CHRISTIAN SCIENCE IN THE WAR
their men are called into action the chaplain's place is with the wounded and in the dressing stations. The breadth of these regulations gave our chaplains wide latitude and enabled them to be of great service to their men.
The Christian Science chaplains who were assigned to camps in this country held regular services in Y. M. C. A. huts. Of the first service in Camp Lee, Virginia, Chaplain Dickey wrote:
“You will be interested to know that we held the first Christian Science service at Camp Lee last Sunday at 9 in the morning, more than two hundred officers and men being present. The attention paid to the reading by the entire congregation was remarkable. A Y. M. C. A. hut is never a very quiet place for a religious service, but on this occasion there was not the slightest disturbance. Many of those present were attending their first Christian Science service and one man asked for a copy of the textbook, another pronouncing it the best church service he had ever attended. The singing was splendid. Three Y. M. C. A. Secretaries remained in the room throughout the meeting and followed the reading with a Quarterly. I was assisted in the service by a private soldier, and am sure it brought a healing message.”
All Christian Scientists in camp, no matter to what unit attached, Infantry, Artillery or Engineers, were given leave to attend these services. The chaplains made the round of the camp each week, spending an appointed time with each battalion when the men could meet with them and procure literature and whatever help was necessary. They were given the freedom of quarantined areas and base hospitals, where Christian Science Monitors were distributed freely. Occasionally talks on Christian Science were given to the officers of the camp upon their own re-
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