Theme: The Future of Christian Science Nursing
RECAP
It truly was an inspiring day of sharing We had a conversation about The Future of Christian Science Nursing with Linda Kohler, Manager of Christian Science Nursing Activities for The Mother Church and Vanessa Campbell, Assistant Manager of Christian Science Nursing Activities for The Mother Church We also heard remarks from members of The Leaves staff which demonstrated the progress taking place throughout the facility's departments
HOW TO WATCH
If you missed the 2022 Annual Meeting, you can still go to our YouTube channel and watch it there To find it, just visit theleaves org/2022annualmeeting
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Donate to a project Scan to donate Scan to visit our employment page Serve as a Christian Science nurse How can you help? Open the camera on your phone and scan the boxes below $1,934,107 Expenses in 2021 $2,831,887 Income in 2021 825 Individuals served through outreach this year 880,174 minutes of Christian Science nursing care given 4394 Days billed in 2021 a snapshot of the numbers
Our Annual Meeting introduced our Plans to Prosper Campaign We've been making great strides of progress We've tripled our patient count and quadrupled the number of Christian Science nurse training students This fall, we’re expecting that our staff housing will be full for the first time in over 30 years. We wanted to share this fruitage with you, and let you know that we need your help to aid in sustaining this progress.
You can help support Christian Science nursing at The Leaves by donating towards our Plans to Prosper Campaign that is fashioned after Jeremiah 29:11. Your generosity will give The Leaves the means to plan for progress in the present and expected progress to come.
Our board has been actively praying about next steps. Ensuring that we’re supporting and caring for our community, residents, patients, and staff and their families is our highest priority We have realized three areas where we need your help:
Establishing and/or building additional staff housing Staff housing is a draw for us to gain new Christian Science nurses ready and willing to work at The Leaves, and the more Christian Science nurses we can attract, the more patients we can help support
Establishing, building and/or renovating patient and resident rooms We currently have bathrooms and tile work from the 1970’s and 80’s Patients need to be walked or wheeled through the hallway to a shower room in order to take a shower We would like to update these spaces to help create a private and modern atmosphere
Establishing and building a 1500 sq ft childcare building onsite for staff We have around 15 children, aged 12 and under, who would benefit from this plus 2 individual staff members are currently expecting a child so more are on their way!
We hope you know how very deeply we value and appreciate your support of the healing work that continues on at The Leaves.
A C A M P A I G N F O R P R O G R E S S A T T H E L E A V E S
proposed childcare center
The prophets were often in a position to talk with people about the future, "This is the path that you're on and the future that it leads to." Mary Baker Eddy seemed to keep saying we determine the future through our work in the present and the time to work is now. So the question is what do we want the future of Christian Science nursing to look like? I think we all really want the future of Christian Science nursing to be a story of healing. We want to see people be healed quickly and, in some cases where that's more challenging, we want to see progress that is steady and rapid So what do we need to do today? We need to strive every moment to approach our work with humility and inspiration This takes study, prayer, discipline and love
What's the future of Christian Science? Is it in the numbers of our church memberships? Or is it in the Christian Science healing that is as powerful and present now as it ever was? The Church Manual by law for the Christian Science Nurse is timeless and the duties and qualities for the nurse are about being present to dispel the illusion of sickness Whenever there is that need, Christian Science will be there, and Christian Science nurses, those sentinels of light, will be there to support those working in Christian Science through those challenges
What do we want the future to look like? Each one of us comes to the work having studied the Christian Science Bible Lesson and is ready to demonstrate What does progress look like? What's going on right now is good, what's coming is good, and what's transpired has been for our spiritual growth and progress Sometimes it looks like the material picture isn't changing, and that's when I've found that it's most important to bring a new thought to the situation. We can see that all is well before the false evidence of the material senses because progress is the law of God. The future of Christian Science nursing is healing, progress and only good and that we are working in the present with these same expectations. Each of our individual expectations and demonstrations, no matter how big or small, is vital to the efforts of our movement. So let's each of us think the right things, the progressive things, and have our actions be in line with this right thinking. We each tend to think that we're doing a lot, but we are each capable of doing more and sometimes it's getting ourselves out the way to be God's reflection more fully. When we work together with these expectations, we ensure a bright future.
