First Church of Christ, Scientist, War Relief Committee

“ The Welfare House was truly an oasis in the desert—where one found refuge and succor from the many doubts and fears of mortal existence. ‘Divine Love always has met and always will meet every human need’ (Science and Health, page 494) . Many times did I go to the Welfare House depressed and with a heavy heart and came away refreshed and in a buoyant mood.”
Sometimes the boys' enjoyment of the rooms took an amusing turn as shown by the following from our Worker at Camp Cody, New Mexico:
“Within two hours after I had placed our sign in the window four new men came in. ”

“ Therefore the soldier Scientist must be shown that he need not lean upon civilians or any civilian organization in order to attain the spiritual comfort and sustenance which the Christian Science service would mean to him. He must be educated to grasp the fact of his sole dependence upon God and his independence of material surroundings. Therefore, the Camp Welfare Workers were sent forth with instructions to train the young Scientists to stand on their own feet where services were concerned, to prepare them for possibly greater isolation later across the Atlantic. ”

“ Noting the interrogative look, the “Y” man said: “When I was stationed at one of the camps in the South, whenever anybody wanted anything done, the Christian Science Camp Welfare Worker was the man they got to do it. That man was always going somewhere with his car full of something or somebody.”
Like Paul, in his epistle to the Corinthians, the Camp Welfare Worker might have said of himself: “I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.” ”

“ In this deprivation of church services many of the Science boys sought the quiet of the woods or camp libraries to read the lesson-sermons by themselves, or if, perchance, they were fortunate enough to meet other Science boys, two or three would gather together in His name and hold informal meetings. This was possible of course, because, as the notice in our Quarterly puts it, “The Bible and the Christian Science textbook are our only preachers.” With these books in their hands, earnest Christian Scientists never need miss a church service. ”

“ From here a call was made at the base hospital to see a young man who, materia medica had said, ‘had slim chances.’ The Worker had been directed to this young man a few days before by someone who had been interested in him. The patient was not a Scientist and said he did not think he cared to have Science treatment, but that he would like the Worker to call again. Today he met the Worker with a beaming face and said, ‘I feel like a different man. Your talk the other day almost healed me, and so I want a copy of Science and Health and a testament. ”

“ While I am not a Christian Scientist yet I am interested in the work and I have always found there a cordial welcome and an atmosphere of refinement and culture, and when I sought information on the teachings of Christian Science, it was given so tactfully and with such convincing logic that it has caused me to look upon Christian Science in a most favorable light. ”

“ The naval man's life differs from the soldier's in its greater restrictions. It possesses less variety in pastimes and associations. Often long periods elapse between his “shore liberty” and his touch with home ties. Indeed, contact with the normal life and daily affairs of the civilian or even of his army brother, is denied him. That the Christian Science War Relief Committee early recognized the need in the United States Navy and developed its naval Welfare work accordingly, was but a natural unfoldment. ”

“ Very early in the establishment of the Camp Welfare work it became evident that some sort of building was needed in each camp as a headquarters for the Christian Scientists. The men felt the need of a quiet retreat to which they could come for study and spiritual refreshment and where they could meet the Worker to talk over the problems which military life presented. Moreover, it was necessary to provide a room where our services could be held regularly and where the literature could be obtained and sent forth for distribution. ”

“ I made up my mind to take my stand, so at my first opportunity I had published a notice of Christian Science meetings in a Y. M. C. A. hut. Can you imagine my feelings to have waiting for me Sunday morning at 10:15, thirty-two men who had come through a drenching rain to attend our little service? We have held our service every Sunday since then and the average attendance has far exceeded that of the first Sunday. I have given copies of the Bible, Science and Health and Quarterly to over fifty boys. Many new men are becoming interested since the meetings started. ”

“ On the reading tables of the buildings and rooms were always to be found a complete set of our Leader's works, together with all the authorized Christian Science literature. To many a Science lad the familiar covers of these books in themselves suggested home and peace. In most of the rooms were hung photographs of Mrs. Eddy and of The Mother Church, and the “Mother” thought which reached out to meet the needs of the men in service has led many a grateful one to membership in the church. ”

“ In the larger camps and training stations where the men stayed sometimes for several months, a simple organization was usually formed. In one camp, when the Worker called the men together, they chose, without any preparation save silent prayer for guidance, a board of directors consisting of a major, a captain, a lieutenant, a sergeant and a private. This board each month chose two readers to serve for the ensuing monthly period, the First Reader a commissioned officer and the Second Reader an enlisted man. ”

“ Many men were healed without having to be removed to the hospital and others were able through their understanding of Truth, to work among those afflicted without manifesting any symptoms of disease, thus proving Christian Science to be preventive as well as therapeutic.
At Boston a large naval field, both shore units and ships, was well cared for; and New York also reached the shore stations and ships in that vicinity. Maine was not neglectful of the navy men touching at her ports, and the Philadelphia Navy Yard was one of our busiest distribution centers. ”

“ The Christian Scientist in civilian life is inexpressibly grateful for his church services but he may not fully realize the extent of the blessings they bring him until situated where he is obliged to do without them. Such was the case of the Science soldiers during the early days of the war before the Welfare work was organized. ”

“ At Camp Lewis, Washington, there were large numbers of Scientists in training. To meet their need for a quiet place in which to study the lesson, two tents were first set up in a grove of trees a mile from the cantonment. Keen with interest in all that concerned the War Relief activities and grateful for the good received therefrom, some forty Christian Science soldiers banded together and within ten days built a small cottage on property that had been secured for the future use of the Welfare Work. ”

