“I knew that it was a way for me to deepen my understanding of Christian Science.”

About Our Guests in this episode:

Caitlin Babcock and Paige Lesko worked together in the Office of the Publisher’s Agent, improving and re-organizing YouTube help videos for Concord, and created a welcome trailer for newcomers. Caitlin is an International Relations major at Baylor University and Paige is a Mass Communications major at Principia College.

Julia Schuck helped edit articles for JSH-Online and even had the opportunity to write one for the Sentinel’s Teen Connect feature. Says Julia, “I learned that there’s a lot of prayer that goes into producing the periodicals!” Julia is studying Mass Communications at University of Maryland.

Emmanuel Tekila interned in Church Activities where he helped plan the Mini-Summit for CSO’s (Christian Science Organizations on college campuses) and mapped the locations of Christian Science Reading Rooms around the world. Emmanuel is an Economics major at the University of Kinshasa and joined us from the Democratic Republic of Congo!

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Transcript of Episode:

Robin: This is the Net Effect. I’m your host, Robin Jones and today’s guests are really special. This is sponsored by the Albert Baker Fund, where we want to see our community grow and prosper and see the unlimited possibilities that emerge when Christian Scientists journey together through inspired education and career development. Today, we’re going to see some shining examples of that.

If you have students, or if you are a student, or you know of a student, we would love for them to know about the resources here at the Albert Baker Fund. You can find all that you want to know about what we do, and how we help and support our community by going to AlbertBakerFund.org. Pick one of the drop down menus and find out where we can help you. So please come to the Albert Baker Fund. We’d love to get to know you and see how we can support you.

Without further ado, I’d like to welcome our guests. Today. We have Caitlin Babcock, Baylor University student in Waco, Texas. Hi Caitlin. Paige Lesko at Principia College in Elsah, Illinois. Emmanuel Tekila from the University of Kinshasa and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. And Julia will be joining us from the University of Maryland at College Park, Maryland, in just a little bit.

Thank you all for joining us this afternoon. Welcome, welcome!

We’ll start with Paige and Caitlin. Correct me if I’m wrong, but you were this summer, an intern in the office of the Publisher’s Agent. Is that correct?

Paige: Yes.

Robin: We’re all interested and want to know the things that you did this summer. Tell us a little bit about some of the projects that you worked on.

Caitlin: This was the Concord YouTube help page. We were given the task of reorganizing this website, which originally consisted of a bunch of videos that didn’t have the thumbnails that you see here. Didn’t really have organization, just this random scattering of help videos that they wanted us to figure out how to put together in a way that was a little bit more accessible to visitors.

How we did that was completely up to us. We worked through the summer on designing fun thumbnails for these videos. Renaming them, figuring out how to make the website more visually welcoming, more understandable for people that just understand what they’re reading. We gave the video descriptions.

We included links to Christian Science resources and to read the Bible and Science and Health so that people who stumbled across the page and weren’t familiar with Christian Science could engage more. A variety of different updates.

Robin: Caitlin, when you’re looking back and thinking about what you’re going to do in the summer of 2021, why did you apply to work at a church during the summer?

Caitlin: I’ve always wanted to work for the Mother Church. I didn’t grow up in a lot of Christian Science communities. I didn’t go to camp a lot. I wasn’t a Prin kid. So for me it was a really cool way to feel connected with Christian Science. I also felt like the Mother Church was this thing I would hear about and read about in the periodicals, but it just felt really distant, like what do they do?

I learned so much more about the work that goes into Christian Science. I feel that even if I don’t end up working for the Mother Church, all the skills I learned are totally transferable. It was a lot of stuff, like how to connect creativity to things I might not have tried before?

Robin: How about you Paige? Why work at a church during the summer? What was the attraction for you?

Paige: For me as a communications major, I was looking for an opportunity that would allow me to practice, some of those communication skills, paired with marketing and improve on basic writing communication skills, but also some career advice that I got about two years ago was what are you passionate about?

Someone just asked me that one day. That’s a good question. You can make a laundry list of what you’re passionate about, but I think there’s a difference between what you’re passionate about and what you like. I was thinking more deeply about this, more critically about this.

And I was like, what am I passionate about? As I was looking for opportunities and internships to apply for, naturally I came across the Mother Church ones. I realized, what I’m really passionate about is Christian Science. And I would love to have the opportunity to work in an atmosphere where I can work with Christian Scientists and practice Christian Science, with my colleagues and sort of talk about that and make it an important part of my work.

And so that was just a really cool opportunity, that the Mother Church has internships available for students.

The main draw for me was just being able to have the opportunity to work in an atmosphere where Christian Science is the priority.

Robin: Emmanuel, I’d love for you to comment on that too. What was the attraction for you to think about working at a church during the summer?

Emmanuel: I feel that duty to feel more connected with church. When I saw this internship online, the first thing that really attracted me to go into that was the idea of discovering more about the administrative aspect of church.

One thing also that brought me to reply to this internship is the fact that I knew that in the internship I could really increase my daily practice of Christian Science. Whatever was being asked there, whatever we’ve been doing during the internship was spiritually based.

I knew that it was a way for me to deepen my understanding of Christian Science. I really wanted to know the administrative aspect of church.

Robin: Were you all remote when you were working this summer? How was that for you? How was that for you Emmanuel?

Emmanuel: At first, when I learned that the internship was going to be online, it’s felt a bit tricky for me, because I had to deal with the connection issue.

It was not easy at first. And then beyond the fact of not having maybe a good connection, one thing also I was really thinking about, is that you have to be in front of your computer for all of the day. Your room was like your office, and your computer your best friend, because you need to interact with people online for almost eight hours a day.

It was very challenging. It’s really asking me to pray lots about that, to see that when we have an opportunity, God is the one arranging the way and making that possible to take that step of progress.

I kept thinking that’s because progress is a law of God, nothing can prevent it from happening.

It really took a lot to stay focused both metaphysically, and practically when you work. Let’s say, if you’re being logged out from the meeting, you don’t need to feel anxious. You don’t have to get your nerves harmed, you need to stay focused. And know that because this is my right spot, nothing can just come in to prevent these fulfillments to be done.

So the metaphysical aspects of this was very, very needed. And all the support that I got from the people I was working with in the church activity department was very useful to achieve my internship in a proper way.

Robin: Paige, Caitlin, anything to add?

Paige: Caitlin and I are so used to this because this was how we worked over the summer. We’re totally good working together here.

Definitely it was a bit of a challenge and I know probably all of us were a little bit bummed out that it couldn’t be in person. I just would like to point out the effort that they really put in to make us feel like we were there.

The entire first week, the orientation week before we even met our departments, we actually got digital tours of the church and the edifices. And even the Plaza, we got to see that via Zoom, which was interesting, cause it was very shaky, but that labor of love to make us feel like we were there and included, we really appreciated that.

As a college student, the times that I’ll be spending at home with my parents is probably very near and dear to them. I’m sure my family back home was grateful that I could spend some time at home beyond a similar work schedule, with them.

A blessing in disguise, I would say.

Robin: Yeah. Caitlin?

Caitlin: One thing that really stood out to me being online was they had us do these one-on-one meetings with all the staff we were working with. They never done that before, when they did in person internships. The idea was if we were in person, we’d be running into these people in the hallway or going to coffee together. So it’s our stand-in for coffee chats. That made a really huge difference. I felt so much more connected than I’d expected to feel over Zoom. If I ever do a remote job, that’s something I really want to continue.

Robin: That’s a great idea. Yeah.

Caitlin: Take initiative and reach out to people.

Robin: It’s so important for you to do that in an internship. Maybe even one of the most important parts is building those professional connections, making new connections, talking to people that you don’t get to see every day and really getting a chance to find out the things that they’re doing and build some of those relationships that are so, so valuable.

Tell us a little about this.

Caitlin: This was the YouTube channel before we made any changes. This is what we were given to work with. What can we do with this?

One of the things we noticed right away was we wanted to make all the titles really easy to understand and separate from each other. So something like “Alternate Hymn Settings and the Study Tools Panel” probably became shortened into something more like “How to Search Hymns.”

We also made all the titles start with “How To”, so that would be a unifying aspect. We really didn’t want people to feel like they were just on some really technical help site that they had to muddle the way through.

We wanted to feel fresh and inviting. It’s very strong. It’s very organized. Detail matters.

Robin: Did you anticipate that this is the work that you’d be doing before you got there? Had you ever worked on a help page before? How did that come about for you?

