Part 3

Reading and Attesting Letters. SECTION 6. When a letter or a message from the Pastor Emeritus is brought before a meeting of this Church, or she is referred to as authority for business, it shall be the duty of the Church to inquire if all of the letter has been read, and to require all of it to be read; also to have any authority supposed to come from her satisfactorily attested.

Unauthorized Reports. SECTION 7. Members of this Church shall not report on authority an order from Mrs. Eddy that she has not sent, either to the Boards or to the executive bodies of this Church. The Pastor Emeritus is not to be consulted on cases of discipline, on the cases of candidates for admission to this Church, or on the cases of those on trial for dismissal from the Church.

Private Communications. SECTION 8. A strictly private communication from the Pastor Emeritus to a member of her Church shall not be made public without her written consent.

Unauthorized Legal Action. SECTION 9. A member of this Church shall not employ an attorney, nor take legal action on a case not provided for in its By-Laws--if said case relates to the person or to the property of Mary Baker Eddy--without having personally conferred with her on said subject.

Duty to God. SECTION 10. Members of this Church who turn their attention from the divine Principle of being to personality, sending gifts, congratulatory despatches or letters to the Pastor Emeritus on Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year, or Easter, break a rule of this Church and are amenable therefor.

Opportunity for Serving the Leader. SECTION 11. At the written request of the Pastor Emeritus, Mrs. Eddy, the Board of Directors shall immediately notify a person who has been a member of this Church at least three years to go in ten days to her, and it shall be the duty of the member thus notified to remain with Mrs. Eddy three years consecutively. A member who leaves her in less time without the Directors' consent or who declines to obey this call to duty, upon Mrs. Eddy's complaint thereof shall be excommunicated from The Mother Church. Members thus serving the Leader shall be paid semi-annually at the rate of one thousand dollars yearly in addition to rent and board. Those members whom she teaches the course in Divinity, and who remain with her three consecutive years, receive the degree of the Massachusetts Metaphysical College.

Location. SECTION 12. Rev. Mary Baker Eddy calls to her home or allows to visit or to locate therein only those individuals whom she engages through the Christian Science Board of Directors of the Mother Church. This By-Law takes effect on Dec. 15, 1908.

Agreement Required. SECTION 13. When the Christian Science Board of Directors calls a student in accordance with Article XXII, Sect. 11, of our Church Manual to the home of their Leader, Mrs. Eddy, said student shall come under a signed agreement to remain with Mrs. Eddy if she so desires, during the time specified in the Church Manual.

Incomplete Term of Service. SECTION 14. If a student who has been called to serve our Leader in accordance with Article XXII, Sect. 11, of the Church Manual leaves her before the expiration of the time therein mentioned such student shall pay to Mrs. Eddy whatsoever she may charge for what she has taught him or her during the time of such service.

Help. SECTION 15. If the author of the Christian Science textbook call on this Board for household help or a handmaid, the Board shall immediately appoint a proper member of this Church therefor, and the appointee shall go immediately in obedience to the call. "He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me." (Matt. 10:37.)

Students with Mrs. Eddy. SECTION 16. Students employed by Mrs. Eddy at her home shall not take care of their churches or attend to other affairs outside of her house.

Mrs. Eddy's Room. SECTION 17. The room in The Mother Church formerly known as "Mother's Room" shall hereafter be closed to visitors.

Pastor Emeritus to be Consulted. SECTION 18. The Mother Church shall not make a church By-Law, nor enter into a business transaction with a Christian Scientist in the employ of Rev. Mary Baker Eddy, without first consulting her on said subject and adhering strictly to her advice thereon.

THE MOTHER CHURCH AND BRANCH CHURCHES

Article XXIII

Local Self-government. SECTION 1. The Mother Church of Christ, Scientist, shall assume no general official control of other churches, and it shall be controlled by none other. Each Church of Christ, Scientist, shall have its own form of government. No conference of churches shall be held, unless it be when our churches, located in the same State, convene to confer on a statute of said State, or to confer harmoniously on individual unity and action of the churches in said State.

