Manual of the Mother Church Part 7

In The Mother Church. SECTION 1. There shall be appointed by The Mother Church a Committee on Publication, which shall consist of one loyal Christian Scientist who lives in Boston, and he shall be manager of the Committees on Publication throughout the United States, Canada, Great Britain and Ireland. He shall be elected annually by a unanimous vote of the Christian Science Board of Directors and the consent of the Pastor Emeritus given in her own handwriting, and shall receive an annual salary, paid quarterly, of not less than four thousand dollars.

Duties. SECTION 2. It shall be the duty of the Committee on Publication to correct in a Christian manner impositions on the public in regard to Christian Science, injustices done Mrs. Eddy or members of this Church by the daily press, by periodicals or circulated literature of any sort. This Committee on Publication shall be responsible for correcting or having corrected a false newspaper article which has not been replied to by other Scientists, or which has been forwarded to this Committee for the purpose of having him reply to it. If the correction by the Committee on Publication is not promptly published by the periodical in which it is desirable that this correction shall appear, this Committee shall immediately apply for aid to the Committee on Business. Furthermore, the Committee on Publication shall read the _last proof sheet_ of such an article and see that it is published according to copy; he shall circulate in large quant.i.ties the papers containing such an article, sending a copy to the Clerk of the Church. It shall also be the duty of the Committee on Publication to have published each year in a leading Boston newspaper the letter sent to the Pastor Emeritus by the Church members in annual meeting a.s.sembled. The State Committees on Publication act under the direction of this Committee on Publication.

In Branch Churches. SECTION 3. The Readers of the three largest branch churches in each State of the United States and in Canada shall annually and alternately appoint a Committee on Publication to serve in their localities. For the purposes of this By-Law, the State of California shall be considered as though it were two States, the dividing line being the 36th parallel of lat.i.tude. Each county of Great Britain and Ireland, except as hereinafter specified, through the Readers of its three largest branch churches, shall annually and alternately appoint a Committee on Publication to serve in its locality. Each church is not necessarily confined to its own members in selecting this Committee, but if preferred, can appoint a Committee on Publication who is in good fellows.h.i.+p with another Church of Christ, Scientist.

This By-Law applies to all States except Ma.s.sachusetts, in which the Committee on Publication is elected only by the Christian Science Board of Directors. The Committee for the counties in which London, England, is situated shall be appointed by the Christian Science Board of Directors, and he shall, in addition to his other duties, act as District Manager of the Committees on Publication for Great Britain and Ireland.

Appointment. SECTION 4. The Committees on Publication shall consist of men generally. Each State Committee shall be appointed by the First and Second Readers of the church employing said Committee.

If prior to the meeting of the church for the election of officers, Mrs. Eddy shall send to the First Reader of the church the name of a candidate for its Committee on Publication, the Readers shall appoint said candidate. Or if she shall send a special request to any Committee on Publication, the request shall be carried out according to her directions.

Removal from Office. SECTION 5. If the Committee on Publication neglects to fulfil the obligations of his office according to these By-Laws, and this becomes apparent to the Christian Science Board of Directors, it shall be the duty of the Directors immediately to act upon this important matter in accordance with said By-Laws.

The Christian Science Board of Directors may notify any Church of Christ, Scientist, to remove its Committee on Publication and to appoint another Committee to fill the vacancy; and it shall be the duty of that church to comply with this request. In such cases it shall be the privilege of this Board to name the Committee if it so desires, and any Committee so named by the Board shall be elected by the branch church.

Case of Necessity. SECTION 6. If a suitable man is not obtainable for Committee on Publication, a suitable woman shall be elected. If at any time the Christian Science Board of Directors shall determine that the manager of the general Committee on Publication needs an a.s.sistant, the Board shall, with the approval of the Pastor Emeritus, appoint an a.s.sistant manager, who shall receive an adequate salary from The Mother Church.

CHURCH-BUILDING

Article x.x.xIV

Building Committee. SECTION 1. There shall be a Building Committee consisting of not less than three members, and this committee shall not be dissolved until the new church edifice is completed. This committee shall elect, dismiss, or supply a vacancy of its members by a majority vote.

