Christian Science After 1910

by Andrew W. Hartsook

Let the word have free course and be glorified. The people clamor to leave cradle and swaddling-clothes. the spiritual status is urging its highest demands on mortals, and material history is drawing to a close. Truth cannot be stereotyped; it unfoldeth forever.

MARY BAKER EDDY

No And Yes, p. 45

I think the greatest discovery will be made along spiritual lines. Here is a force which history clearly teaches has been the greatest power in the development of men and history. Yet we have merely been playing with it and have never seriously studied it as we have the physical forces. Some day people will learn that material things do not bring happiness and are of little use in making men and women creative and powerful. Then the scientists of the world will turn their laboratories over to the study of god and prayer and the spiritual forces which as yet have hardly been scratched. When this day comes, the world will see more advancement in one generation than it has seen in the last four.

Charles P. Steinmetz

Electrical Engineer, 1930

Photo by William Lyman Johnson 1903

Mary Baker Eddy speaking to her students from the balcony at Pleasant View, Concord, New Hampshire, with Calvin Frye at her right hand on June 25, 1901

TEXT OF HER REMARKS

My dear Students: Guard your tongues. When you see sin in others, know that you have it in yourselves, and become repentant. If you think you are not mortal, you are mistaken. I find my students either in an apathy or a frenzy. I am astonished at your ignorance of the methods of animal magnetism. Your enemies are working incessantly while you are not working as you should. They do not knock, they come with a rush. They do not take me unawares. I know before they come. Would that my head were a fountain of waters, and my eyes rivers of tears that I might weep, because of the apathy of the students and the little that they have accomplished. You have never seen me in my real home, but you may sometime. Come with me into it.

Table of Contents

• Preface
• The Great Divide
• Getting Down to Business
• Brewing Controversies
• Initiatives
• Gathering Storm Clouds
• The General Welfare
• The Court Decision and Aftermath
• The Rest of the 1920s
• John V. Dittemore's Trunk
• Philosophies of Government
• Changes on Many Fronts
• The War Years
• War in Heaven
• Disciplinary Action
• The Burdens of Authority
• The Postwar Period
• Tending the Flock
• The Foe in Ambush
• Business as Usual
• Finishing up the 1950s
• Centennial
• Construction Project
• Legislative Action
• Mene Mene Tekel Upharsin
• Damage Control
• Rending the Temple Veil
• More Unraveling
• Court Initiatives
• Court Results
• The Electronic Church
• Corbeau under Glass
• Miscalculations
• Valuable Experience
• The Present and Future
• Appendixes
• Last Will and Testament of Mary Baker Eddy
• Deed of Trust, Christian Science Publishing Society
• The Christian Science Board of Directors
• Acknowledgments
• Bibliography
• About the author





PREFACE

There are many histories of the early days of Christian Science, but none which follow the chronological events from the pivotal year, 1910, to the present day. With the exception of Norman Beasley's The Continuing Spirit, written almost forty years ago, no book has recounted events year by year. Considering the upheaval in the Church since his 1956 book, a narrative covering that entire span of time should be helpful to those Christian Scientists who seek to make sense out of troubling and challenging events inside the Church organization.

An account given in Divinity Course and General Collectanea states: "One morning when Mrs. Carpenter was with Mrs. Eddy in her study at Pleasant View, our Leader mentioned that she was writing a letter to Mrs. Longyear who had requested advice regarding a Christian Science practitioner. She then read out what she had replied to Mrs. Longyear. It was: 'I cannot advise you regarding a Christian Science practitioner, but I most earnestly request that you select one who knows Christian Science history.'" (p. 257)

While Mrs. Eddy was probably speaking of the spiritual unfolding of Christian Science as much as the outward material history, the latter certainly should not be neglected. The timeworn quotation of George Santayana, "Those who do not learn from the past are condemned to repeat it" has been updated by an unknown observer who said, "The only thing we have learned from the past is that we haven't learned anything."

Mrs. Eddy's remarks to students on June 25, 1901, (see frontispiece) perhaps reflect the concern she felt on this same subject. Her words on that occasion were probably not what the students expected to hear. Mrs. Eddy discerned the thought of those around her and expressed what would do them the most good, if only they would listen and accept the lesson.

This book is dedicated to Christian Scientists who want to learn that lesson.








CHAPTER 1 — THE GREAT DIVIDE

On Sunday morning, December 4, 1910, Judge Clifford P. Smith, First Reader in The Mother Church, paused after reading I John, Chapter III to say, "I shall now read part of a letter written by our revered Leader and reprinted on page 135 of Miscellaneous Writings: 'MY BELOVED STUDENTS: — You may be looking to see me in my accustomed place with you, but this you must no longer expect. When I retired from the field of labor, it was a departure, socially, publicly, and finally, from the routine of such material modes as society and our societies demand. Rumors are rumors, — nothing more. I am still with you on the field of battle, taking forward marches, broader and higher views and with the hope that you will follow... All our thoughts should be given to the absolute demonstration of Christian Science. You can well afford to give me up, since you have in my last revised edition of Science and Health your teacher and guide.'