“ They made the welfare or well-being of the enlisted men their responsibility and as one soldier expressed it, “when one fares well by the help of Christian Science, he fares well in every phase of his being—mental, moral and physical.” ”

“ Here, therefore, was an opportunity to demonstrate practically that the truth does make free, opening prison doors. Soon some of these young men by reading the textbook for which they had themselves asked, found their real freedom, even before gaining release from confinement. The bettering of positions in the prison was the rule with the men who became earnestly interested in Science. Services soon followed the regular Monitor distribution. When the work was first started the Commanding Officer expressed to the Worker the desire that services be reestablished. ”

“ At Paris Island the work was characterized by an especial degree of cordiality exhibited by the officials in charge, and was so greatly appreciated that an effort was made to induce the Committee to establish a permanent representative there.
The service rendered to the submarine fleet at New London, Connecticut, at the naval base at Newport, Rhode Island, and among the ships that visited the harbor at Portland, Maine, was of a somewhat different character from that performed elsewhere, and developed qualities in the Workers which proved them to be versatile as well as willing and tireless. ”

“ The Mutual Welfare League takes this opportunity to express its thanks to the Christian Science War Relief Committee in general and its representative at this place in particular, for the great kindness and Christian charity that was demonstrated in giving to thirty of our discharged men overcoats to keep them comfortable. In addition to the above Mr. F. has neglected no chance to be of comfort or service to such of us as have been bereaved by loss of parents or friends, whenever the fact has come to his attention. ”

“ Unlike most penal institutions, men in the naval prison number few criminals, most of the offenses being of a military character and not punishable by a civil court. Scarcely more than boys, many are mere youths who entered the service in a burst of patriotism, with an undeveloped sense of responsibility and unfortunately no great appreciation of the importance of obedience. ”

“ To men in camp and training station, this distribution was effected through the Camp Worker, who endeavored to place the books only where there was a sincere desire for them and an assurance that they would be highly prized and carefully studied. There were, however, men all over the world, with no Worker to whom they could appeal, who themselves wrote earnest requests to this Committee for a copy of the little book. ”

“ While these were being sought, the demand from many parts of the country that something be done for the men in camp became increasingly insistent. Christian Scientists traveling in the South called attention to the fact that in many of the camp towns in that section there were few if any Scientists and that no provision was being made for the Science men in the army, adding an urgent plea that something be done at once to supply literature, practitioners and, if possible, an assembly room for them. ”

“ One boy made a special trip to a Wednesday evening meeting to testify to the healing of an ulcerated tooth. He was on duty until late and ran so hard that he could hardly talk when he arrived, but he was determined to speak.
There were times even in camps in this country when our boys found themselves without a room in which to assemble. In one such instance, a little group of men went down to a clump of trees near a railroad track, piled railroad ties against two saplings to make a desk, the readers hung their hats in the trees, the congregation sat on other ties and the service began. ”

“ Civilians were frowned upon and were always objects of suspicion. Thus it may be seen that when the War Relief Committee decided to extend its already well-established Camp Welfare work to the naval arm of the service, it did so, knowing that there is no barrier to Truth. ”

“ Taken by the hundreds from their families and places of business, hurried off to training camps and there put through a strict régime of military discipline, which became more and more rigid as the time for going overseas approached, it was realized that the spiritual needs of these young Christian Scientists must be cared for, since none of the religious agencies recognized by the Government provided for them. Many of the camps were in sections of the country where there were no Christian Science churches and no registered practitioners. ”

“ Through the activities of a woman “Y” worker, Christian Science services have also been held at Nice in one of the glass-enclosed jetties which extends out over the sea. Literature was supplied through the Paris office and distributed to the men passing through that rest area.
Services, of which this Committee has no knowledge, were doubtless held in many places in France by individuals and even by groups of men. ”

“ The Grand Fleet lay off Yorktown. Thousands of men were stationed at the navy yard at Norfolk and the big naval hospital at the same place was usually filled. Hampton Roads, Old Point Comfort and the naval operating base opposite were veritable hives of industry. Including both arms of the service there were probably never less than two hundred thousand soldiers and sailors in Virginia during the spring, summer and fall of 1918, to be served by our Committee. To meet adequately the varying needs of these numbers of men was the problem. ”

“ One Worker began caring for all, but so rapidly did the activity unfold that the naval operating base alone required the entire time of a Worker. The appreciation of the Monitor and other periodicals was expressed in a constantly increasing demand for subscriptions and an early request for services. Much interest was shown in Christian Science in the hospitals at the operating base, and many textbooks were requested. ”

“ These little messengers of Truth could be slipped into a letter and they literally became leaves of healing to all the nations of the earth. Postal regulations prohibited the sending of packages to men with the American army in France, but these handy little booklets could always be included in a letter and were invariably much appreciated.
Selected at random from correspondence sent to this Committee, the following list of places outside of the United States will give some idea of the widespread distribution of our Christian Science literature to men in the service. ”

“ The Christian Science work was considered of such value by the Commanding Officer of the prison that it was his desire, upon the resignation of the pioneer Worker, that a resident Worker be established at the prison, to live and be associated at all times with the prisoners. The Committee appointed a man for this position. ”

“ Besides this, there were innumerable other places where volunteer workers saw to it that the men were not neglected and where Christian Science literature was sent in abundance.
The following list contains the more important points where regular Workers were established, although there was no War Relief Room or Building.
These buildings and Welfare rooms were used for many different purposes. They served as reading rooms, and were always equipped with desks and writing materials. They became the rendezvous in which the home folks were able to meet their boys in the service. ”