Titles. SECTION 2. "The First Church of Christ, Scientist," is the legal title of The Mother Church. Branch churches of The Mother Church may take the title of First Church of Christ, Scientist; Second Church of Christ, Scientist; and so on, where more than one church is established in the same place; but the article "The" must not be used before titles of branch churches, nor written on applications for membership in naming such churches.

Mother Church Unique. SECTION 3. In its relation to other Christian Science churches, in its By-Laws and self-government, The Mother Church stands alone; it occupies a position that no other church can fill. Then for a branch church to assume such position would be disastrous to Christian Science. Therefore, no Church of Christ, Scientist, shall be considered loyal that has branch churches or adopts The Mother Church's form of government, except in such cases as are specially allowed and named in this Manual.

Tenets Copyrighted. SECTION 4. Branch churches shall not write the Tenets of The Mother Church in their church books, except they give the name of their author and her permission to publish them as Tenets of The Mother Church, copyrighted in SCIENCE AND HEALTH WITH KEY TO THE SCRIPTURES.

Manual. SECTION 5. Branch churches shall not adopt, print, nor publish the Manual of The Mother Church. See Article XXXV, Sect. 1.

Organizing Churches. SECTION 6. A member of this Church who obeys its By-Laws and is a loyal exemplary Christian Scientist working in the Field, is eligible to form a church in conformity with Sect. 7 of this Article, and to have church services conducted by reading the SCRIPTURES and the Christian Science textbook. This church shall be acknowledged publicly as a Church of Christ, Scientist. Upon proper application, made in accordance with the rules of The Christian Science Publishing Society, the services of such a church may be advertised in _The Christian Science Journal_. The branch churches shall be individual, and not more than two small churches shall consolidate under one church government. If the Pastor Emeritus, Mrs. Eddy, should relinquish her place as the head or Leader of The Mother Church of Christ, Scientist, each branch church shall continue its present form of government in consonance with The Mother Church Manual.

Requirements for Organizing Branch Churches. SECTION 7. A branch church of The First Church of Christ, Scientist, Boston, Mass., shall not be organized with less than sixteen loyal Christian Scientists, four of whom are members of The Mother Church. This membership shall include at least one active practitioner whose card is published in the list of practitioners in _The Christian Science Journal_.

Privilege of Members. SECTION 8. Members in good standing with The Mother Church, who are members of the faculty, instructors, or students organization.

No Close Communion. SECTION 9. The Mother Church and the branch churches shall not confine their membership to the pupils of one teacher.

No Interference. SECTION 10. A member of The Mother Church may be a member of one branch Church of Christ, Scientist, or of one Christian Science society holding public services, but he shall not be a member of both a branch church and a society; neither shall he exercise supervision or control over any other church. In Christian Science each branch church shall be distinctly democratic in its government, and no individual, and no other church shall interfere with its affairs.

Teachers' and Practitioners' Offices. SECTION 11. Teachers and practitioners of Christian Science shall not have their offices or rooms in the branch churches, in the reading rooms, nor in rooms connected therewith.

Recognition. SECTION 12. In order to be eligible to a card in _The Christian Science Journal_, churches and societies are required to acknowledge as such all other Christian Science churches and societies advertised in said _Journal_, and to maintain toward them an attitude of Christian fellowship.

