Hello, 
I'm Scott Preller.

I'm serving this year as chair of the
Christian Science Board of Directors.

With me today is the newest member 
of the Board, Beth Schaefer.

We're here in the Reading Room 
of The Mother Church

to invite you to come to 
Annual Meeting this year.

It'll take place here in Boston 
on Monday, June 2nd.

There will be special events leading up 
to Annual Meeting

and to find out about those events, you can
go to christianscience.com/annualmeeting

and there will be information posted
there as it becomes available.

The theme we've chosen for this year's 
gathering is: "As you work, the ages win..."

We'll talk about the theme in a moment,

but first I'd like to talk about 
Annual Meeting itself.

Beth, I remember last year I ran into you 
at Annual Meeting,

and that was before we knew 
you were going to be on the Board.

And I'd love to know what your experience 
of Annual Meeting felt like.

I mean, why did you want to come 
all the way from your home in Texas

to be here in Boston for Annual Meeting?

Well, first off, I wanted to come because 
I wanted to support The Mother Church,

and coming was a tangible way to do that.

I realize that not everyone has the 
opportunity to come to Annual Meeting,

but for those who can come in person, 
it's a wonderful opportunity

to join with people across the globe.

And you feel this sense of 
instant connection to people

because you have this one thing
in common: Christian Science.

You feel the hearts burning 
with what that means to them.

And also you can just feel that 
they have experienced the power of the Word.

It's so interesting.

It reminds me.

I remember when I was a teenager 
and I came to an Annual Meeting,

and then came again once when I was in college.

And I loved the meetings.

I loved the talks. 
They were inspiring.

But what I most took away was 
that sense of connection,

that sense of feeling the hearts on fire

with being together with fellow members.

In fact, now that I've been here while
working at The Mother Church,

and every year when Annual Meeting comes around,

I just find myself filled with gratitude 
for Christian Scientists all over the world

who are endeavoring to demonstrate Christian Science 
and share it with their communities.

There are times when I run into people 
on the weekend of Annual Meeting

and I'll think, these are the people 
that are writing the articles I'm reading,

or I'll think, okay, the same Bible Lesson 
I'm studying during the week

and trying to put into practice,

they're on the other side of the world 
doing the same thing.

And you sort of feel the embrace 
of The Mother Church

and what we're doing to support each other,

but also what we're doing 
as a church to embrace the world.

And I just find that very moving.

Yeah. Talk about moving:

I don't know if you were at the Hymn Sing

in the Extension of The Mother Church last year,

but it was awesome to have hundreds of people 
just singing their hearts out.

It was very moving.

I remember, too, after the hymn sing was over, 
we all went outside

and there were ice cream stations,
and we all had ice cream

on the lawn of The Mother Church.

And conversations were going on well into the night.

I remember talking to one 
college student from Africa

and a great grandmother from Canada,

and we were all just loving being together.

And I'm sure we're going to have 
a lot of other conversations

like that this year as well.

And let's maybe pivot now and talk about the theme:

"As you work the ages win...."

That statement comes from a letter 
by Mary Baker Eddy.

It says: "As you work the ages win; for the majesty of Christian Science 
teaches the majesty of man."

This whole letter that Mrs. Eddy wrote 
to a church in Atlanta, Georgia,

has a lot to tell us about our efforts at church.

We realize that many members are working really hard

and in fact often feel like there aren't enough workers

to do everything that needs to be done.

But that's actually why this theme is so important this year,

because it gives us an opportunity to think about not just

how much effort we're putting into the work,

but what approach are we taking?

Imagine for a moment that we're birds

and we're at the base of a mountain and
we're told to get to the top of the 
mountain,

but we're told we're told to get to the top of the 
mountain,

that you can only get there by hopping.

That would indeed feel pretty discouraging 
and hard to do.

But if we're told get there by being yourselves, 
by flying,

we'd love it.

In fact, even the wind blowing at us 
would help lift us higher

and we'd enjoy the views all along the way.

And that's the approach we need to be taking 
as Christian Scientists

when we think about our practice of Christian Science 
and [how] our church work together.

The discovery of Christian Science shows us 
that we're meant to soar.

We're not meant to trudge 
through various challenges.

Yes. And the second part of our theme 
is just as important.

Mrs. Eddy clearly had high expectations

for the impact of our work as Christian Scientists.

We all may be tempted from time to time 
to feel like:

What difference does my work make?

Yet, Mrs. Eddy was convinced that as we work

from the standpoint of Christian Science, 
the ages win.

We get a hint of what she was talking about,

when we think about the nature of the work that goes on

in Christian Science Reading Rooms.

Jesus said: "My father worked hitherto, and I work."

And being in the Reading Room makes you realize 
that Christian Scientists

are endeavoring to follow that same example.

There's so much here to work with, to inspire us.

There are articles and testimonies by ordinary people

whose lives have been healed and transformed

by the Bible's message of God's law

that's been opened
up to them through the study of

<i>Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,</i> by Mary Baker Eddy.

And this year marks the 150th year 
of the publication of that work.

It is remarkable to pause and think about

all that's been accomplished in those 150 years.

How many lives have been made whole.

How much has been learned of the actuality of God

and of our ability to demonstrate the Christ in our lives

through the study of <i>Science and Health</i>.

We think it'd be wonderful, in fact, for each of us

to spend some time thinking about the impact that our own study

of <i>Science and Health</i> has made in our lives.

And to send an account in to the Clerk of The Mother Church 
for Annual Meeting.

When we gather those together in some 
form, I think we're going to realize why

the work we're doing in Christian Science

makes such a difference in our lives today

and why that work will make such an impact on the ages to come.

Whether you're able to be here in person with us

or whether you're joining us online for Annual Meeting.

We look so forward to being together on June 2nd.

See you then!