Caitlin: I had not. I really didn’t know what to expect.

I learned at the end of the internship, this isn’t what they had really planned. They had a lot more ad projects set up for us to do and things just shifted. This is what ended up needing work.

We ended up getting all these ideas and ended up taking the summer, but that was really fun too. We got to see where it goes.

I think they ended up using the thumbnail we designed for some other YouTube channels too. So it became a bit of a bigger project, which is a cool example of how you’d start something and it would lead to something else.

Robin: How about you Paige, had you anticipated working on YouTube or getting into the nuts and bolts of a help page?

Paige: I’ll have to say no, it was definitely a surprise that we had this project. I was thinking, oh, we’ll probably be looking into helping with translations of some of Mrs Eddy’s writings or something involving writing, but, we were thrown this project, which ended up being such a really, really cool opportunity to use some of the communication skills that people don’t consider communications.

If you think of a more multi-platform style of like graphic design, we got to design new thumbnails that we put on each video. It just really gives us the opportunity to sort of step out of our comfort zones.

That’s what ended up happening. We submitted a creative brief. We wrote in this document, everything that we wanted these thumbnails to envision. We sent that to one of the design teams at the church and it was really cool to work across departments and accomplish a goal as an intern. That was really, really neat.

It was really a cool opportunity to try something new and do it altogether as a team.

Robin: Did you get a chance to work with other departments and get exposure to different aspects of the work that they did as well?

Paige: We had different departments of the church actually gave us presentations as as a whole intern group as well. We got to meet people from all different departments like Practitioner Department, Christian Science Teachers, Marketing, every department we sort of got to meet with.

Specifically for OPA, Office of the Publisher’s Agent, where Caitlin and I worked, we directly worked with the design group on our thumbnail images and with the Languages Department as well. Translations is a very big part of the department that we worked for.

Robin: Let’s go to our friend Emmanuel. He’s been very quiet and patient. I understand that, you’re at the University of Kinshasa and you’re studying economics. You speak three or four languages as well. Tell us a little bit about what you did this summer at the Mother Church.

Emmanuel: I was in the Church Activity Department and one of the main projects I had to work on was mapping out the Reading Rooms for the French speaking countries in Africa, and the English speaking countries in Africa.

The job was really nice because the purpose behind this project was to know we have branch churches, but we don’t know which branch churches have their Reading Rooms inside the church, which one have the Reading Room not in the church.

We need to update the information that we have. We may have churches moving from one address to another, or changing the librarians.

My job was trying to check if they are still there. It was a nice opportunity to discover all the branch churches that we have in Africa. They come together to share ideas that can help them move forward.

Something else that I was also able to do was playing that role of taking notes. And it was a nice opportunity for me to better my skills of taking notes.

I really felt that the notes that I took really reflected what was shared in the meeting. It was a way when you are in such meetings to know what are the ideas that each branch, each field is working with? Are they facing like the situation of the pandemic, which happened last year?

It was really a way to get that awareness of what’s needed to be solved around the world. What ideas need to be taken into account and how you can react metaphysically to what’s going on in the field.

You see how practical people who are in the Church Activity Department are receiving the news.

One thing that I really love is that it’s not like the Mother Church telling people how to do things.

We all turn to God and listen to the right spots, the right direction to take. It was so amazing to see how things were unfolding peacefully until we reached the solution.

Robin: Caitlin, did you find the same thing in your work? I think you all commented to me about the importance of how you’d start your day and how you involved prayer in that day and prayer in the decision-making process.

Tell us a little bit about what your perspective is and what you gained from that?

Caitlin: That was huge. One of my favorite parts of the internship was just getting to observe all these people in my department work together in a business, but how they applied Christian Science to every detail of that.

I love the metaphysical meetings. We would talk about just how to work through the day. I wish I could do that for like every single job, cause it’s just such a great way to start out and get on the right footing.

Even when we were just doing the business things a day and meeting and having reviews, you could just see it being practiced.

People, they take their work so seriously and it doesn’t mean we’re not lighthearted, that we don’t like to have fun. Everything’s just seen as important. We’re doing this work, and it’s for the glory of God. It matters, and how we treat each other matters. You just want to do well, and you want to be responsible, and you want to do it right. It’s not a sense of pressure. There’s just so much love expressed every day.

Robin: Paige, what about you? Did this have an impact on you, and what you do, and how you do things going forward?

Paige: Definitely. I would say that just being more consistent in my practice of Christian Science on a daily basis as applied to not just, healing, but more of just, uplifting.

I find that, many times in my life. I would turn to Christian Science in a moment of weakness, and then think about it later and think, well, I don’t have to just turn to Christian Science when I’m sad or, when I’m dealing with something. It’s more of a lifestyle practice that can be applied.

What I started to do was, each morning, before I started doing my work I would do my spiritual work, which would be expressing gratitude for the opportunity that I had to be able to work with the people that I was working with.

Along with expressing gratitude, I also did some work with the Lesson. Finding the importance in the periodicals, and the different publications that the Christian Science church puts out is an appreciation that I gained. As far as Christian Science practice goes, understanding and realizing that it really applies to everything because all life is of God.

That just became really apparent to me through the work that I was doing.

Robin: Julia, welcome! We’re glad you’re here with us. You can jump right into this conversation. Tell us a little bit about how that impacted your particular work.

Julia: I was an intern with the JSH, the periodicals Journal Sentinel, Herald. I did a lot of editing work as well as some online content specialization.

Something that became very clear to me throughout the internship was that I’m praying for myself and for the church and for the cause of Christian Science in the morning, before I do anything else. It helped me feel aligned with God so that my work throughout the day was really still aligned with God.

Something that also came very clear to me while working was that those little pockets of time throughout the day, whether it’s during my lunch break or, in between meetings, to take that time and to realign my thought and and really just ask, reach out to God and say, what is it that I need to be doing to bless today?

Having those little moments of quiet, of prayer, of study really helped me know what my role was.

It helped me know what I needed to do, and it helped me understand that my work was blessing everyone just as much as it was blessing me.

I really felt that I really felt incredibly blessed. And so that was really helpful.

Robin: You used a word that I often don’t hear when I talk to students and your friends and peers, and you use the word, the cause of Christian Science.

Did that take on a new meaning for all of you? Had you ever even used that word before this summer? I’m curious to get your feedback on that.

Emmanuel, will you start with us with that?

Emmanuel: Yes. I’ve already used that word. For me, it’s refers to the purpose of the Christian Science movement. Like really, what is the purpose behind Mrs. Eddy’s church. And I think it’s really healing.

When we talk about the cause of Christian Science, we really feel that we have that sense of responsibility on what we can play, how we need to think, how we need to pray to support this.

It gives you a sense of belonging to a church and giving back to that church. So, and this is something, as Julia mentioned, we’ve really deepened that during the internship, because you got to pray for the Mother Church because each week you have what we call the prayer list.

And this is a list of things that need to be addressed during the week. And there are things happening worldwide. So you really need to take that into account. When you pray in the morning in your daily prayer. What do you need to bring that? And as the daily prayer says, you need ready to bring all the affection.

It was so nice to include those issues while praying. And that gives that that’s the meaning of that cause. So it’s really belongs to you and you need to give back to that church.

Robin: Paige, do you have any comments on that? I think that’s a beautiful, beautiful insight Emmanuel.

Paige: Everything that Emmanuel said, I completely concur. I always go back to that one question because it’s, it’s such a present thought for me recently, but it’s like, what are you passionate about? I’m passionate about the cause of Christian Science and that took on a whole new meaning from the work that we did.

To me, the cause of Christian Science is, showing and spreading and demonstrating divine Love and the power of divine Love. It’s everything that Mrs. Eddy wanted to express and wanted Christian Science to express.

In working closely with her writings this summer and studying the Manual, just really brought that home for me because, I guess before this, I wasn’t really keen on, reading the Manual cover to cover. It didn’t really seem like that much of a page turner to me. After reading that and really just diving into it I gained a deeper connection to the structure of Christian Science.

Robin: How about you, Caitlin?

Caitlin: The cause of Christian Science is something that’s always been important to me. That’s one of the biggest reasons I wanted to come. I wanted to understand how we could be a part of that.

I love what Emmanuel said about belonging. I think that’s one of the biggest things we feel, like it’s not this distant thing anymore.

You feel like you’re part of it and you understand what people are working on, and what you need to be supporting.