GUARDIANSHIP OF CHURCH FUNDS

Article XXIV

Church Edifice a Testimonial. SECTION 1. Whereas, on March 20, 1895, the Christian Science Board of Directors, in behalf of The First Church of Christ, Scientist, Boston, Mass., presented to Rev. Mary Baker Eddy their church edifice as a Testimonial of this Church's love and gratitude, and she, with grateful acknowledgments thereof, declined to receive this munificent gift, she now understands the financial situation between the Christian Science Board of Directors and said Church to be as follows:--

Financial Situation. SECTION 2. The Christian Science Board of Directors owns the church edifices, with the land whereon they stand, legally; and the Church members own the aforesaid premises and buildings, beneficially. After the first church was built, the balance of the building funds, which remained in the hands of the Directors, belonged to the Church, and not solely to the Directors. The balance of the church building funds, which can be spared after the debts are paid, should remain on safe deposit, to be hereafter used for the benefit of this Church, as the right occasion may call for it. The following indicates the proper management of the Church funds:--

Report of Directors. SECTION 3. It shall be the duty of the Christian Science Board of Directors to have the books of the Church Treasurer audited semi-annually, and to report at the annual Church meeting the amount of funds which the Church has on hand, the amount of its indebtedness and of its expenditures for the last year.

Finance Committee. SECTION 4. There shall be a Committee on Finance, which shall consist of three members of this Church in good standing. Its members shall be appointed annually by the Christian Science Board of Directors and with the consent of the Pastor Emeritus. They shall hold quarterly meetings and keep themselves thoroughly informed as to the real estate owned by this Church and the amount of funds received by the Treasurer of The Mother Church, who is individually responsible for said funds. They shall have the books of the Christian Science Board of Directors and the books of the Church Treasurer audited annually by an honest, competent accountant. The books are to be audited on May first.

Prior to paying bills against the Church, the Treasurer of this Church shall submit them all to said committee for examination. This committee shall decide thereupon by a unanimous vote, and its endorsement of the bills shall render them payable.

If it be found that the Church funds have not been properly managed, it shall be the duty of the Board of Directors and the Treasurer to be individually responsible for the performance of their several offices satisfactorily, and for the proper distribution of the funds of which they are the custodians.

God's Requirement. SECTION 5. God requires wisdom, economy, and brotherly love to characterize all the proceedings of the members of The Mother Church, The First Church of Christ, Scientist.

Provision for the Future. SECTION 6. In case of any possible future deviation from duty, the Committee on Finance shall visit the Board of Directors, and, in a Christian spirit and manner, demand that each member thereof comply with the By-Laws of the Church. If any Director fails to heed this admonition, he may be dismissed from office and the vacancy supplied by the Board.

Debt and Duty. SECTION 7. The Mother Church shall not be made legally responsible for the debts of individuals except such debts as are specified in its By-Laws. Donations from this Church shall not be made without the written consent of the Pastor Emeritus. Also important movements of the manager of the Committee on Publication shall be sanctioned by the Board of Directors and be subject to the approval of Mary Baker Eddy. (See Article I, Sect. 6.)

Emergencies. SECTION 8. The Treasurer, personally, or through the Clerk of the Church, may pay from the funds of the Church bills of immediate necessity not exceeding $200 for any one transaction, and he may keep on deposit the sum of $500 with the Clerk, as a petty cash fund, to be used by him for the payment of such bills. Such payments shall be reported, on the first of the following month, to the Board of Directors and the Committee on Finance, for their approval.

Committee on Business. SECTION 9. The Christian Science Board of Directors shall elect annually a Committee on Business, which shall consist of not less than three loyal members of The Mother Church, who shall transact promptly and efficiently such business as Mrs. Eddy, the Directors, or the Committee on Publication shall commit to it. While the members of this Committee are engaged in the transaction of the business assigned to them they shall be paid from the Church funds. Before being eligible for office the names of the persons nominated for said office shall be presented to Mrs. Eddy for her written approval.

THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE PUBLISHING SOCIETY

Article XXV

Board of Trustees. SECTION 1. The Board of Trustees, constituted by a Deed of Trust given by Rev. Mary Baker Eddy, the Pastor Emeritus of this Church, on January twenty-fifth, 1898, shall hold and manage the property therein conveyed, and conduct the business of "The Christian Science Publishing Society" on a strictly Christian basis, for the promotion of the interests of Christian Science.

Disposal of Funds. SECTION 2. The net profits of the business shall be paid over semi-annually to the Treasurer of The Mother Church. He shall hold this money subject to the order of the Christian Science Board of Directors, which is authorized to order its disposition only in accordance with the By-Laws contained in this Manual.