"Although these lines were written years ago [1891], they are true to-day, and will continue to be true. But it has now become my duty to announce that Mrs. Eddy passed from our sight last night at 10:45 o'clock, at her home in Chestnut Hill." 1 With these words, Christian Science had entered a new era. Even though Mary Baker Eddy had retired from public view, she had always been in the background revising her writings, counseling her students, and making course corrections in The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and The Christian

1. Wilbur, The Life of Mary Baker Eddy, p. 387



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course corrections in The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and The Christian Science Publishing Society. From now on, her students would have to demonstrate their own steps in accordance with the Church Manual and their Leader's textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures.

On December 7th, the Board of Directors met and approved the release of the following statement to the press: "The authority given to the Board of Directors by the Church Manual remains intact, and is fully adequate for the government of the organization in all its affairs. The policy of this board will be the same as when under Mrs. Eddy's active direction. The board is in complete harmony and hundreds of telegrams and letters received from branch churches and societies throughout the world show that it has the unswerving loyalty and support of the entire denomination. The adequate written instructions and directions of Mrs. Eddy, under which the Christian Science movement has grown and prospered, including the By-Laws which place the direction of the spiritual and business affairs of the Church entirely in the hands of The Christian Science Board of Directors, will continue to guide their actions." 2

The next day, December 8th, Mrs. Eddy's funeral was held at Chestnut Hill. "Among those in attendance were Mrs. Eddy's son, George Washington Glover of Lead, S.D., his daughter, Mary Baker Glover, and his son George Washington Glover, Jr., Dr. E.J. Foster-Eddy of Waterbury, Vt., Mrs. Eddy's adopted son; and other relatives including General Henry M. Baker of Bow, N.H., Mrs. Eddy's cousin, John B. Baker of Concord, N.H., another cousin of Mrs. Eddy, and his son Rufus; Calvin A. Frye, Mrs. Laura Sargent, Adam H. Dickey, the Rev. I. C. Tomlinson, Mr. and Mrs. William Rathvon and Mrs. Martha W. Wilcox, members of Mrs. Eddy's household; Josiah E. Fernald of Concord, N.H., one of Mrs. Eddy's trustees; Archibald McLellan, Stephen A. Chase, Allison V. Stewart, and John V. Dittemore of the Christian Science board of directors; William H. Baldwin, president of the Mother Church; Alfred Farlow, committee on publication of the First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston and a number of Mrs. Eddy's personal students." 3

Surprisingly, within two weeks, on December 17, 1910, the Directors had issued a new Church Manual, the 89th Edition, which eliminated Mrs. Eddy's name as Pastor Emeritus from the list of church officers on page twenty-one. In addition the year 1911 was stamped in the cover, and the words "and Branch Churches" were added to the heading on page 120 (which previously stated, "Present Order of Services in The Mother Church") and also on page 127 (which formerly said, "Order of Exercises for the Sunday School of the Mother

2. Proceedings in Equity, 1919-1921, p. 374
3. Concord [N.H.] Evening Monitor, Dec. 8, 1910



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Church.") The Boston Globe, the [New York] World, the New York Press, and the New York Sun, noted the removal of Mrs. Eddy as a church officer from the Manual in their December 30th editions.

John V. Dittemore, clerk of The Mother Church and Board member, was dispatched to explain the omission of Mrs. Eddy's name: "In reply to the question, 'Why was Mrs. Eddy's name removed from the Church Manual as pastor emeritus when she specifically stated that no change was to be made?' Mrs. Eddy never specifically or otherwise said anything of the kind. After Mrs. Eddy passed away her name was removed from the list of officers of the church published in the front of the Manual, just the same as the names of other officers have always been removed from this page when they have passed away." 4

Mr. Dittemore gave another statement to the [New York] World which appeared on January 6, 1911. The clerk of The Mother Church is quoted as saying, "The death of Mrs. Eddy means little or nothing to us. It is as though any one of us had passed away — nothing more. This church is run as a plain business proposition, and its future will be directed in accordance with plain business principles."

Another disturbing fact was that the new 89th Church Manual had never been announced in the prescribed way. The Christian Science Sentinel always included a paragraph which stated, "Each New Edition of the Church Manual containing the By-laws of The Mother Church, The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Mass., will have special notice in the Sentinel." The last such notice, which announced the 88th Edition of the Manual, had appeared in the September 3, 1910, issue. The advisory paragraph continued to appear in the Sentinel up to and including the January 14, 1911, issue, but no formal notice of the 89th Edition was ever given.