I totally agree with Paige about the Manual too. I got one when I graduated Sunday School. I flipped through a few parts, but it just didn’t seem relevant to me, in my work.

And that’s something that definitely changed. We went through the Manual a lot and just really worked in applying that every day.

Robin: And how about you, Julia? Anything you’d like to add?

Julia: Everybody said pretty much what I feel as well, working with the Manual, and the sense of belonging. There isn’t much to add, everyone spoke so eloquently.

Robin: I love it, what you all have been articulating, this belonging to a family. I love that you put that number one on your list of the things that you did on a day to day basis.

How did that impact you Emmanuel?

Emmanuel: When you have that sense of belonging to a family, to me, it was even increasing my readiness to serve and to contribute to the work of the team. What happens was like when you come to work, it’s not like they take you as an intern, but they take you as their colleague.

And like, they bring you to a higher rank and you already feel that you need to give back to that group of people who are really valuing your ideas.

You feel like you are meeting with all of them in real, because you develop that sense of connection. For me, it was mostly how they value the ideas that you bring to the team. It’s not like they let to just speak, but they do consider what you bring his ideas and you already feel that they trust you.

They give you project to work on. And every idea that you bring to the meeting are really valued. And I felt so good to be proud of. People are looking really very what you bring and when you see the good that you can bring them to work.

Robin: You have a really nice list of takeaways that I appreciate. What stands out to you as your top takeaway?

Emmanuel: I think I will go with the idea of improving my interpersonal skills. When I was there, it was a big opportunity for me to see that when you are in the team, it’s okay to give the best of yourself. Don’t try to go over what you can give, but just give what you have to give and do it with joy.

The job with the Mother Church was all about listening to God.

Every day you come, you really need to listen to what Christ is speaking to you. Because if you say I’m going to do this, maybe you’re not going to achieve it. But if you listen to God, you will really get the right spot. It was so nice to listen more to the Christ, then bring our human way. So yeah, I really loved the fact that they really valued my ideas.

Robin: Thank you, Emmanuel. Julia. It is your turn. Tell us a little bit about what you did at the Mother Church this summer.

Julia: I spent a lot of time with JSH. I wore a lot of different hats in JSH. But the main part of the internship was editing articles for the periodicals.

I also did some help with Bible Lens, content selection for JSH Online, the carousel that you find on the main JSH page with all of those articles that are relevant to what’s going on in the world right now. Those are hand selected, prayerfully selected. That was a really cool part.

I did not like editing at the start of this internship. I wanted to like it, I wanted to learn how to be a good editor, how to edit well and sharpen my skills with that.

I found through working with my supervisors and taking on these articles that it really is such a metaphysical process.

Once that was real to me, I learned to really, really love editing.

Robin: How did you make that transition from going well, I don’t really like this to, oh, this is cool?

Julia: I had a meeting with my supervisor one day. I was feeling very stuck with the article that we were working on. She stopped and started asking me questions about how I felt about the article, how I was feeling just in general. And we started having a conversation about the importance of editing and what her experience had been as an editor at JSH.

And she said that that editing is like taking away all of the excess and really finding the core metaphysical idea, the most important part of this article that readers are going to take away, that’s going to help readers. Once we talked about that, we started working on the article again, and it was such a more harmonious process.

When we understood that the point isn’t to take out commas and add periods and little things like that, but really is to bring forward the metaphysical idea that is really going to resonate with the reader. And that was the moment where it became much more fun for me.

Robin: I’m curious, did the rest of you have a similar experience in a different way where there was something you really liked doing, or you didn’t think you were very good at that you had to get outside your comfort zone and embrace a new way of thinking or a new skill set?

Paige: It was just really cool for me to have that really, really positive teamwork experience and just really understand the different facets of teamwork.

Not feeling obligated to take lead all the time was something I had to work on and feel like I made a lot of progress on throughout the summer. Being okay with sort of not going with my idea.

I had a couple of experiences where I had an idea that I was thinking about for something that we were doing, but someone else shared their idea and I thought, wow, like I never would’ve thought of that. That’s the exact idea that we need to go with.

Having such a positive teamwork experience does really change my outlook on teamwork and now I love to work in teams. And so I’m really grateful for that.

Robin: Anyone else?

Emmanuel: The internship has really helped me to discover that I was good in writing because I had to reach out to the field when we were organizing for the CSO Summit for the French speaking countries.

I had to go back and forth being in touch with those who are leading the CSO. It was so nice to discover that I really had good writing skills.

I discovered that I was able to lead discussions. We met with them. And I was the one leading the discussion. By the end, my manager just told me that it’s, it’s really one’s skill. And I was like, wow. So I can lead a meeting.

Those are two things that I really took from that – my writing skills and my ability to talk in front of people, just the way I’m doing right now.

I think I’m doing that well.

Robin: You’re doing just great. How about you, Caitlin?

Caitlin: For me, it was working in technology. When we first found out your project for this summer is a YouTube channel. I was a bit of an inward girl and that’s just not something that’s in my comfort zone, something I’m good, at something I’m used to.

For me, it was really learning that I didn’t have to be comfortable with the skill we were doing, as long as I was comfortable with the ideas we were expressing.

What do I want people to see on this channel? I love Christian Science. What I want about that to express?

I have this fun, artistic idea. How can I express that? I realized it’s really about the passion you’re bringing to the table and the ideas you’re wanting to convey. You can learn a skill, but it’s those ideas that are whats important.

That really shifted my mindset and for the rest of summer even if we worked on something that I wouldn’t normally enjoy, wouldn’t want me to come through with, it was always like, how can I reframe this? How can I take what I know I’m good at, what I know I enjoy, and apply that.

Robin: I love it. So many students are a little bit apprehensive about saying who they are and what their faith is, or even saying the word Christian, let alone Science, right? Talk to us a little bit about why you put this in here. I think is very sweet and very brave.

Julia: Thank you. Thanks. My amazing supervisor over the summer proposed the idea for me to write this article. We were just casually speaking one day and I brought up this story of giving my boyfriend a Science and Health, and she said that would be a fantastic Teen Connect article. Part of my work over the summer was working on this article, which published, which is incredible.

It was really healing for me to be able to write it and work on it and edit it and see it get through to being published. I think the main takeaway from it is that there is no one right way to share Christian Science and trusting in God to present the opportunity if it’s needed and trusting God to equip you with the words to say.

That was my experience. When I leaned on God, I was told that giving a Science and Health to him would be a good idea. And even though I was apprehensive, I really worked with it. It was a really fantastic experience.

Every aspect of it, writing the article, experiencing it firsthand and and working on it. It was really such an amazing blessing.

Robin: Thanks for sharing that with us. And if any of you have anything you’d like to add to that, do you feel that you can go into your world now with a different sense of confidence and a better understanding of how to share our faith with our friends and family that may not go to church or may not even appreciate some of the things that we like, and some of the things that we talk about?

Emmanuel: Personally, I’m so grateful that Julia published this article. I even emailed her to thank her for this.

I’m a member of the Christian Science Organization at the University of Kinshasa. What I always do when we are holding a Christian Science lecture on the campus is that I don’t invite people to come to a Christian Science lecture because they need to become a Christian Scientist afterward.

I do invite them to come to attend Christian Science lectures, because I know that during the lecture, it’s not the lecturer speaking, but it’s the Christ. And because Christian Science is not separated from the world of God, it is the word of God. So it’s Christ himself who’s going to be speaking to those who will be attending the lecture.

And this is exactly what Julia has done with her experience. She didn’t want to influence a boyfriend to accept Christian Science. She knew that she was not the one trying to make him accept Christian Science, but she knew that the book will talk to him. And I think this is what we need to do.

Through the experience of the internship, we really learned that Christian Science is not there out to be imposing faith to others, but Christian Science shares and really what it is. And we know because it is Christ behind that word Christ himself. We do the word Christ speaks to human consciousness as Mrs. Eddy says. So it’s not a personal work, but it’s more about praying and knowing that everyone should be aware of that’s good and that’s good cannot bring bad consequences.

Sharing Christian Science should be something more about listening to the Christ speak, than having our own opinion the mediating, the conversation or the debate.

So that’s what I took from my internship.

Robin: At any given time, did any one of you reject Christian Science? Have you guys questioned Christian Science? Are you comfortable talking about that a little bit?