Vacancies in Trusteeship. SECTION 3. The Christian Science Board of Directors shall have the power to declare vacancies in said trusteeship, for such reasons as to the Board may seem expedient.

Whenever a vacancy shall occur, the Pastor Emeritus reserves the right to fill the same by appointment; but if she does not elect to exercise this right, the remaining trustees shall fill the vacancy, subject to her approval.

Editors and Manager. SECTION 4. The term of office for the editors and the manager of The Christian Science Publishing Society is one year each, dating from the time of election to the office. Incumbents who have served one year or more can be re-elected, or new officers elected, by a unanimous vote of the Christian Science Board of Directors, and the consent of the Pastor Emeritus given in her own handwriting.

Suitable Employees. SECTION 5. A person who is not accepted by the Pastor Emeritus and the Christian Science Board of Directors as suitable, shall in no manner be connected with publishing her books, nor with editing or publishing _The Christian Science Journal_, _Christian Science Sentinel_, _Der Herold der Christian Science_, nor with The Christian Science Publishing Society.

Periodicals. SECTION 6. Periodicals which shall at any time be published by The Christian Science Publishing Society, shall be copyrighted and conducted according to the provisions in the Deed of Trust relating to _The Christian Science Journal_.

Rule of Conduct. SECTION 7. No objectionable pictures shall be exhibited in the rooms where the Christian Science textbook is published or sold. No idle gossip, no slander, no mischief-making, no evil speaking shall be allowed.

Books to be Published. SECTION 8. Only the Publishing Society of The Mother Church selects, approves, and publishes the books and literature it sends forth. If Mary Baker Eddy disapproves of certain books or literature, the Society will not publish them. The Committees on Publication are in no manner connected with these functions. A book or an article of which Mrs. Eddy is the author shall not be published nor republished by this Society without her knowledge or written consent.

Removal of Cards. SECTION 9. No cards shall be removed from our periodicals without the request of the advertiser, except by a majority vote of the Christian Science Board of Directors at a meeting held for this purpose or for the examination of complaints.

Members of this Church who practise other professions or pursue other vocations, shall not advertise as healers, excepting those members who are officially engaged in the work of Christian Science, and they must devote ample time for faithful practice.

TEACHING CHRISTIAN SCIENCE

Article XXVI--TEACHERS

Motive in Teaching. SECTION 1. Teaching Christian Science shall not be a question of money, but of morals and religion, healing and uplifting the race.

Care of Pupils. SECTION 2. Christian Scientists who are teachers shall carefully select for pupils such only as have good past records and promising proclivities toward Christian Science. A teacher shall not assume personal control of, or attempt to dominate his pupils, but he shall hold himself morally obligated to promote their progress in the understanding of divine Principle, not only during the class term but after it, and to watch well that they prove sound in sentiment and practical in Christian Science. He shall persistently and patiently counsel his pupils in conformity with the unerring laws of God, and shall enjoin them habitually to study the Scriptures and SCIENCE AND HEALTH WITH KEY TO THE SCRIPTURES as a help thereto.

Defense against Malpractice. SECTION 3. Teachers shall instruct their pupils how to defend themselves against mental malpractice, never to return evil for evil, but to know the truth that makes free, and thus to be a law, not unto others, but to themselves.

Number of Pupils. SECTION 4. The teachers of Christian Science shall teach but one class yearly, which class shall consist of not more than thirty pupils. After 1907, the Board of Education shall have one class triennially, a Normal class not exceeding thirty pupils.

Pupil's Tuition. SECTION 5. A student's price for teaching Christian Science shall not exceed $100.00 per pupil.

Associations. SECTION 6. The associations of the pupils of loyal teachers shall convene annually. The pupils shall be guided by the BIBLE, and SCIENCE AND HEALTH, not by their teachers' personal views. Teachers shall not call their pupils together, or assemble a selected number of them, for more frequent meetings.

