Nice thing from the Christian Scientists, part 2

Worth mentioning a few things Hubby and I saw at church last Sunday that I thought were veryhymn board at Third Church of Christ, Scientist, Washington, D.C. clever. Worth mentioning now since said church is more more likely than ever to be demolished.

  1. No printed orders of service. Of course, why would a Christian Science service need them, seeing as they’re a regular as an atomic clock. All a visitor neds to know is the Lord’s Prayer (which really should be printed somewhere; it isn’t a universally known prayer, and the Christian Scientists parse it in a distinctive way) and what hymns are appointed. Instead, visitors get a copy of the citations-edition of their Bible lesson publication, for the responsive reading and with which to follow along should they want to review the texts at home. Not having a newsletter in the pews removes a distraction, which seems like a plus.
  2. I love the hymn board. Really small pins in the wall from which thin metal numbers are hung. Again, with this, you don’t need a printed order of service, in case you wondered what churches did before local, cheap duplication.
  3. There were exactly three items in the hymnal rack: the hymnal, a special envelope for donations and a little pamphlet. Frankly, the pamphlet was terribly ugly but the format was interesting. Perhaps half a sheet of letter paper (8.5×5.5 inches) folded like a M into four narrow columns. Smaller than a normal pamphlet and convenient as a bookmark. I’d be tempted to stash this bookmark-pamphlet even if I trashed pamphlets in the usual format.

By Scott Wells

Scott Wells, 46, is a Universalist Christian minister doing Universalist theology and church administration hacks in Washington, D.C.

1 comment

  1. I stumbled across your page when googling CS. As a Christian Scientist myself I thought I’d respond to your note above with delight that you have appreciated some of the cultural accoutrements of the Church. As an aside, the Lord’s Prayer (and its spiritual interpretation) that you mentioned as parsed in a distinctive way, is found in the front couple pages of the little “Quarterly” that is handed out at the beginning of the service. However, it is true that many of the Readers fail to mention that fact, or announce some of the things that might be of interest to visitors. In the spirit of Christian Brotherhood, I hope you had a great Easter.

    Sincerely,

    -Blake

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