Julia: I am. I grew up in Christian Science. Both of my parents work for the cause of Christian Science. I went to Sunday School. We never missed church Wednesdays and Sundays. And a couple of years ago I started to question and then I wasn’t really going to church or praying or reading the Bible Lesson or anything like that.

The comeback into Christian Science was really, it had to be done through me and only me. It couldn’t be from, my parents and their, their loving gesture to give me Christian Science as a child and to try and continue that in my life because it’s helped them so much.

And so I just realized that it really, if I was going to be a Christian Scientist, it had to come a hundred percent from me and my beliefs and I had to get there by myself. I did teeter on the edge for a little while, should I be a Christian Scientist? Should I not be?

I had a wonderful healing that brought me back into Christian Science. I think it’s okay to question. It’s okay to wonder. It’s important to find peace with it, however you find that peace.

Robin: Anyone else like to add a comment?

Caitlin: I was also raised in Christian Science and as a kid. I loved it and would have healings, I’d give testimonies. And it was great, but I think late middle school or high school, I really started to question why I believed what I believed. And I was struggling with healings and I felt like I just couldn’t understand why we knew there was a God and why we knew any of this.

There’s all these thoughts out in the world. This one religion I was raised with, can’t be it like, what are the chances? And I really went away for a little bit and was searching and just felt like I was coming up really empty, rejecting these things I’d grown up with.

I definitely agree with Julia, I think it’s has to be so individual. Christian Science isn’t something you can just go along with because your family and friends did, which I think is what I was trying to do. It has to be you.

One day I was just struggling with something and I just grabbed a Bible, even though I wouldn’t normally do that and open and it was something I read.

I just read it and I felt so much love. And I started to remember all the things I’d loved in Christian Science, like all these moments in Sunday School, of reading something and the inspiration I’d felt.

For the first time I just started noticing the love in them and the rightness, and the justice, and how we’re not consigned to be suffering mortals. I think that really shifted what I was looking for in life. And that really brought me back.

Robin: What’s the one thing you learned or appreciated about the Mother Church that you did not know or realize before your internship?

Emmanuel: I think it’s the quality of work that goes behind every product. The Mother Church really is a professional institution. Almost everything goes through so many steps of checking.

They want to be sure that what goes out is really what needs to be out. They really make sure that the message is clear when it is published.

I feel so happy to have such a church which offers such quality of work. I really love that point. And also the metaphysical work that’s goes into every project that needs to be done. It’s not just your intellectual abilities, but you need to mix it up with the metaphysical intake.

That’s why we have what we have now. So we need to be so proud of this church.

Robin: Anyone else?

Paige: Thinking about the church almost like a company, there’s positions for everyone.

So if you’re into communications, or digital design, or law, there’s a place for you to work for the cause of Christian Science. That was just a really cool idea. Even music, I’m also music tech minor and, I’ve sang all my life and just getting the opportunity to meet with people and talk about music of the church was just such a cool opportunity.

If you’re a person that can do something, you have a place at the Mother Church and you love Christian Science. There’s a place for you.

Robin: I’m so impressed with everything I’ve heard today about the work that you guys have done, your experience that you had, all the different skills that you got to develop. It’s really impressive.

There are students that I talk to and they don’t have that same experience with an internship that you guys have gotten this summer. Coupling that with the fact that it was online, that you were working remotely, it’s really remarkable. The things that you’re talking about, the things that you’re saying and the incredible work that you’ve done.

So how has it changed your career goals? Who’d like to go first with that one?

Caitlin: For me, it didn’t so much change my specific goals, more my approach to the way I look at my career.

Some advice that one of the workers gave me during the internship that I think is something I really took away is that when you’re looking for a job, the really important part of a job is the people you’re working for, and do you feel purposeful? Are you animated? Do you feel like work you’re doing matters? Are you excited to go to work every day. And if you feel like you and the company click and have the connection, then a lot of times they’ll find a position for you. Things will just work out.

That’s what I really want to look for. Not closing my mind about the positions I’m willing to be in and really looking for the atmosphere of this place… Do I agree with what they’re about? Do I feel supported here? Can I just trust that the other things can come into place?

Robin: Anyone else like to add to that?

Julia: Caitlin, I feel very similar to you and how interning at the Mother Church has shaped my thought of career and jobs and everything.

I found that I feel my best in terms of my career when I’m doing something that feels right to me, that feels like God is telling me that this is a right thing.

Working for the Mother Church opened my eyes to get rid of the self will of, what does Julia want to do, and how much money does she want to make? All those material things that get in the way of the joy and the support and all of those wonderful things that come from working a job that you feel led to work in.

That was really a big thing for me and I absolutely concur with what Caitlin said.

Robin: Paige, anything you’d like to add?

Paige: In terms of career goals and approach, I found myself asking myself two questions and one was, what qualities does this work express? And does it align with my mission?

It’s really important for students or people our age, or any age, to think about what your mission is? What you want to express through any work that you do. Look at the qualities that a company expresses or an opportunity expresses, and when we talk to those people, keep your thought open and listen and feel out the situation.

Thinking more on the qualities that an opportunity expresses rather than what can I gain from this opportunity?

Naturally you’ll gain something from the opportunity, but also thinking more along the lines of what can I contribute to this opportunity? We all have so much to contribute whether we know it or not. That’s something definitely to keep in mind.

Robin: Emmanuel, you’re in a different country and on a different continent. How do you see your career after having been exposed to the things that you talked about and shared with us this summer?

Emmanuel: I didn’t mention that at the beginning, but as I was taking the internship, meanwhile also my classes at the university. It has been really a special experience.

Doing the internship has really given me a great sense of how I can increase my productivity when working with others. I also have a clear sense on how to appreciate the good that’s happening, around us.

At the Mother Church, it’s the only workplace where you can get healed and you can heal others just by being at work. You have so many great ideas coming throughout the day that really empowers you and lets your light shine and bless others.

You really individualize the spiritual power that is in you and be the light of the world.

I really enjoyed that experience. I’m so grateful to God, that this experience has come to me. I’ve really used that effectively. I won’t ever forgets this internship.

Robin: We all owe a debt of gratitude to the Albert Baker Fund for helping our students financially with their internship. It’s such a wonderful, wonderful organization.

Your willingness to share with our community is remarkable and outstanding. You’re all wonderful people, and it’s so much fun to hear your stories.

If you’re interested in connecting with one of the students, send me an email, just send it to robin@albertbakerfund.org, and I’ll be happy to connect you.

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.

We’re always communicating and talking about wonderful, wonderful students that we have. These folks right here are just a shining example of the many, many students that we help. Again guys, terrific job today. You all have so much to say and such rich, wonderful inspiration.

Thanks again. Look forward to seeing you all on the next Net Effect.

“Explore career opportunities through the Christian Science Nursing Youth Service Corps!”

Apply here: ComfortersCalling.org

About Our Guests in this episode:

Emily Mattson
Emily developed a love for nursing others at a young age, but didn’t realize that Christian Science nursing was an option for a career path. Through her time in the National Leadership Council and at Principia College, she started thinking more about how to serve the cause of Christian Science and was quickly called to become a Christian Science nurse shortly after graduating. Since then, she has become listed in the Christian Science Journal and has journeyed around the country, nursing in facilities, individuals homes, at youth summer camps, Principia College and as a part of two Christian Science Visiting Nurse services in California. She’s based in Sacramento, California where she enjoys paddle boarding, backpacking and fostering dogs.

Josh Kenworthy
Josh Kenworthy is a Christian Science nurse at the Chestnut Hill Benevolent Association, near Boston. Originally from Australia, Josh obtained an Advanced Diploma of Contemporary Music from the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts and worked as a professional drummer and drum teacher. He then made the switch to journalism, obtaining a Bachelor of Journalism from Monash University in Melbourne and worked in that field in Australia and the US. Throughout this time, a deep and growing desire to understand God and love humanity through the understanding and practice of Christian Science led him to his current role as a Christian Science nurse. Throughout this time, a deep and growing desire to understand God and love humanity through the understanding and practice of Christian Science led him to his current role as a Christian Science nurse.

Lauren Wienecke
Lauren Wienecke has been a Christian Science nurse at The Leaves in Dallas, Texas, since 2016. Her love of the Bible and Christian Science, and desire to follow Jesus’ teachings and example of selfless service to others, continues to be the reason she loves working as a Christian Science nurse.