A Single Field of Labor. SECTION 7. A loyal teacher of Christian Science shall not teach another loyal teacher's pupil, except it be in the Board of Education. Outside of this Board each student occupies only his own field of labor. Pupils may visit each other's churches, and by invitation attend each other's associations.

Caring for Pupils of Strayed Members. SECTION 8. A loyal teacher of Christian Science may teach and receive into his association the pupils of another member of this Church who has so strayed as justly to be deemed, under the provisions of Article XII, Sect. 1, not ready to lead his pupils.

Teachers must have Certificates. SECTION 9. A member of this Church shall not teach pupils Christian Science unless he has a certificate to show that he has been taught by Mrs. Eddy or has taken a Normal Course at the Massachusetts Metaphysical College or in the Board of Education.

Such members who have not been continuously active and loyal Christian Scientists since receiving instruction as above, shall not teach Christian Science without the approval of The Christian Science Board of Directors.

Article XXVII--PUPILS

Authorized to Teach. SECTION 1. After a student's pupil has been duly authorized to be a teacher of Christian Science, or has been under the personal instruction of Mrs. Eddy, he is no longer under the jurisdiction of his former teacher.

Without Teachers. SECTION 2. Those beloved brethren whose teacher has left them, can elect an experienced Christian Scientist, who is not in charge of an association of students and who is ready for this high calling, to conduct the meetings of their association.

Basis for Teaching. SECTION 3. The teachers of the Normal class shall teach from the chapter Recapitulation in SCIENCE AND HEALTH WITH KEY TO THE SCRIPTURES, and from the Christian Science Platform, beginning on page 330 of the revised editions since 1902, and they shall teach nothing contrary thereto. The teachers of the Primary class shall instruct their pupils from the said chapter on "Recapitulation" only.

Church Membership. SECTION 4. Neither the Pastor Emeritus nor a member of this Church shall teach Roman Catholics Christian Science, except it be with the written consent of the authority of their Church. Choice of patients is left to the wisdom of the practitioner, and Mrs. Eddy is not to be consulted on this subject.

Class Teaching. SECTION 5. Members of The Mother Church who are authorized by its By-Laws to teach Christian Science, shall not solicit, or cause or permit others to solicit, pupils for their classes. No member of this Church shall advise against class instruction.

Teachers of Christian Science must have the necessary moral and spiritual qualifications to elucidate the Principle and rule of Christian Science, through the higher meaning of the Scriptures. "The less the teacher personally controls other minds, and the more he trusts them to the divine Truth and Love, the better it will be for both teacher and student." (Retrospection and Introspection, page 84.)

BOARD OF EDUCATION

Article XXVIII--ORGANIZATION

Officers. SECTION 1. There shall be a Board of Education, under the auspices of Mary Baker Eddy, President of the Massachusetts Metaphysical College, consisting of three members, a president, vice-president, and teacher of Christian Science. Obstetrics will not be taught.

Election. SECTION 2. The vice-president shall be elected annually by the Christian Science Board of Directors. Beginning with 1907, the teacher shall be elected every third year by said Board, and the candidate shall be subject to the approval of the Pastor Emeritus.

President not to be Consulted. SECTION 3. The President is not to be consulted by students on the question of applying for admission to this Board nor on their course or conduct. The students can confer with their teachers on subjects essential to their progress.

Presidency of College. SECTION 4. Should the President resign over her own signature or vacate her office of President of the Massachusetts Metaphysical College, a meeting of the Christian Science Board of Directors shall immediately be called, and the vice-president of the Board of Education being found worthy, on receiving her approval shall be elected to fill the vacancy.

Article XXIX--APPLICANTS AND GRADUATES

Normal Teachers. SECTION 1. Loyal students who have been taught in a Primary class by Mrs. Eddy and have practised Christian Science healing acceptably three years, and who present such credentials as are required to verify this fact, are eligible to receive the degree of C.S.D.