Letter from Skip

July 3, 2017

Dear People,

As you may remember, our next Association day will be held for the first time outside Boston, on April 28, 2018.  I wanted to let you know a little more of the thinking and prayer behind this change.

Over the years the cost of holding a full day’s Association meeting in Boston itself has become unreasonable.  During the early years we were able to use different locations in buildings owned by The Mother Church at a minimal cost for cleaning and preparation. But policy changed and when that was no longer possible, we began renting space in public buildings, notably Hynes Auditorium.

The cost of renting space and other amenities continued to soar.   We are a comparatively small group compared with the huge gatherings of everything from medical to yoga conventions at the Hynes but we dealt with essentially the same pricing.  Last year for example, the total expense was $7700.   But even more problematic, the cost of hotel rooms in Boston for our many out-of-town guests and members was rising astronomically, with rates in May nearly doubling opposed to March, in spite of our Executive Administrator and Treasurer’s efforts to find the best possible deals and discounts.  For a few, this poses no challenge; for many others it does. In Bree’s attached letter you’ll find some welcome news about the convenience of the Greater Boston area, we’ve selected and the substantial decrease of cost in using the Dedham Hilton Hotel for our meeting space.

But as Bree points out so clearly in her letter, the primary points about our Association remain unchanged.  Stripping away the modern conveniences and comforts we’re so used to and bringing into focus again the revolutionary purpose of what we’re actually involved in, things begin to look very different.  

Mrs. Eddy’s understanding was that the coming of the Science of Christ was an absolute necessity if there is to be any future for the “whole human family”.  As we said at our Annual Meeting workshop this year on Associations, our purpose isn’t just to help ourselves but the whole world.  We are not just one good cause among thousands of others.  Your spiritualization of thought, your healings, your acts, are making a crucial difference to the rest of humanity.  They have been leavening human thought. 

Jesus’ disciples (which we are) met on a hillside and on the sand of the shore of Gennesaret.  They lived in tough times, under an oppressive foreign military regime and under the scorn and ridicule of their fellow Jewish religionists.  But they held to the light and the vision they’d been shown despite whatever else was going on in their lives.  Their purpose is our purpose.

Hymn #227 (v.1,2) says it exactly:

O Lord, where’er Thy people meet,
There they behold Thy mercy seat;
Where’er they seek Thee, Thou art found,
And every place is hallowed ground.

For Thou, within no walls confined,
Dwellest with them of humble mind;
Such ever bring Thee where they come;
And where Thou art they find their home.

So, let’s keep growing and deepening and strengthening as an Association of students of Christian Science.  It’s a vital time for our Cause and our world.

With deepest love and appreciation,

Skip
Allison W Phinney, C.S.B.

Letter from Bree

July 3, 2017

Dear Association members,

It has been an especially satisfying post-Association season with a number of website postings distributed, showing our collaborative work together on the Korean threat, and sharing in one another’s assignment responses and healing fruitage.  It’s a remarkable and strengthening Association to be a part of! 

As mentioned during our recent business meeting, we will be moving to a new location for our April 28, 2018 Association, at the Hilton Hotel in Dedham, MA.

We realize this move may seem like a major change, a new location outside of Boston.  Please be assured that a lot of thought, prayer and demonstration have gone into this decision and the needed steps to secure a new site.  We are grateful for the significant help it brings to the Association with considerable reductions in rental costs, lower hotel rates for our out-of-town members and guests, and also an appreciable quieter setting. In recent years, a good deal of negotiation has occurred to ensure adequate quiet for our Saturday meeting and Friday and Sunday address reading activities.

Despite the outward change of a new site, a lot certainly hasn’t changed – our love for one another, our unity of heart and spirit, our desire to attend, and our witnessing of and contributing to, the spiritual message of the Association address.  We so welcome you to the Hilton Hotel on April 28!

Comprehensive hotel info is usually sent this time of year, but for Association 2018 it will be much simpler.  Below you will find reservation details from our Hilton contact to book a room at the block rate of $139/night.  (In this same information, local transportation options are included.)  Please note that we have a small block of rooms.  If you run into any trouble booking a room, please contact me, and the hotel will enlarge the block.  Note: It may not be until after July 4th (holiday) that the hotel can enlarge the block.

The group code to make reservations is PHINN. Guests can call 1-800-Hiltons or use our website, bostondedham.hilton.com and utilize that code to receive the group rate.

We are located within walking distance to the Dedham Corp Center train station. Guests can access that station by taking the Franklin line out of South Station or Back Bay Station. We are also about 2 miles from the Route 128 Amtrak station. Guests can access that as well from South Station or Back Bay Station by using the Providence/Stoughton line. If any guests need transportation from either station they can contact the front desk at 781-329-7900 to ask for our shuttle to come get them.

We, of course, encourage you to book your stay at the Hilton Hotel, but have offered a couple of additional hotel options in the area, including the BA.  Please see the Hotel Chart for details – click to enlarge, or if you'd like to print it, download a PDF here.  (Page two of the Chart includes a transportation option – for parties up to four – to/from the airport. This may be a useful alternative to a taxi, Uber or Lyft.)  We realize that some of you may do your own travel research from various sites, such as expedia.com, priceline.com, tripadvisor.com, or Airbnb.com, etc. 

Reservation details for the Hilton Dedham Hotel, as well as the Hotel Chart will soon be posted on the Association website for easy reference.

We encourage you to book your stay at the Hilton Hotel now, and if I can be of any assistance with the reservation information above, or other details, please don’t hesitate to contact me.  

Love,
Bree

617-421-9061 (o)
617-780-1530 (c)