Jennifer Johnson and The Christian Science Nursing Youth Service Corps
Jennifer Johnson is Executive Director of The Leaves, in Dallas, Texas, and serves on the Recruiting Team for the Youth Action Committee of the Christian Science Nursing Youth Service Corps. She also worked for 8 years as the Business Manager at Sunrise Haven, the Christian Science Nursing facility in Seattle. Jennifer has a deep love for Christian Science nursing and hold a Master’s Certificate in Nonprofit Organizations.

Jennifer will share information about the on-site internship opportunities through the The Christian Science Nursing Youth Service Corps. These are 3-month and 9-month paid internship experiences for college students and young adults to explore careers in Christian Science nursing and nursing facilities administration.

Applications to join the Christian Science Nursing Youth Service Corps are due on August 15, 2021.

Apply here: ComfortersCalling.org

Subscribe to our YouTube channel here

Join us live for the Net Effect!

The replay of our September career conversation with Dan LaBar, innovative educator and community-builder, is now available in video, podcast, and transcript. Click “Watch Net Effect Replays” below!

Register for Upcoming Episodes Watch Net Effect Replays

Transcript of Episode:

Robin: This is the Net Effect, Career Conversations and Connections. I’m your host, Robin Jones director of the Albert Baker Fund’s Career Alliance.   We have some special guests for you today.

I can’t tell you how excited I am about this program. This is going to be packed full of inspiration and ideas. And I can’t wait for you to meet our guests.

This episode is really going to be about casting your net on the right side. And you’re going to see some real good examples of that.

This Net Effect is sponsored by the Albert Baker Fund. We provide a combination of loan and grant awards to support the education of Christian Scientists around the world. We encourage each of our recipients to pass their blessings forward.

Today is going to be focused on Christian Science nursing. I’m going to come back to this later and we’ll talk more about how you can receive financial tuition assistance from the Albert Baker Fund.

We’re going to focus on the Christian Science Nursing Youth Service Corps.

That may be a new term for many of you out there. After this episode, you’re going to be real familiar with it. I thought it would be really good to start with some folks that are actually working in Christian Science nursing, and some young adults.

The Christian Science Nursing Youth Service Corps is focused on college students and young adults.

We’re gonna meet Emily, Josh, Lauren, and a little bit later, Jennifer, so that you can see firsthand and hear firsthand from three very special folks that are already working in the Christian Science nursing field, in different parts of the United States.

I want to welcome Emily, Josh Lauren and Jennifer. Jennifer is also the Executive Director for the Leaves in Dallas, Texas.

Welcome you all. We’re going to start with our dear friend Lauren.

Lauren, let’s start with the camp counselor, where you were as a camp counselor, in your journey. And let’s talk about what that looked like for you.

Lauren: I went to Cedars Camps as a camper and then later as a counselor for a long time. I loved it. I love the opportunity to work with young Christian Scientists learning about the Bible and Christian Science, Science and Health, and applying the principles of Christian Science in their daily activities. It was just such a fun avenue for learning and demonstrating Christian Science.

Robin: Once you graduated from school, where did you go at that point?

Lauren: I played soccer at Principia College. I stayed back and coached at both the College and the Upper School for a couple of years. I loved that. I love the avenue of learning about God and Christian Science.

I really wanted to do something that was very Manual based. Christian Science nursing came into my thought. I loved as I started working as a Christian Science nurse, just how Manual based it was, and also how biblically based it was.

I felt like it was a great fulfilling of Jesus’ commands, teaching to love your neighbor as yourself and love God with your heart, mind, and soul. After he’s washed his disciples feet, it was like, if I’ve done this to you as your Lord and master, you ought to do it to your fellow man.

Through my training I’ve gone through, I’m getting to be a genuine disciple of Christ Jesus. I love that. It’s been wonderful.

Robin: I love that quote. I put that in there, you shared that with us and you had several other quotes, but this one really resonated with me.

I love the idea of feeding the hungry and thirsty and give them a drink. I wonder if Emily or Josh, if that resonates with you guys as well? Do you find that in your nursing practice as well?

Emily: Of course. I think all of us Christian Science nurses, even if we use different passages or come to it in a different way, I think this passage guides us all.

Josh: What I love about that idea is, Jesus pointed in numerous times in the gospel, he mentions food and drink and gives a literal sense of those and that the human need for food and drink. Also it gives us that quiet translation of what those ideas are spiritually.

What I love about Christian Science nursing is it really is supporting both. As we care for our fellow men and women, and very practically helping with nourishment and all of that, but also really seeing that each patient is being fed spiritually and supporting an atmosphere that allows for that to happen.

Robin: In your journey, help us see when that pivotal moment took place, where you said, okay, I want to go this direction. What was some of the thought processes you went through with that?

Lauren: What I really enjoyed with the Christian Science nursing bylaw was that it was so specific and so defined as to what that means. There’s really thorough and wonderful training as to feeling confident and to fulfilling that bylaw.

In my work, when someone’s needing help, it is Principle that’s answering. That bylaw is what’s showing up and that it is a demonstrable knowledge, it’s the practical wisdom, the proper care. I really loved how grounded that was. It’s all the same bylaw, and that’s across the field. It’s great to have that bylaw founding.

Robin: Your journey took you into a Christian Science nursing facility in Dallas. How did you get there?

Lauren: It was my mom that brought it to me. I grew up in Oklahoma and she knew of The Leaves. She knew what I was wanting to do something new and she brought up The Leaves.

I really loved what I saw. They were able to provide housing. It was just a nice situation, a complete package. It was very fitting. We have an instructor here at The Leaves and mentors and everything.

It felt so complete. It was easy to move into working in The Leaves and I’ve loved it.

Robin: How long have you been working there?

Lauren: It’s been about five years here. It’s been wonderful.

Robin: How has the training been and the mentoring? What’s that been like for you?

Lauren: It’s been both at The Leaves and also up at the Benevolent Association, Chestnut Hill and I really enjoyed that.

The program that The Leaves does is the one that is taught out of the BA, the Christian Science Nursing Arts.

I’ve loved it. My first class was down at The Leaves and then my second class was at the BA. We do about a four and five week class time with the instructors there. And then I’ll come back and there’s mentors at The Leaves who can do some on the job training for a couple of months with me until they feel that I’m ready to work on my own.

Then when the next class comes up, I get to go do that. In that way, it is fun too, because I’ve gotten to meet other Christian Science nurses both at the BA and other facilities will also send their nurses to go through that training courses.

It’s been really fun just to see the quality of Christian Science nursing that’s throughout the entire field, through those classes, and be able to bring that back to my work here at The Leaves and just feel invigorated. It’s a great collective work and really fun to be a part of.

Robin: It’s so wonderful to learn all that, and I’m going to pass it over now to Josh.

Josh started his professional career as a musician and drummer in Australia. So tell us a little bit about how you got started and your journey, and let us learn about Josh!

Josh: My journey’s been interesting and a winding one is as I feel like God has continually shaped my life and uplifted my desires and my sense of what life’s about.

I grew up with Christian Science. From day one, the branch church I attended is, is I believe the most remote branch church on the globe. It’s about as far from Boston as you can get.

Growing up, I had some lovely healings. I always felt like Christian Science was taught and showed us the truth as Christ Jesus taught it. Through healings that I had, I just had this increasing hunger to understand it and demonstrate it. It didn’t feel like my doing.

In my late teens, I was always very on fire about things, sports and music, and just loved the freedom of expression of soul in all of those things.

I started to pursue a career in music, in late high school, and went with that right up through post high school then went to a music school and then worked and taught professionally in that space.

I loved it. And outwardly, my life was wonderful. I had good friends and just what felt like a very full, enriched life.

But deep, deep down there were some more fundamentally pressing spiritual questions. And that spiritual hunger, that desire to understand God, just kept knocking at my mental door.

As I kept praying and striving to understand Christian Science better, it sort of eventually unfolded for me that while I loved music, I felt like the world surrounding it, and particularly for me, my motives in doing it, weren’t big enough for what I was learning in Christian Science about who we are and my need to love humanity more broadly.

I grew up with the Christian Science Monitor and I always had a deep interest in the world, and this hunger me unfolded to branch out and to understand the world and know more about the world and how it works and sort of embrace humanity more.

Shortly around the same time as that transition happened, I took Christian Science class instruction. The relationship I was in fell away.

It was very hard to let go of it first, but it felt like I was being asked to just focus on spiritual goals.

So I moved to the other side of Australia and pursued my degree in journalism. During that time, it was a lot of wrestling, a lot of overturning in my thinking and my heart and continual growth. Not without its struggles, but it felt fruitful and deeply meaningful.

