 32 years (of a muslim background but not practicing), started attending Sunday services with us more regularly 2 years ago. So, our Sunday family tradition of attending church together was something to be cherished. And yet, I wanted to support the Sunday service in Dixon too (that meets at the exact same time).  Recently, the Sunday School superintendent worked out a little private space for me to be where I can sit with my laptop and headset using the church’s wi-fi in order to call into the Dixon service. So now on Sundays – our little family drives into Austin, my husband goes into church by himself, my son goes to his Sunday School class and I call into the Dixon service while at the same time managing the music and solo from a computer site that manages our teleconference. I have to laugh at the creativity of it all – and give all the glory to God.  I’m happy to see that other technology related “jobs” that I used to do in the Austin branch church have been picked up by other folks. This demonstrates that spiritual solutions are not personally based but are God sourced, and what blesses one, blesses all.

Vibrant Reading Rooms, by Patricia P. Wilson

Vibrant – pulsating with life, vigor or activity; responsive; brisk; bustling; humming; rousing; stirring; thriving; thronging; abounding; overflowing; populous; astir; alive; teeming

Quiet – marked by little or no motion; enjoyed in peace or relaxation; free from noise or uproar; serene; still; unobtrusive; conservative; speechless; wordless; secluded; asleep; dead; inactive; sleepy

Mrs. Eddy sat back to be questioned.
“The continuity of The Church of Christ, Scientist,”
she said, in her clear voice, “is assured. It is growing
wonderfully. It will embrace all the churches, one by
one, because in it alone is the simplicity of the oneness
of God; the oneness of Christ and the perfecting of man
stated scientifically.”
“How will it be governed after all now concerned in
its government shall have passed on?”
“It will evolve scientifically. Its essence is evangelical.
Its government will develop as it progresses.”
“Will there be a hierarchy, or will it be directed by a
single earthly ruler?”
“In time its present rules of service and present ruler-
ship will advance nearer perfection.”

— MY p342