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It has been my great pleasure to serve in a variety of institutions over many years (1969-2018). There are just a few years within that almost 50-year period where I did not serve because I was in-between branch churches and career demands.
My institutional work began when I was a member of First Church of Christ, Scientist, Lynn-Swampscott. I served between 1969 and 1973 at the Danvers State Hospital, a facility for those classified as insane. We conducted our services there just like a Sunday church service, including the music for hymns, sometimes piano accompaniment and sometimes recorded music when we didn’t have a pianist with us. Often, between 25 and 30 men attended these services. This institution closed in the early 90’s, and all of the residents were relocated to other nearby facilities or released back into the general public.
This was my first experience as a server – I was in my 20’s. It was a formative time for me in this ministry. I can still recall many of the faces of those who came to our services. I remember being impressed with those who smiled with recognition as they came into the room, and with what I saw as their sense of hope for a strand of kindness expressed toward them. I also witnessed a sense of genuine caring on the part of the officials who brought the attendees into the room and who sat in there during our service. This first experience in serving paved the way for me to want to continue serving in this ministry at my next branch church, which was in Framingham, MA.
As a member of First Church of Christ, Scientist, Framingham in the mid-70’s, I served at MCI-Framingham, a correctional facility for women. Again, this activity afforded me and others from our branch church with the opportunity to provide a typical Sunday church service on a regular basis. We didn't have as much opportunity for direct contact with those who came to the services, but even so, I remember the attendees as being attentive and appreciative of our being there. And, again, the faces in the group have stayed with me—their expectancy of good, their responsiveness to a smile, their appreciation of being seen as people of worth. My service there was brief – about two years, but very meaningful to me.
Next, my life path took me to Duxbury, where I served at Bridgewater State Hospital. The members from my branch church and those from other branch churches in the area provided weekly church services in rotation. We often had 25 or more men who attended. Again, there was the opportunity to see familiar faces among those who came to our services. It seemed to me that it was important to at least some of them to be recognized as they came in for the services. I recall some giving a smile and a wave of the hand as they came in when they recognized us!
As I have grown over the years in Christian Science, and maybe because my most recent service is within the past decade or so (2002-present), the most meaningful experiences for me have been in the Barnstable Correctional Facility in Bourne, MA. Myself and fellow branch church members have had much closer contact with the inmates, and we often conducted two or more meetings with different groups within this facility during our visits.
It is a facility for both men and women who are in transition before trial and/or sentencing—so highly transitory. There have been times, however, when many of the same individuals have come to our meetings over several months, and it has been possible to establish a bit of continuity. Our faithful local CS Chaplain has always been with us during our visits, and we have been treated extremely well by the facility administrators and officers.
Our services have become very interactive with those attending: volunteer and the inmates share the reading of the weekly lesson sermon, and we also sing the hymns together, acapella-style. On one occasion, an inmate about to be released shared a poem, and it expressed the hope for a new, God-directed life. In addition, we've had the wonderful opportunity to dive deeper and discuss different parts of the Christian Science Bible Lesson sermon and what they mean.
As of this writing, we have not been able to provide our services to this institution for several months, but those who serve on the Cape continue to prayerfully support the opportunity to get back into this facility.
I am so grateful that our service has been able to adapt to today’s needs, and I and continue to be grateful for the opportunity to serve in this ministry.