I finished my degree in journalism and then lovely things unfolded for me to then work in the field in ways I couldn’t have expected. I ended up working in finance journalism, which I had no interest in until this opportunity came up and it just felt right.

What I noticed throughout this whole time is that while these human shifts were taking place and I was exploring, and my desires were being uplifted, the core focus, the sole hunger in me was to understand God and to know what it meant to love.

To love God with all my heart, and to learn what that meant for loving humanity. Being a member of The Mother Church by this stage and working in branch church work, I found myself… Mrs. Eddy tells us there is plenty of employment within the Mother Church for all its members.

I wasn’t necessarily consciously thinking about that, but I found that my desire was just to channel everything into that purely spiritual focus and to see the scientific, spiritual dimension to all of the different offices and opportunities to work directly for church in, as Lauren said, these Manual based activities.

My work eventually took me to the United States and I worked in journalism here as well. This unfoldment in my experience was so wonderful and it just felt so right. And God governed the timing of things happened in ways that I couldn’t have imagined.

I wanted just to keep my thought close to God and I want to be directly involved in this ministry of Christian Science healing. I wanted to really understand what that is and to see as much of it demonstrated as I can.

There was a point one day in my previous work where I was sitting at my desk and just reaching out inwardly. I opened my Bible on my desk to look for some inspiration. I know Mrs. Eddy used to do this all the time. She would open her Bible and always find inspiration.

I cannot say that it’s true for me. Sometimes I open to a genealogy or something that I’m not yet seeing the deeper meaning there, but on this occasion, it it really spoke to me.

It was Jesus speaking in Mark, and he said it’s Jesus called them to him, and saith unto them, that they which are accounted to rule over the Gentiles exercise Lordship over them. And their great ones, exercise authority upon them, but so shall it not be among you, but whosoever will be great among you shall be your minister and whosoever of you will be the chiefest shall be servant of all. For even the son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many.

It was like everything I’ve been doing, had been channeling this good direction, but something in me really felt like I can of mine own self, do nothing. I sort of felt like I was spinning my wheels a bit.

And yet felt like God had more for me to do or something different for me to do. So I started to just cherish this meek feeling of wanting to be in that place of service and just humility, because I knew that I needed it so much.

The job I was in wrapped up and it didn’t feel like a disappointing thing. It felt much more like an opening of the way and just loved that, that job as well and that time, but then it was just a real opening up.

First, I thought it was all over the place a bit and sort of thinking, what do I do next? And as the dust settled Christian Science nursing sort of stood out like a mountain peak on the mental horizon. Some lovely timing and things unfolded for that to all work out and for it to be a seamless transition into Christian Science nursing, and Christian Science nurses training at the BA.

It’s just been such an incredible practical support as I’ve grown in my ministry as a Christian Science nurse, and this is just a really vital support to that, to being able to meet the bylaw that Lauren was talking about

Robin: That’s a real interesting journey from the further hinderest outposts of the world into the backyard of The Mother Church. That’s pretty remarkable, Josh.

Emily, it’s your turn to say howdy. And tell us about your unique journey.

Emily: I loved hearing about how Josh and Lauren learned about Christian Science nursing, and I feel like mine was a little bit different because I feel like Christian Science nursing was knocking at my door for a long time.

I started when I was younger, when I was in high school and maybe even in middle school. I started volunteering in a capacity that had me caring for developmentally disabled individuals, non-Christian Scientists.

Through that, and then filling my summers throughout college, at Principia, I worked at Twelve Acres because my uncle had lived there in the past.

I ended up working at Olive Glen after I graduated just to fill the time and never really thought that Christian Science nursing was something that I was going to stick with full-time.

I actually ended up moving to St. Louis and working in the Peace Haven office, in an administrative role.

I remember, I woke up one day when there was just one hour every month that I would be covering the nursing floor at Peace Haven.

All of their Christian Science nurses were having their monthly meeting. And that hour I looked forward to that hour every month.

And that was the highlight of my month. One day I was like, why don’t I do this full time?

I love caring for people. I knew that after graduating Principia and how it’s so nice to be in a Christian Science community, I was really searching that in my post-grad life as well.

It was almost an overnight decision. Christian Science nursing has been there for me for as long as I can remember. And it’s just been knocking on my door and patiently waiting for me to realize that was my calling.

It was a lot of little experiences throughout my life that all added up to me realizing that Christian Science nursing was something that was natural for me to do as my career.

Robin: Your training has been a little bit different than Lauren’s and Josh’s.

Talk to us about your training and the direction that’s taken you. And tell us a little bit about that.

Emily: I’m not familiar with the training at all the facilities. But I do know that some facilities have a training program of their own.

For me personally, I was trained at Olive Glen in Sacramento, but with the curriculum from Le Verger, which is in Switzerland.

That curriculum is a little bit different.

Number one, it’s based around the Socratic method. You ask the question and ask for an answer before you give the answer, if that makes sense.

It’s a one-on-one classroom. The different programs are similar in terms of how many weeks or hours you’ll have in the classroom.

It’s a little more focused on perhaps not nursing in a Western facility or not nursing in a facility at all.

Certainly all of the programs have a foundation in the metaphysics and why we’re doing the work that we’re doing.

This curriculum focuses a little bit more on maybe being in someone’s home without these Western supplies.

How would you work through this? How would you care for this person with what’s right in front of you?

That has translated well into my work. I work a little bit more as a visiting nurse or as a private duty nurse. More recently, even though I love facility nursing, I definitely fell in love with Christian Science nursing at Olive Glen and the other facilities that I’ve been able to nurse at.

I appreciated the one-on-one aspect as well.

Robin: A visiting nurse, what does that mean? What’s different about that than working in a facility? Tell us a little bit about what that looks like and what the work is for folks that may or may not know about what a visiting nurse is?

Emily: I mentioned private duty nursing as well. Private duty nursing is working in someone’s home.

And that could be shifts of time during the day. Or you could be there 24/7. And that’s a little bit more catered towards helping someone just go about their daily activities. That’s bathing and dressing, mobility, helping them get meals and such like that. A visiting nurse is based on shorter increments of time.

And so a visiting nurse service might visit for a maximum of one or two hours a day. And it’s a little bit more of a supplement to that person’s day rather than helping them carry out those ordinary tasks, daily tasks.

If someone can take care of themselves for the majority of the day, but might need someone to stand by while they take a shower or help them with that shower.

Maybe they just need some help with a bandaging, cleansing and covering need. And so it’s shorter visits. And then also a lot of the visiting nurse services around the country respond to immediate needs as well. And so we would respond to a need with someone who might need someone there quickly.

But of course we were always there and in the right time and then perhaps being able to support until they find care from a private duty nurse or a facility.

Robin: This is from Emily. She asked the question, what has been the most challenging aspect of being a Christian Science nurse as a young person, and how have you prayed about it?

Lauren, would you be willing to jump in first and answer Emily’s question?

Lauren: Sure. I’m not really sure if I can say anything about like specifically as a young person per se, but I think maybe just the thought of like supply for the long term, but just as far as payment.

I think there’s been a lot of great progress with that, recognition of the value of Christian Science nursing by organizations and facilities themselves and just trying to help the Christian Science nurses in that way.

I just prayed about that with divine Love always has met and always will meet every human need.

As a Christian Science nurse, that’s what we’re doing every day, is reflecting that love, that love is reflected in love and knowing that giving it doesn’t impoverish, us and ideas are infinite, infinite resources of soul.

I have just seen that in every way that my needs are being met.

I’m sure every Christian Science nurse can attest to, but that’s the first thing that jumps out to me.

Robin: How about you, Josh?

Josh: In terms of supply, and the practicalities, it’s such an important thing. Being in service to God is not about poverty. There’s been so much wonderful work by all sorts of individuals in the background to continually support and explore ways to bring up the rates and pay and all sorts of things for nurses, Christian Science nurses around the United States and elsewhere in the world as well.

I love what Lauren said about pointing to those spiritual ideas, to take to heart what Jesus said about seek ye first, the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added unto you.

I’ve never found that not to be true and not just sort of just enough, but a relative sense of abundance. To really know that the way our needs are met doesn’t always have to be, you provide a service and payment is rendered for that service.

In my experience, the way I’ve seen, taking that promise to heart and putting all our eggs into one basket, which is that we are heartedly trusting that substance is a spiritual thing and comes from God.