Other questions were raised regarding church by-laws which required Mrs. Eddy's consent before vital church appointments and functions could be carried out. Such consent provisos are called "estoppel clauses" in law. In a letter to the Board of Directors dated November 5, 1923, Frederick Dixon, editor of The Christian Science Monitor from 1914 to 1922, wrote, "During the days following the passing away of Mrs. Eddy, Mr. McLellan [Board member and editor-in-chief of all the C.S. publications] told me that the Directors had felt impelled to consult their lawyers as to the possibility of carrying on The Mother Church in the face of the fact that they could no longer do so in accordance with the Manual [because of the estoppel clauses]. The reply of the lawyers he admitted was legal — and that doubtfully — rather than scientific or satisfactory." 5

4. Boston Journal, Dec. 31, 1910
5. Studdert-Kennedy, C.S. and Organized Religion, p. 30



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"After the departure, eighteen months later, of the visible Pastor Emeritus, Albert Allen, publisher of the Columbus [Ohio] News, asked Mr. McLellan how the board was going to get around the estoppel clauses in the Manual. The reply was now inevitable and simple: 'How can we get the consent of a dead woman?'" 6

Charles F. Choate, Jr. of the law firm Choate, Hall & Stewart stated in 1926, "In my judgment, the By-Laws providing for Mrs. Eddy's approval required that approval only so long as it was possible for her to give it and when, by her passing on, it became impossible to obtain that approval, it was intended that such approval should cease to be a condition.''7

It was also argued that Mrs. Eddy would not have left her entire estate to the Church if she had intended it to cease functioning at her passing.

One possible explanation for the hasty statements of the Board of Directors so soon after Mrs. Eddy' s passing was their fear of Augusta E. Stetson of New York City. She had been excommunicated from The Mother Church on November 17, 1909, after a sensational, highly publicized trial in which she and some of her students were charged with deifying Mrs. Eddy and committing mental malpractice. Prior to the trial and her expulsion from the church, there had been much discussion in the Christian Science field that she would be Mary Baker Eddy's successor because of the prosperity of her own large church in New York City and also because of her long association with Mrs. Eddy. After her dismissal from The Mother Church, she voluntarily withdrew her membership from First Church, New York, ceased teaching classes in Christian Science, and more or less confined herself to giving newspaper interviews and buying advertising space to make her positions known.

Considering these facts, a story in the Boston Globe of December 15, 1910, created a sensation: "Although Mrs. August E. Stetson, who was first reader of the First Church of Christ, Scientist, in New York was some months ago expelled from the Mother church by vote of the board of directors, she is bequeathed the most valuable piece of jewelry owned by Mrs. Eddy, her 'crown of diamonds' breastpin, which is intrinsically valued at several thousands of dollars.''

The New York American of the same date included, "The codicil under which the bequest was made was drawn in 1904, before the trouble between Mrs. Stetson and the church arose. Under the same codicil Mrs. Eddy' s famous diamond cross, said to be equally as valuable as the diamond crown, is bequeathed to Mrs. Laura Lathrop of...New York City...'' Mrs. Stetson viewed

6. Oakes, M.B.E. 's Lessons of Seventh Day, p 285
7. Permanency of TMC & Its Manual (1942) p. 39



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the valuable bequest as a vindication and a sign that she was chosen to demonstrate the spiritually organized church.

The New York Sun of December 20, 1910, stated, "The directors of the Mother Church of Christ, Scientist, here [Boston] have reason to believe that Mrs. Augusta E. Stetson, the excommunicated leader of the First Church in New York, is to be the first to test their power as spiritual and temporal leaders of the Christian Science Church." In the same article, Mrs. Stetson responded to the Board of Directors' fears through a spokesman: "Mrs. Stetson will be the first publicly to deny that she harbors any such intention as that credited to her by the five directors of the Mother Church...She does not aspire to succeed to the temporal or spiritual power that was Mrs. Eddy's. It is her belief that by their works people shall be judged. By their works the board of directors in Boston will prove their fitness to rule or otherwise. Mrs. Stetson believes that she is not called upon to intervene."

These statements did not end the controversy. Beginning on December 29th, a series of sensational headlines appeared in the New York and Boston newspapers. The Boston Globe of December 30th reported, "Augusta E. Stetson made the positive statement tonight that she believes Mary Baker Eddy will 'demonstrate' over death and show herself in tangible form, not only to her followers, but to the world at large...'It may not occur for years, or it may occur tomorrow or next week. But she will manifest herself and all men shall know of it.'" These stories led to vehement denials by the Board of Directors and by other Christian Scientists interviewed: "Mrs. Stetson was discharged from the church because she was in the wrong. Spite probably is responsible for her resurrection statement. She is not recognized in the church, and therefore what she says is not to be relied on." 8

Years later, church historian Robert Peel would try to connect Mrs. Stetson's statements with the removal of Mrs. Eddy's name from the list of church officers in the Church Manual:. He wrote, "Mrs. Stetson now informed the press dramatically that Mrs. Eddy would before long rise from the grave and return permanently to earth — and that all true Christian Scientists believed this. The Directors felt at the time that if they left their Leader's name on the list of living officers at the front of the Manual they would seem to be confirming this sensational claim, for which there was not a scintilla of support in Mrs. Eddy's writings." 9

The 89th Edition of the Church Manual, as previously noted, was issued on December 17, 1910. Mrs. Stetson's statements regarding her expectation of Mrs. Eddy's reappearance were not made until December 28th at the earliest.