It was amazing to hear from so many of your employees and The Mother Church at your Annual Meeting. What a full and inspiring representation of Christian Science nursing. The future indeed looks bright!
This is a brief summary of the conversation we had with Vanessa and Linda For the full conversation, watch our Annual Meeting!
Dear friends,
such a large tree, which provides shade and nesting for the birds. The start of a right idea is like the mustard seed, it may be small at first, and easily overlooked, but it grows and matures in thought until it yields its fruit. How? Through our absolute faith that “all things are possible to God, good.” With absolute faith, faith that is based in the truths of God and man, the idea gains weight to not be so easily blown…it gains substance. What is the work needed to make this happen? Added to our absolute faith, is the necessity of watering the right idea, letting the sunlight of truth expand it in our thought, and even singing to it, that is, joyfully accepting it into thought This expands the right idea, until it grows bigger, stronger, and faster How much effort are you willing to put into that idea? What is the weight, or depth, of faith we ’ re giving to this seed, this spiritual right idea we ’ re growing? Are we actively acting on our absolute faith in God and man ’ s oneness? Can we just say we have faith in something and do nothing? No! “The highest prayer is not one of faith merely; it is demonstration” (Science and Health 16:2 4)
Treatment in Christian Science, which is the application of a right idea to a false concept, isn’t just mere faith, like we have faith the sun will rise in the morning It is an absolute faith, a faith that sees the sunshine right there in the midst of the storm! It sees beyond the horizon to the fait accompli of the demonstration, even amidst so called mortal mind’s antics and drama
At The Leaves, are we just watering, sunning and singing to the right idea in consciousness, our seed, with material means only? No! We are spiritually watering (baptizing), sunning (shining the light of Truth), and singing (joyfully affirming man ’ s oneness with God) We are consecrating and being consecrated with this inspiring right idea, the right idea of perfect God and perfect man! This all takes action it takes work. It takes prayerful communion with divine Love. We all cherish Mary Baker Eddy’s statement, “The song of Christian Science is, ‘Work work work watch and pray ’” (Message to The Mother Church for 1900 2:7 8). We cherish this statement because it reminds us that we are not to sit on our hands, but we are to be up and doing. We are to act, that is, be the very manifestation of divine Love, and we are to see everyone we meet in this same light.
It's not possible for man, God’s idea, to stand still It’s not possible for man to be inactive Movement, progress, spiritual advancement are the very activities of man, as reflected from God, good It’s so right for man to be balanced, to reflect equilibrium This is part of man ’ s action, isn’t it? Something that is balanced is something that is in continual motion and is in harmony with its surroundings In fact, balance only happens in motion Spiritual equilibrium, or balance, is stable and can only be felt in consistent action If we freeze in the face of fear, if we take flight or if we fight in matter, we have just become unbalanced we ’ ve let fear tip the scales Instead, “Work work work watch and pray ”
How do we choose which seed, right idea, we are meant to cultivate? God tells us, by giving us the right idea How does it come to us? Sometimes it’s a small whisper, sometimes it’s a gentle nudging or a prominent prod. God always has a place and purpose for us, and we can answer the call, and apply that seed of Truth to our own thought. This will clear up any seeming problem at hand. We must know our God directed aim, and then strive and work to get there. Mary Baker Eddy says, “One's aim, a point beyond faith, should be to find the footsteps of Truth, the way to health and holiness. We should strive to reach the Horeb height where God is revealed;” (Science and Health 241:23 26). Reaching this Horeb height, where we see, feel, and know God, where He is revealed to us, conforms our aims, our purpose, and our desires. Then we see God’s aim for us, His purpose for us, His desire for us, unfold in our everyday lives.