By investing in spiritual riches, where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. That is not an abstract thing or an impractical thing.

It’s really actually fun to test those scientific laws and see that time and time again, God meets our needs and in practical ways. But also to trust that it is daily supply and Jesus did say, it’s about daily bread and that includes the practical supply and the spiritual ideas and inspirations that bring forth that practical supply.

I’ve never found wanting in pursuing spiritual good. Coming into Christian Science, nursing has been a wonderful thing as well.

Robin: Emily, I know you have personal goals and you’ve been moving around and you like to travel a little bit. , Have you found a similar thing that going into to the nursing profession and the Christian Science nursing profession, have you been able to see some of your goals being met?

Emily: Absolutely. Even after I started Christian Science nurses training, I still in the back of my mind thought, you know what, I’m a recent graduate and I want to be traveling the world and I want to be still as serving the needs of different communities around the world.

That has been just such a working out. Because number one, serving this community has been such a blessing.

Certainly that is fulfilling enough. It’s also been nice making my own schedule for when I am taking cases. And so within that, in my time off, I am able to travel just for leisure. I’ve also really enjoyed finding volunteer opportunities outside of my work.

I satiate that desire to be working with global communities or, quote unquote marginalized communities within my local area. And so it definitely everything that I thought that I would be. Maybe missing out on by not pursuing a career, other careers that I’ve been thinking about.

I’ve found other ways to implement those in my daily life, through volunteer work, or just by scheduling myself in a way that lets me have chunks of time to get that travel bug as well.

Robin: Those are some great insights into some really important questions for particularly students that are still in school or recent graduates that may be thinking about, where to go and gosh, if I can make a living?

Can I pay my bills? Can I do the things that I want to do?

Jennifer, welcome! Jennifer is the Executive Director at The Leaves in Dallas, where Lauren works.

We wanted Jennifer to come in because she’s been working so judiciously with the Christian Science Nursing Youth Service Corps.

There are some wonderful opportunities that we wanted to make sure that everyone knows about, learns about. So I wanted Jennifer to be able to come in and maybe talk a little bit about some of these programs.

I traveled the country and I’ve talked to tons and tons and tons of students and recent graduates and, they always bring forward this idea of wanting to serve.

And I say to them, do you think about serving the cause of Christian Science and how many ways there are to do that?

I wanted Jennifer to jump in here and talk a little bit about what that looks like. Welcome, ma’am thank you.

Jennifer: Nice to be here, thanks Robin.

I love it when Mrs. Eddy talks about loving more and serving better. Christian Science nursing is an inspired atmosphere to be able to serve church in.

This program is for 18 to 30 year olds. It’s going to give a general overview of what it’s like to work in Christian Science nursing at different Christian Science nursing facilities across the nation. They’re very flexible programs.

You could be going to college and still be in this program and there’s a three month program and a nine month program, part-time or full-time, and it pays $15 an hour.

At the end of it, you get a financial education award that you could use towards college or towards a Christian Science nurses training program.

We start in September.

Robin: That also includes housing. Is that correct?

Jennifer: It does include housing. So if you are a college student who really could use some housing, while you go to college, and could use $15 an hour, why not serve church while doing it?

One of the things that I really liked and the 400 Beacon Street book that’s out, Mrs. Eddy, when she’s interviewing people to come work in their house, she tells them to be asked, what would you do for Christian Science?

Our panelists, you can tell that, their full heart is in serving Christian Science and serving their fellow man while doing it.

If that is an interest to you to serve your fellow man, and to serve church, there are different roles that you can do that in. You will get a general overview in each of the areas of a facility.

So you’ll learn a little bit about Christian Science nursing. You could learn a little bit about HR administration, marketing. You can learn about the culinary arts, if that’s your passion. Maintenance and housekeeping is also available. So everybody could get a general overview and serve the amount of time that they want in each.

Robin: I love the idea because there are a number of students that want to find experience. They’re torn, they’re being told you gotta get an internship. You gotta go find experience. You gotta do this, you gotta do that. So opening that door to say, Hey, Look over here, we’ve got some of those opportunities and I can bet you that you might find if you’re one of those students or recent graduates, you might find a plethora of experience from lots of different projects and job opportunities when you work with a facility because there’s loads of things that can be done, and there are people willing to let you do it, right?

Jennifer: That’s right, definitely.

Robin: Talk about some of the different places that are out there. We’ve listed all the facilities that have the training program for the Youth Service Corps. Talk to us about that.

Jennifer: These are all of the facilities that have signed up to be part of this program.

You could go to New York, Princeton, New Jersey, Dallas, Texas Boston, San Francisco, Los Angeles, or St. Louis.

Robin: Well, that’s all across the country. Are there a number of spaces? Is it limited?

Jennifer: There is a limited amount so apply today. The deadline to apply is August 15th, to start in September. We would like to send two participants to each facility. Once we fill up, we fill up.

Robin: I’m curious from Emily, Josh, and Lauren what do you guys think about this program? How do you see it? Do you think it’s a good one? Do you think these are good opportunities?

Emily: Absolutely, yeah! I love the component that introduces them to all different aspects of what goes into life at a facility, whether that’s nursing or in the kitchen. That is so valuable, because we really are a team.

That’s great to get a taste of how everyone’s working together.

Robin: How about you, Josh?

Josh: Yeah, wonderful. Just so grateful for anyone and everyone who is doing work to support Christian Science nursing, the Christian Science nursing ministry, and all of the support.

There’s so many roles that support Christian Science nursing, particularly at a facility. There’s such a need for more Christian Scientists to come forward and fill all these roles.

It is such a support to have Christian Scientists wanting to unselfishly serve the Christian Science nursing ministry.

I’m so grateful for everyone who’s working to provide the infrastructure to make that possible. I would encourage anyone who has it in their heart to really want to serve in that way to come forward because I’m sure any facility would welcome it

Robin: Lauren?

Lauren: Thank you. I would agree. One thing that I loved about working at The Leaves and the other facilities that I’ve gotten to visit is the quality of individuals that you get to work with. Seeing their example, their life and their thought, their selflessness, is such a blessing.

The introduction into an organization where the sole purpose is to witness the efficacy of Christian Science healing, and God’s presence and power in our lives, it’s great. I think it’s a great program.

Robin: It seems so impressive to me, the training that goes on across the country, in these different facilities and each one may have a little different approach to it.

You guys are very confident in being able to walk into a room and face whatever it is that you might have to face with a sense of knowing what to do.

I would love for you to just comment quickly, maybe on the training, Lauren and how it’s benefited you and your progression through it.

Lauren: It’s not talking about procedures or formulas. Here are some tools. Here is what you can do in certain situations.

They’re just things that are constantly practical, no matter where you are, whether it’s a facility, home, the soccer field, so on and so forth.

One of my favorite ones for example, is you’re thinking about how to turn away from the physical senses without turning away from your fellow man.

It’s just so practical. I’ve seen time after time that the love that’s in your heart, it’s expressed, and how you’re caring for the individual, that Love guides.

Love, inspires, illumines, designates and leads the way.

We get to see that daily.

Robin: How about you, Josh?

Josh: I’ve taken a number of classes in the Christian Science Nursing Arts program here at the BA. It’s an indispensable support to preparing ourselves when we already have that heart and now lives have been readied and prepared to want to have that desire to meet that bylaw of Christian Science nurse in the Manual of The Mother Church.

The Christian Science Nursing Arts program for me has taken that desire and then helped to bring it forward in a practical way.

To meet that bylaw sounds simple on the surface, but there’s so much depth and dimension to each one of those aspects.

Having a demonstrable knowledge of Christian Science practice, but then also to have the practical wisdom necessary in a sick room and to be able to take proper care of the sick.

I think there’s so much that goes into that. It’s such an amazing training in the sense that it doesn’t just give you some sort of formulaic, if you say this, do this.

It provides all those practical skills. It really refines your thinking and gives you those skills and the confidence to do that.

Knowing that we have standards within the field of Christian Science nursing through these training programs, it gives the public a right sense of just how serious we are about this and that it’s not just something we do on a whim, but that there is a proper preparation and high standards demanded for the care that we do.

Robin: Jennifer, would you like to jump in on that? I’d love to hear from you as well.

Jennifer: There’s definitely different training programs and they all seem to serve an individual need.

I think that they all put out great Christian Science nurses. So if you have an interest, feel free to look one up and see what would work for you.

