all their official acts. Any one of these directors can at any time be dismissed upon Mrs. Eddy's request, and the vacancy can be filled only by a candidate whom she has approved. All the church business is transacted by these directors,—no other members of the church may be present at the business meetings,—and at any time Mrs. Eddy's request will remove them. The members of this board are pledged to secrecy; they "shall neither report the discussions of this Board, nor those with Mrs. Eddy."[1]
These directors are Mrs. Eddy's executive self, created by her and committed to silence. Their chief duties are to elect to office whomsoever Mrs. Eddy appoints, and to hold their peace.
The President of the church is annually elected by the directors, the election being subject to Mrs. Eddy's approval.[2]
The First and Second Readers are elected every third year by the directors, subject to Mrs. Eddy's approval, but she can remove a Reader either from the Mother Church or from any of the branch churches whenever she sees fit and without explanation.[3]
The Clerk and Treasurer of the church are elected once a year by the directors, subject to Mrs. Eddy's approval.[4]
Executive Members: Prior to 1903 these were known as First Members. They shall not be less than fifty in number, nor more than one hundred. They must have certain qualifications (such as residing within five hundred miles of Boston), and they must hold a meeting once a year and special meetings at
- ↑ Church Manual (43d ed.), Article I, Sec. 5.
- ↑ Ibid. (43d ed.), Article I, Sec. 2.
- ↑ Ibid. (43d ed.), Article I, Sec. 4. Ibid. (11th ed.), Article XXIII, Sec. 2.
- ↑ Ibid. (43d ed.), Article I, Sec. 3.
