Manual of the Mother Church The First Church of Christ Scientist in Boston, Massachusetts

Part 4

Chapter 43,778 wordsPublic domain

Qualifications. SECTION 2. Loyal Christian Scientists' pupils who so desire may apply to the Board of Education for instruction; and if they have practised Christian Science healing successfully three years and will furnish evidence of their eligibility therefor, they are eligible to enter the Normal class. All members of this class must be thorough English scholars.

Certificates. SECTION 3. Students are examined and given certificates by this Board if found qualified to receive them.

Article XXX--ACTION OF THE BOARD

Sessions. SECTION 1. The term of the Massachusetts Metaphysical College will open with the Board of Education on the first Wednesday of December. The sessions will continue not over one week. None but the teacher and members of the College class shall be present at the sessions, and no Primary classes shall be taught under the auspices of this Board.

Special Instruction. SECTION 2. Not less than two thorough lessons by a well qualified teacher shall be given to each Normal class on the subject of mental practice and _malpractice_. One student in the class shall prepare a paper on said subject that shall be read to the class, thoroughly discussed, and understood; this paper shall be given to the teacher, and he shall not allow it or a copy of it to remain, but shall destroy this paper.

Signatures. SECTION 3. The signature of the teacher and of the President of the College shall be on all certificates issued.

Remuneration and Free Scholarship. SECTION 4. Tuition of class instruction in the Board of Education shall be $100.00. The bearer of a card of free scholarship from the President, Rev. Mary Baker Eddy, shall be entitled to a free course in this department on presentation of the card to the teacher. Only the President gives free admission to classes.

Surplus Funds. SECTION 5. Any surplus funds left in the hands of the Board of Education shall be paid over annually to the Treasurer of The Mother Church.

Primary Students. SECTION 6. Students of Christian Science, duly instructed therein and with good moral records, not having the certificate of C.S.D. may enter the Normal class in the Board of Education, which will be held once in three years beginning A. D. 1907; provided their diplomas are for three _consecutive_ years under Mrs. Eddy's daily conversation on Christian Science, or from the Massachusetts Meta-physical College Board of Education.

Healing Better than Teaching. SECTION 7. Healing the sick and the sinner with Truth demonstrates what we affirm of Christian Science, and nothing can substitute this demonstration. I recommend that each member of this Church shall strive to demonstrate by his or her practice, that Christian Science heals the sick quickly and wholly, thus proving this Science to be all that we claim for it.

If both husband and wife are found duly qualified to teach Christian Science, either one, not both, should teach yearly one class.

Not Members of The Mother Church. SECTION 8. No person shall receive instructions in Christian Science in any class in the Massachusetts Metaphysical College, nor receive the degree of C.S.B. or C.S.D., who is not a member of The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Mass.

Only those persons who are members of this Church and possessed of the qualifications named in Sect. 9 of Article XXVI of these By-Laws shall be deemed loyal teachers of Christian Science.

BOARD OF LECTURESHIP

Article XXXI--ORGANIZATION AND DUTIES

Election. SECTION 1. This Church shall maintain a Board of Lectureship, the members of which shall be elected annually on Monday preceding the Annual Meeting, subject to the approval of the Pastor Emeritus. The lecture year shall begin July 1 of each year.

Duty of Lecturers. SECTION 2. It is the duty of the Board of Lectureship to include in each lecture a true and just reply to public topics condemning Christian Science, and to bear testimony to the facts pertaining to the life of the Pastor Emeritus. Each member shall mail to the Clerk of this Church copies of his lectures before delivering them.

No Disruption of Branch Churches. SECTION 3. The Board of Lectureship is not allowed in anywise to meddle with nor to disrupt the organization of branch churches. The lecturer can invite churches within the city whither he is called to unite in their attendance on his lecture, and so make for their churches a less lecture fee; but the churches shall decide their action.

Receptions. SECTION 4. As a rule there should be no receptions nor festivities after a lecture on Christian Science, but there may occur exceptions. If there be an individual who goes to hear and deride truth, he should go away contemplating truth; and he who goes to seek truth should have the opportunity to depart in quiet _thought_ on that subject.

Circuit Lecturer. SECTION 5. Upon the written request of Mrs. Eddy, The Mother Church shall appoint a Circuit Lecturer. His term of office, if approved, shall not be less than three years. He shall lecture in the United States, in Canada, in Great Britain and Ireland.

A member shall neither resign nor transfer this sacred office.

Article XXXII--CALLS FOR LECTURES

The Directors. SECTION 1. When the need is apparent, the Christian Science Board of Directors of The Mother Church may call on any member of this Board of Lectureship to lecture at such places and at such times as the cause of Christian Science demands.

From Branch Churches. SECTION 2. The branch Churches of Christ, Scientist, may apply through their clerks to a member of this Board of Lectureship for a speaker, and one shall be assigned them by the Board.

From Societies. SECTION 3. If called for, a member of the Board may lecture for a Society.

Annual Lectures. SECTION 4. The Mother Church and the branch churches shall call on the Board of Lectureship annually for one or more lectures.

No Lectures by Readers. SECTION 5. No lecture shall be given by a Reader during his term of Readership. The duties alone of a Reader are ample.

No Wednesday Evening Lectures. SECTION 6. The Board of Lectureship shall not appoint a lecture for Wednesday evening.

Lecture Fee. SECTION 7. The lecture fee shall be left to the discretion of the lecturer.

Expenses. SECTION 8. The lecturer's traveling expenses and the cost of hall shall be paid by the church that employs him.

