Dear Fellow Members and Friends,
The Mother Church has been giving a lot of thought and prayer to how we can embrace the next generation in our healing mission. Please take a few moments to read this important update from TMC Youth—The Mother Church’s youth initiative. It’s about where our youth activities have come since 2005 and where they’re going next. You’ll learn:
• Why tmcyouth.com is becoming time4thinkers.com
• How TMC Youth is supporting Church Manual provisions
• How you can help further this vital work
Please feel free to share this good news with others in your homes and churches.
Warmly,
Nathan Talbot
Clerk of The Mother Church
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Dear Members and Friends of The Mother Church,
Mary Baker Eddy had a grand vision for youth in her movement. In her Church Manual, she invited those twelve and older into active church membership (Article 4, Sect. 3); she asked every branch church to nurture youth in their communities through Sunday Schools (Article 20); and she encouraged the presence of Christian Science on college and university campuses through Christian Science organizations (Article 23, Sect. 8).
In 2005, the Christian Science Board of Directors launched “TMC Youth”—short for “The Mother Church youth” – to coordinate support for all youth activities. So, while the name, TMC Youth, was new, the work was not. TMC Youth’s basic mandate was to nurture the next generation of Mother Church members.
Over the last six years, TMC Youth has hosted tens of thousands of conversations with young people on our website; partnered with branches to sponsor over 40 “Spiritual Activist Summits” worldwide; restarted a college internship program in Boston; and supported the ongoing work of Christian Science organizations and Sunday Schools globally. As a result, we’ve seen:
• a strong percentage of youth applying for Mother Church membership
• more young people hearing about and taking Primary class instruction
• more youth attending and enjoying Christian Science lectures
• many new young writers contributing to the Christian Science periodicals
• and more young people genuinely inspired about church and its possibilities!
Even with these signs of progress, there’s so much more we can do together! Here’s a look at some of TMC Youth’s new initiatives and how you can help:
TMCYouth.com is becoming Time4Thinkers.com
Mary Baker Eddy’s stirring words, “The time for thinkers has come” in Science and Health are the inspiration for TMC Youth’s new website, time4thinkers.com, and its focus on connecting a new generation of spiritual thinkers with each other and our global community. This new name also reflects our most active Web audience—high school and college students and young professionals. While time4thinkers.com meets the needs of this audience, younger children and parents will find age-appropriate content and discussions in the Global Sunday School area of christianscience.com. And Sunday School teachers and students can meet and share ideas around the weekly Bible Lesson each week on christianscience.com’s forums.
Connecting with college and university students
Last year, we rolled out a “Campus Contact Campaign” inviting students, professors, alumni, and parents to send us their emails so we could help connect all those who want to participate in Christian Science organizations (CSOs) on college campuses. We received hundreds of emails, but we know there are a lot more students and college graduates out there who haven’t been in touch with us yet. Visit time4thinkers.com/CSO to learn more.
Spiritual Activist Summits
Not just typical “youth meetings,” these Summits have a clear focus on introducing students and young professionals to all Church Manual activities, including lectures, Primary class instruction, Christian Science practice and nursing, Committee on Publication work, and Christian Science Publishing Society resources. Summits are as inspirational as they are informative and are planned, sponsored, and hosted by local church members and branch churches. Visit time4thinkers.com/summits to learn more.
Internships in Boston
TMC Youth’s internship program connects the talents of university and college students with departments of The Mother Church and Publishing Society. Students get professional experience and an incomparable taste of a world-changing organization and mission. Applications for the internship program are available at time4thinkers.com/internships.
Global Team, global reach
To ensure that TMC Youth’s activities don’t just reach students in the US and English-speaking countries, we launched a “Global Team” program three years ago. Students and young professionals have served on the Global Team for a year and developed fresh ideas for connecting Church Manual resources with their local communities. We’re expanding this concept to encourage much more grassroots participation worldwide, including in the US. And we’re inviting branch churches to open up new opportunities for young people to contribute their talents and energies with church activities at the local level. Learn more and share your ideas at: time4thinkers.com/global-team.
Joining hands, getting the word out
There’s a simple step you can take right now to keep in touch with TMC Youth: sign up for our weekly email updates at time4thinkers.com/newsletter.
Pray along with us!
We treasure your prayers and ongoing support as we all work together to nurture the next generation of spiritual thinkers and healers. Please feel free to be in touch with us directly if you have any questions or comments about TMC Youth!
Warmly,
Amy Richmond and Ariana Herlinger
Co-managers of TMC Youth
Contact:
richmondaj@csps.com, 617-450-3456
herlingera@csps.com, 617-450-3711