Designation of Deeds. SECTION 2. All deeds of further purchases of land for The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Ma.s.s., shall have named in them all the trusts mentioned in the deeds given by Albert Metcalf and E. Noyes Whitcomb in March, 1903; but this rule shall not apply to land purchased for any purpose other than the erection of a church edifice. Also there shall be incorporated in all such deeds the phrase, "Mary Baker Eddy's Church, The Mother Church or The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Ma.s.s."

The Mother Church Building. SECTION 3. The edifice erected in 1894 for The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Ma.s.s., shall neither be demolished, nor removed from the site where it was built, without the written consent of the Pastor Emeritus, Mary Baker Eddy.

CHURCH MANUAL

Article x.x.xV

For The Mother Church Only. SECTION 1. The Church Manual of The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Ma.s.s., written by Mary Baker Eddy and copyrighted, is adapted to The Mother Church only. It stands alone, uniquely adapted to form the budding thought and hedge it about with divine Love. This Manual shall not be revised without the written consent of its author.

Seventy-third Edition the Authority. SECTION 2. The Board of Directors, the Committee on Bible Lessons, and the Board of Trustees shall each keep a copy of the Seventy-third Edition and of subsequent editions of the Church Manual; and if a discrepancy appears in any revised edition, these editions shall be cited as authority.

Amendment of By-Laws. SECTION 3. No new Tenet or By-Law shall be adopted, nor any Tenet or By-Law amended or annulled, without the written consent of Mary Baker Eddy, the author of our textbook, SCIENCE AND HEALTH.

Appendix

Special Instructions Regarding Applications for Church Members.h.i.+p

1. Loyal members of The Mother Church are eligible to approve candidates to unite with this Church.

2. No persons are eligible to countersign applications except loyal students of Mrs. Eddy, Directors, and students of the Board of Education who have been given a degree, and are members of The Mother Church.

3. Those who approve applicants should have applications returned to them after being filled out by the applicants, as required by Article V, Sect. 6, and should compare them with the forms here given, and see that names are legibly written, before sending them to the Clerk of the Church. If not correct, the applicant will be notified, and new applications will be required, as none will be returned that are not correctly made out. This requirement is to prevent applications being duplicated and the confusion that might result therefrom. It is important that these seemingly strict conditions be exactly complied with, as the names of the members of The Mother Church will be recorded in the history of the Church and become a part thereof.

4. All names, whether of applicants, signers, or countersigners, must be plainly written, and one, at least, of the given names of each, written in full. Initials only of first names will not be received. Women must sign Miss or Mrs. before their names as the case may be.

All names must be written the same in all places where they are required.

TO APPLICANTS

1. In filling out the application blank, one of the Christian names must be written in full. Initials alone will not be received.

2. If the applicant is a married woman she must sign her own Christian name, not her husband's, and prefix her signature with "Mrs;" unmarried women must sign "Miss."

3. There are two regular forms of application. 1. For those who have studied Christian Science with an authorized teacher; 2. For those who have not studied Christian Science with a teacher.

Applicants will find the chief points of these instructions ill.u.s.trated in Form 1 and Form 2, on pages 114 and 118.

4. Those whose teachers are deceased, absent, or disloyal, or those whose teachers refuse, without sufficient cause, to sign applications (see Art. V, Sect. 4), will be furnished special forms on application to the Clerk.

5. When branch churches are designated by number, as First Church, Second Church, etc., the number must be written First, Second, as shown on page 118. The article "the" either capitalized (The), or small (the), must not be used before t.i.tles of branch churches.

See Article XXIII, Sect. 2.

6. If the applicant is not a member of a branch church, he should fill out his application in this respect according to the form on page 114.

APPLICATION FORMS

Application I

PROPERLY SIGNED AND ENDORSED,

ACCORDING TO ARTICLE V, SECT. 2

If you have been taught by a loyal student who has taken a degree at the Ma.s.sachusetts Metaphysical College, or by one who has pa.s.sed an examination by the Board of Education, fill this blank.