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We may ask ourselves: Can I do this with more love? Can I serve God and humanity better to reach that Horeb height? How? By listening and responding to the divine whispers and divine nudging; this reveals our purpose
Do we need to have a crystal ball and foretell the future in order to know where we should be and what we should be doing? No! Our Leader notes, “The ancient prophets gained their foresight from a spiritual, incorporeal standpoint, not by foreshadowing evil and mistaking fact for fiction, predicting the future from a groundwork of corporeality and human belief. When sufficiently advanced in Science to be in harmony with the truth of being, men become seers and prophets involuntarily, controlled not by demons, spirits, or demigods, but by the one Spirit. It is the prerogative of the ever present, divine Mind, and of thought which is in rapport with this Mind, to know the past, the present, and the future” (Science and Health 84:3).
We don’t have to outline the way in which something will work out, in fact, if we do, we may be very disappointed But if we have our direction from God, we can make steady strides in that direction without fear, because we are about our Father’s business. There can only be success and goodness involved by following our Father’s direction, so press confidently on! Do not wait and wonder (or wander), but make a step, take action, labor on.
This action is like a dance, it’s fluid, and we must be flexible as the general steps are unfolded to us The dance doesn’t work if you freeze or fight against matter as if it’s real Rather, we continue on and keep up with the beat Keeping up with the times is an essential part of the work we do If we are out of sync, we cannot help humanity in the way we could and should “We need to keep pace with our own growth and progress The necessity here indicated is beyond cavil; beyond resistance in your thought” Edward A Kimball, CSD said these words while making the motion to build and fund the extension of The Mother Church As the membership in 1902 were called to build the extension, what are we in the present called upon to build? Is it more faith in God, an absolute faith? Is it a deeper clarity of the perfection of God and man? Is it to keep pace with God?
The Leaves has a steady aim and eye on prosperously continuing Christian Science nursing into the future This will be done only as we all “work, work, work, watch and pray,” in the present, in the here and now, in every God given moment. Won’t you join me, as we link arms in helping and healing humanity, and walk the path with us as we step into the future of Christian Science nursing here at The Leaves? You’re invited to learn more in our Plans to Prosper Campaign.
Executive Director
"Well done, good and faithful servant(s)" The qualities of leadership and the effort and goodness expressed at The Leaves now are so right and needed for these times. I just finished watching the Annual Meeting video. It was wonderful! Thank you for all the wise direction, metaphysical focus and listening you do and bring to Christian Science nursing. You are all blessings! And what a blessing it is to see everyone work together at The Leaves.
We must know our God-directed aim, and then strive and work to get there.
A variety of staff reported on their highlights from the past year and what they were looking forward to for the future of Christian Science nursing at The Leaves. These are only a handful of the good, so we encourage you to watch our Annual Meeting to see them all!
My highlight from the past year has been that we were able to bring people in from our waitlist, seeing the progress of how soon they felt well and saw healing, and were able to go home
What I'm most excited for regarding the future of The Leaves, is continuing to increase the Christian Science nursing staff so that we can help more people and see more and more healings
The highlights for me this year were the healings. We had so many healings! The most I can talk about was the healing of the COVID 19 outbreak and how everyone was healed and taken care of
My favorite part from this past year has been seeing more expansiveness and openness, and how the staff has become a family and has bonded I'm also excited for the childcare center that is to come!
We've had new Christian Science nurses join the team and that has been such a blessing. We know that God will supply every need that we have
It's neat to see so much getting done here at The Leaves When looking ahead to the future, it just seems like anything is possible Anything we set our sights on, any goal that is set, it's achieved, it can be achieved!
The Leaves is really stepping up on Christian Science nurses training They're making this so that it's not just a care facility but a resource for training for Christian Science nurses to be a part of a whole community
I'm happy to share that since January, we have averaged 10 12 patients and for the first time in a decade, we are able to pay our largest line item (payroll) with funds received from operations.
I'm just grateful for everybody; all the donors, people who make The Leaves what it is today Above all, I'm grateful to God for His provision, for us to be able to meet the need of the people we take care of
My highlight from this past year has been seeing how The Leaves has created opportunities to engage our staff This gratitude and appreciation has overflowed into providing even better care for our patients
theleaves.org
1230 West Spring Valley Rd. Richardson, TX 75080 972 231 4864
