The Future of Christian Science Nursing

This is a brief summary of the conversation we had with Vanessa and Linda. For the full conversation, watch our Annual Meeting at theleaves.org/2022annualmeeting.

Linda Kohler Williams

Manager of Christian Science Nursing at The Mother Church

Vanessa Campbell

Assistant Manager of Christian Science Nursing at The Mother Church

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.