the Board of Directors to administer the discipline of this manual. When Mrs. Eddy wrote that she had for forty years supported the directors of the church, she did not write an absurdity but the veritable truth. She had supported the tenets and been governed by the tenets since 1879, the charter for the church having been obtained in June of that year. It is true that Mrs. Eddy drafted the tenets of the church herself, and from time to time revised and amended them, as the experience of the church “walking through deep waters” many times revealed a necessity for regulation. But her authorship of the Manual was as inspired as her authorship of “Science and Health,” she studied both writings and submitted her life to the guidance of the Manual as well as the text book.[1]
An important part of the labors performed by Mrs. Eddy after removing to Chestnut Hill was a revision of the Manual. In the Sentinel for June 20, 1908, this letter appeared:
My beloved Brethren, — When I asked you to dispense with the Executive Members meeting
- ↑
On the twenty-third day of September, 1892, at the request of Rev.
Mary Baker Eddy, twelve of her students and church members met and
reorganized, under her jurisdiction, The Christian Science Church and named
it, The First Church of Christ, Scientist. At this meeting twenty others of
Mrs. Eddy’s students and members of her former church were elected members
of this church, — those with others that have since been elected were known
as “First Members.” The Church Tenets, Rules and By-Laws, as prepared
by Mrs. Eddy, were adopted. A by-law adopted March 17, 1903, changed
the title of “First Members” to “Executive Members.” (On July 8, 1908,
the by-laws pertaining to “Executive Members” were repealed.)
Historical Sketch, Church Manual.
