Our 18th Annual Conference
October 18, 2001
The 18th Annual Conference of Emergence International was held
beginning October 18, 2001, and ending October 21, 2001.
The theme for the conference was "Over the Rainbow."
The tropical paradise of Key West Florida hosted our annual
conference. Meetings were held on the top floor meeting area of the fabulous
La Concha Hotel in downtown Key West. The roof top space provided panoramic
views of the island and the Caribbean.
Our opening reception was in the atrium of the La Concha where
old friends and new met and gathered and then headed for dinner at one of
the many local restaurants.
The conference itself featured a number of talks:
Opening remarks, given by one of our members, presented the
concept of the rainbow in the Bible and the writings of Mary Baker Eddy. One
interesting discussion was concerning one of the stained glass windows in
the original Mother Church. In this window, generic man is shown along with
a rainbow and the "little book, open."
A local member then presented a talk delving into the evolution
of the "little book , open" — Science and Health — from
its earliest form, and Mrs. Eddy's struggle to get the first edition published
through each of the editions to the last, which we now use.
After a delightful buffet luncheon, we reconvened and listened
to a talk by a Christian Science Practitioner entitled "Under the Rainbow"
which was read by one of the ladies who were attending our conference.
Friday evening, the conferees invited friends, guests and members
of the Key West church to "break bread" at The Carriage Trade, a
delightful outdoor restaurant housed under a spreading Banyon tree just a
few steps from our host hotel. The delightful meal, followed by the signature
dessert of the region, Key Lime Pie, left a lasting memory of our charming
host city.
Saturday featured our annual business meeting where it was decided
to begin again to publish our journal "Emerge!" begining in January.
It was also decided to redesign and redeploy our web page. In addition, Officers
of the Coordinating Council were elected. It was also announced by the Council
that we are looking at Houston for the 2002 conference and Seattle for the
2003 conference.
We then had a wonderful talk prepared by one of our long-time
members. This presentation will be printed in full in an upcoming edition
of one of our publications.
After a fantastic sit-down lunch provided by the La Concha,
our conferees joined the members of First Church, Key West, and the Key West
community for a Christian Science Lecture. This lecture, sponsored by First
Church of Christ, Scientist, Key West, was a featured portion of our conference.
The lecturer, a member of the Christian Science Board of Lectureship, came
to Key West in advance and was introduced at one of the early conference sessions.
After the lecture we had free time until the hymn sing planned
for the evening. This was held at St. Paul's Episcopal church where one of
our conferees is rebuilding the organ. Another of our conferees provided some
the new pipes for the organ. A grand time was had by all of us as well as
members of the Key West community which been invited to join us. Our regular
organist piloted the fantastic instrument and one of our New York members
joined in on the piano for dual accompaniment. It was truly memorable!
Sunday morning we were invited by the Key West Church to join
them for the service, which was conducted during a tropical rainstorm. It
is our custom to hold a "circle of love" closing ceremony at the
end of each conference, and this was held in the church edifice since the
tropical storm had not abated. It was truly wonderful to be enthusiastically
welcomed in a Christian Science Church!