To apply for this program, you should go to ComfortersCalling.org. This is a new national service initiative. This is our first time doing it, so we really hope to have everyone’s support, even if you’re not in the right age range, perhaps you know somebody in the right age range and can send them our way. We would appreciate it.

Robin: One of the questions comes from Margaret. Is this a ministry for you all and is being obedient a challenge? Who’d like to jump in on that one?

Emily: I have a quick answer for that. Yes, it’s absolutely a ministry. And one of the things that I love about being a Christian Science nurse is that we’re not a Christian Science nurse just for our eight hour shift. Or, however long our shift is. It’s not just when we walk into the facility we’re a Christian Science nurse and when we walk out we’re just Emily.

Being in the mindset of nursing, my fellow man, 24/7 and being ready and available to meet that need whenever I’m called upon.

I appreciate that being a Christian Science nurse is not just the job, but it really is how we live our lives. I find such joy in that.

Robin: I’m going to ask this question from Priscilla. As a Christian Science nurse, how are you applying Christian Science to see that idea of career unfolding for you?

How about you Josh?

Josh: Mrs. Eddy talks about somewhere in Miscellaneous Writings about God guiding every event of our careers. Everyone is going to have such an individual journey.

I wouldn’t pretend that I can speak for everyone, but I think in terms of the way Principle unfolds in our experience, I see at least what has led me to understand and to bring out more and more of a sense of purpose and meaningfulness and a sense of feeling like I’m in my right places is to make my job as simple as which is to love God with all your heart and soul mind and love our neighbor as ourself.

I think it’s very easy in this day and age, which is so data-driven and analytical and it’s all about networking and all that, which is not to disparage any of the good and those things, but at least in my experience, the demonstration of career as an unfolding thing, getting to the point of becoming a Christian Science nurse and of course, the way that continues to unfold is, seems to be a lot about refining, constant refinement through spiritual growth.

That study. And then of course, Christian Science nursing provides this wonderful avenue to demand of you to go up higher in your spiritual understanding.

I’ve just found that instead of focusing on sort of the human circumstances, the way it might look or, what I want to do or what my goals are, to constantly make that one goal of loving God and loving my neighbor as myself.

Just bring that into sharper and sharper focus and to grow in my love for God. I love what Mrs. Eddy said about we are obedient as we love. And so refining, what does that mean to love? What, what does that really mean?

That constant study and practice. I find focusing on that just takes care of the human details.

Robin: For each of you individually, do you find it more important to be broadening your horizons in the practice of Christian Science? Perhaps through church work or studying broadly or deepening your current area of focus as a Christian Science nurse, perhaps both? Love to hear how each of you approach your career development.

Lauren: If I understand the question correctly, I think it it goes hand in hand. Because with the Manual bylaw, that is the founding, the first requirement there, that demonstrable knowledge of Christian Science practice.

I’ve noticed that with that desire to love that Josh was just talking about to serve, love God and neighbor as yourself, that unfolds and just brings opportunities of advancement.

What I’ve noticed here at the facility is that when there are home cases that will come up that I’ll be called to be a part of, or just my own experiences with family members, different ways in which there are opportunities to advance my practice of Christian Science nursing.

Along with that, there’s always a demand to go up higher in our understanding of God’s presence and power and the efficacy of Christian Science. I think it goes hand in hand.

Emily: I definitely agree with Lauren. I feel like every experience I have at church or in my Christian Science nursing work that it all benefits each other and supplements each other.

I think that any experience that we have and the study that we do will benefit the next step that we take. They definitely go hand in hand.

Robin: Without question, you’re so talented. It’s so incredibly assuring to me to see this vibrant group of folks that are committed to this Christian Science nursing.

In my own family, we have been so blessed to have nurses close by. To be able to, to meet the needs of our family. We raised a number of kids and our kids were always active. There’s always been occasions for our whole community to witness the efficacy of Christian Science nursing.

I’ve been a coach at our local high school for a number of years, and our kids all went through high school and they always had wonderful support from a local Christian Science nurse that was as good as any support they got from our incredible training staff from our high school. And they were great. There’s 35 people in that training staff.

So when they talk about getting training, they are getting training. I can personally attest to the training that nurses receive because I’ve seen it with my own kids and I’ve seen how quickly they respond to that training.

You have my, I get a little choked up. You have my, thank you, my thankfulness for the care that you all give to our wonderful community. It’s fabulous. It’s fantastic.

If any of you that are out there know of potential young adults who might be a candidate for this, don’t hesitate to reach out to them and share with them about this amazing program.

I want you to know how the Albert Baker Fund is supporting Christian Science nursing.

I told you at the beginning, go to the AlbertBakerFund.org and click the little tab that says Apply. You can see that right up there.

I’ve circled it in big red, and there’ll be a dropdown menu for Christian Science Nurses Education and how you can apply for tuition assistance with these wonderful facilities and training programs that are out there.

We encourage you. Don’t be bashful. Give it a real good prayerful consideration, particularly if you’re a student or a recent graduate.

If you are interested in serving, I challenge you. Think about serving the cause of Christian Science.

It brings about healing. It brings about an incredible spiritual reward and a sense of fulfillment and career development. I’ve seen it. I’ve witnessed it.

These wonderful people that are here today are shining examples of the talent that we have. So if you want to connect with Lauren, Emily or Josh, you can do so through the ABF Career Alliance.

Do an informational interview, I recommend it. Ask them the questions that you didn’t ask today and talk to them one-on-one and we’ll be happy to help facilitate that.

Where do you go to apply? Tell us that website address again, Jennifer.

Jennifer: ComfortersCalling.org.

Robin: Okay, one more time.

Jennifer: ComfortersCalling.org.

Robin: Great. If you’re interested, share this with your church, send it to your board, ask them to send it out to the congregation. If you have family or friends, send it out to them, give them the opportunity that we’ve all had today.

And this recording is going to come out in a, in a week or so, be sure and share that recording when it comes out with the people that and love so they can hear firsthand how this amazing program is going to be blessing our community.

Be sure and keep in touch with the Albert Baker Fund for these incredible events like we’re having today, like us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and connect with us on LinkedIn.

Today we got some definite good fishing. If I had my pole and my net, I think my cup would be running over. It’d be full of the fishes of these wonderful ideas and wonderful inspiration from you all.

You have been terrific. I appreciate it. Our community appreciates it.

Thank you so very, very much for spending your time with us this afternoon.

Look forward to seeing you for the next episode. Have a great weekend.

Topic: “Working Remotely from Boulder to Boston–How Limitations Turned into Amazing Career Opportunities”

About Our Speaker:
Emma Schaefer, Summer Intern at The Mother Church, Multi-Media Storyteller, and Singer-Songwriter

This summer, Emma was a collaborator and singer-songwriter on a new Daily Lift video for Christian Science Sunday School students, “A Psalm for You.” She is a Multimedia Storytelling major at Grinnell College in Iowa, where she is taking a gap year to work as a Junior Media Producer in the Board Office at The Mother Church, and work on music and story-related projects. Emma’s long-term goal is to build a career that weaves together music, film, and other forms of storytelling for social good. During our Friday conversation Emma will share how she and her fellow interns overcame the limitations of working remotely, and finished the summer with new career opportunities, new colleagues, and new appreciation for our worldwide church. Friday’s Net Effect conversation will also include a special live performance of the music she wrote for “A Psalm for You”!

Subscribe to our YouTube channel here

Join us live for the Net Effect!

The replay of our September career conversation with Dan LaBar, innovative educator and community-builder, is now available in video, podcast, and transcript. Click “Watch Net Effect Replays” below!

Register for Upcoming Episodes Watch Net Effect Replays

About Our Speakers
Brandon Cox is a Business and Finance major at Sacramento State University and a student intern at CalPERS (the California Public Employee Retirement System), where he works as a financial analyst.

Mandy Kay Johnson is a senior at Principia College where she is currently a social media assistant in the college’s marketing department. Last summer she worked as a social media intern for The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston.

Mairi Jo Jones is an Interior Architecture major at Sierra Community College in Rocklin, Ca. She is also interested in construction management and is using her connections to learn more about both fields and how to chart her best career path.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel here

Join us live for the Net Effect!

The replay of our September career conversation with Dan LaBar, innovative educator and community-builder, is now available in video, podcast, and transcript. Click “Watch Net Effect Replays” below!

Register for Upcoming Episodes Watch Net Effect Replays