July 2024 Newsletter - Conversations: Dave Cook interviews Christine Negley
CONVERSATIONS:
DAVE COOK INTERVIEWS CHRISTINE NEGLEY
On Her Innovative Ways In Promoting The Christian Science Monitor
Since moving to The Willows in 2021, Christine Negley says she has been “on fire” finding innovative ways to share the The Christian Science Monitor with the community outside The Willows’ gates.
“I moved to The Willows in order to be more active in Christian Science… I love having the convenience of being able to give my time to Christian Science, rather than having to do housekeeping things,” Negley says.
She calls sharing the Monitor “opening the door to understanding that Christian Scientists are part of the community and we're a resource too. We're taking our thinking into the community.”
Her community outreach started in December 2021 while Negley was serving at the Newport Beach Reading Room. A member of the public came in to donate books. The visitor asked if the reading room had a women’s discussion group. Negley said yes and immediately called the church Board to get permission to start one, where current issues of the Monitor would be discussed. In September 2022, the weekly discussion group moved to The Willows, where it still operates.
Since then, Negley has been appointed the Newport Beach Reading Room’s Event Coordinator. Her community outreach has included:
Organizing a January 2023 bus trip for Willows residents to a Los Angeles restaurant run by Venezuelan refugees, which had been featured in a recent Monitor Weekly. The group presented the restaurant owners with a framed cover of the Weekly and copies of the magazine to distribute to customers.
Holding well-attended events at The Willows and the Newport Beach Reading Room to discuss the Monitor’s special series on reparations. A representative of Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice (CLUE) attended, and several Willows’ residents reciprocated by attending a CLUE event. “We have to be willing to attend their events as well,” Negley says.
Working with Monitor officials to host a January 18, 2024 appearance at the Newport Beach Civic Center by Sara Miller Llana, Melanie Stetson Freeman, and Clara Germani, key participants in the Monitor’s “Climate Generation” series. The evening event was attended by 146 people, and roughly 30 percent of attendees did not identify as Christian Scientists. It resulted in 18 new Monitor subscriptions.
Arranging a June 27, 2024 event at the Newport Beach Civic Center focused on the Monitor’s “Rebuilding Trust” project. Speakers will include Monitor Editor Mark Sappenfield, former Editor Marshall Ingwerson, West Coast Bureau Chief Francine Kiefer, and Taylor Luck, the Monitor’s Middle East correspondent. [See “Event Updates” for more on this event]
“My goal,” Negley says, “is, number one, get the Monitor in the hands of the people. Number two, increase subscriptions. Number three, show other Christian Scientists how they can do this easily… in their community.”