Exceptional Cases. SECTION 9. If a lecturer receive a call to lecture in a place where he sees there is special need, and the local church is unable to meet the expense, he is at liberty to supply that need and trust to contributions for his fee.

COMMITTEE ON PUBLICATION

Article XXXIII

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 quantities 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 assembled. 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 latitude. 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 fellowship with another Church of Christ, Scientist.

This By-Law applies to all States except Massachusetts, 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 assistant, the Board shall, with the approval of the Pastor Emeritus, appoint an assistant manager, who shall receive an adequate salary from The Mother Church.

CHURCH-BUILDING

Article XXXIV

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, Mass., 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, Mass."

The Mother Church Building. SECTION 3. The edifice erected in 1894 for The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Mass., 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 XXXV

For The Mother Church Only. SECTION 1. The Church Manual of The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Mass., 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 Membership

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 illustrated 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 titles 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 Massachusetts Metaphysical College, or by one who has passed an examination by the Board of Education, fill this blank.

FORM 1

The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Mass., is designed to be built on the rock of Christ--Truth and Life--and to reflect the Church Triumphant.

One who is not a member of any church, excepting a branch church of Christ, Scientist, who loves Christian Science, and reads understandingly the Bible, and SCIENCE AND HEALTH WITH KEY TO THE SCRIPTURES, by Reverend Mary Baker Eddy, and other works by this author, and who is Christianly qualified and can enter into full fellowship with the Tenets and Rules of The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Mass., is eligible to membership.

_To The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Mass._

Gordon V. Comer Clerk.

I hereby make application for membership, and subscribe to the Tenets and the By-Laws of the Church.

My teacher in Christian Science is ...............James B. Brown, C.S.D. ..................

I am not a member of any church.

FORM 1--(Continued)

I was formerly a member of the ............................. ............ denomination, but have definitely severed my connection therewith.

Name .............. Mrs. Jennie W. Field, C.S. .......... Street and Number ....... 18 Forest St., ................ Town or City ................ Chicago, .................. State ............................ Ill .................. Date ................. Jan. 2nd, 1901 ...................

I cordially approve the applicant.

(a) ............... James B. Brown, C.S.D. ...............

Countersigned by ..........................................

DO NOT DETACH.

To the applicant: Name ...... Mrs. Jennie W. Field, C.S. ...... Please fill out the Street and Number ... 18 Forest St., ........ following for the use Town or City ............ Chicago, .......... of the Treasurer of State ............................ Ill ...... the Church:

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 Massachusetts Metaphysical College, or by one who has passed an examination by the Board of Education, fill this blank.

FORM 1

The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Mass., is designed to be built on the rock of Christ--Truth and Life--and to reflect the Church Triumphant.

_To The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Mass._

Gordon V. Comer Clerk.

I hereby make application for membership, and subscribe to the Tenets and the By-Laws of the Church.

My teacher in Christian Science is ...............James B. Brown, C.S.D. ..................

I am not a member of any church, excepting Church of Christ, Scientist, at ........................

FORM 1--(Continued)

I was formerly a member of the ............................. ............ denomination, but have definitely severed my connection therewith.

I cordially approve the applicant.

(a) ............... James B. Brown, C.S.D. ...............

Countersigned by ..........................................

DO NOT DETACH.

Application II

SIGNED, ENDORSED, AND COUNTERSIGNED,

ACCORDING TO ARTICLE VI, SECT. 2

If you have not been taught by a loyal student who has taken a degree at the Massachusetts Metaphysical College, or by one who has passed an examination by the Board of Education, fill this blank.

FORM 2

_To The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Mass._

Gordon V. Comer Clerk.

I hereby make application for membership, and subscribe to the Tenets and the By-Laws of the Church. I have not studied Christian Science with a teacher, and am not a member of any church excepting _Second_ Church of Christ, Scientist, at _New York, N.Y._

I was formerly a member of the ............................. ............ denomination, but have definitely severed my connection therewith.

FORM 2--(Continued)

Name .............. Miss Emma L. French ................. Street and Number ...... 293 Emerson St., ............... Town or City ................ New York .................. State ............................ N.Y. ................. Date ................. Jan. 2nd, 1901 ...................

I cordially approve the applicant.

(a) ............. Miss Mary E. Grant, C.S. ...............

Countersigned by .... James B. Brown, C.S.D. .............

DO NOT DETACH.

To the applicant: Name ....... Miss Emma L. French ....... Please fill out the Street and Number .. 293 Emerson St. ... following for the use Town or City ............ New York ..... of the Treasurer of State ......................... N.Y. ... the Church:

Present Order of Services in The Mother Church and Branch Churches

_Republished from the_ Sentinel

SUNDAY SERVICES

1. Hymn.

2. Reading a Scriptural Selection.

3. Silent Prayer, followed by the audible repetition of the Lord's Prayer with its spiritual interpretation.

4. Hymn.

5. Announcing necessary notices.

6. Solo.

7. Reading the explanatory note on first leaf of _Quarterly_.

8. Announcing the subject of the Lesson Sermon, and reading the Golden Text.

9. Reading the Scriptural selection, entitled "Responsive Reading," alternately by the First Reader and the congregation.

10. Reading the Lesson-Sermon. (After the Second Reader reads the BIBLE references of the first Section of the Lesson, the First Reader makes the following announcement: "As announced in the explanatory note, I shall now read correlative passages from the Christian Science textbook, SCIENCE AND HEALTH WITH KEY TO THE SCRIPTURES, by Mary Baker Eddy.")

11. Collection.

12. Hymn.

13. Reading the scientific statement of being, and the correlative SCRIPTURE according to I John 3:1-3.

14. Pronouncing Benediction.