8. Boston Post, December 31, 1910
9. C.S. Journal, Sept. 1982, p. 529



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Therefore this latter-day explanation is not in accord with the facts.

Another change which escaped much notice was the removal of Mrs. Eddy's picture as the frontispiece in Science and Health. As late as the November 26, 1910, issue of the Christian Science Sentinel , — only a week before Mrs. Eddy's passing — the following notice had appeared: "The Christian Science Text-Book, 'Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures.' — This work contains important changes and additions by the author, also a photogravure portrait of Mrs. Eddy, together with a facsimile of her signature."

A letter written on December 28, 1948, by Alice L. Orgain, a prolific writer and observer of the Christian Science organization, stated: "There is another matter of which I have not spoken before, and that is Mrs. Eddy's picture appears in all the 1910 editions of 'Science and Health' that I have in my collections. I had someone years ago to ask the Board of Directors if Mrs. Eddy had it removed. They answered that they did not know why or when it was removed, that Mrs. Eddy must have instructed orally that it should be dropped, but that they had never found anyone so instructed and no record whatsoever of its authorization for removal. This was the first Board of Directors after Mrs. Eddy's passing on. It is strange that no record was given or kept of so important a happening. It leaves one to conclude that it may have been part of the plan for her effacement at the same time the Directors were planning to succeed her." 10

The questions about the changes in the Church Manual , the disappearance of Mrs. Eddy's picture from her textbook, the estoppel clauses, and who would succeed her were little noticed in the rest of the world. Remarkable editorial tributes showing a widespread understanding and appreciation of Mrs. Eddy and Christian Science were arriving at church headquarters in Boston from big city newspapers, small town America, and from all over the world. These were gathered together into one volume entitled, Editorial Comments on the Life and Work ofMary Baker Eddy:

The Daily Traveler of Arkansas City, Kansas, wrote, "Mrs. Eddy was a great and grand woman. We believe her to have been the greatest woman the world ever knew. She was the most loved and at the same time the most maligned woman of the age."

The Athens [Ohio] Daily Messenger wrote, "Whatever one's theory about Christian Science, the career of Mrs. Eddy, who recently passed out in her ninetieth year, is without a parallel... The ideas of Christian Science are old, dating back before Christ, and the Founder maintained that the power of Jesus and his disciples to heal the sick is a living and universal power, everlasting and eternal, but for centuries lost to Christians. It remained for Mrs. Eddy to rediscover this power and reduce it to what she and her followers call a Science, —

10. Flynn, The Alice Orgain Letters, p. 693



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that is, a rational and demonstrable proposition."

The Minneapolis [Minnesota] Journal remarked, "Higher criticism [of the Bible], so called, is supposed to have so far impeached for the majority of minds in this age the validity of a book as a medium through which God speaks, that the very props of the churches relying upon the book are considered by many to be broken. But here is a faith, new but as surely Christian in derivation and in sentiment as any Christian denomination or church, planting itself on the written.word, and considering that written word as so alive that it is spoken of as 'pastor' and accepted as leader. A rather surprising commentary upon the alleged triumph of the higher criticism, to say the least!"

The Fairbanks [Alaska] Daily Times wrote, "Had Mrs. Eddy lived in the days when Jesus was on earth, she would have been a leader among the disciples, and like her Master would doubtless have been crucified. Living in later times, she has been crucified over and over again according to the modern method, which crucified the spirit instead of the flesh. Openly reviled by the scoffers, she showed the same fortitude and forgiveness manifested by him, and like him replied, 'Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.'"

The Des Moines [Iowa] Capital pondered, "In reflecting upon the remarkable career which has just terminated at Newton, Mass., the ancient query of Pilate, 'What is truth?' seems to come readily to mind. Was Mary Baker Eddy a prophet of God sent into the world to inaugurate a new dispensation? Did she usher in light where only darkness reigned before? Will the church which she founded demonstrate in the years to come that it is builded upon that rock against which the gates of hell can ne'er prevail?" 11

11. Editorial Comments, pp. 117, 88, 71, 73,112 (Reissued in 1993 by The Christian Science Publishing Society as Tributes from the Press.



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CHAPTER 2 — GETTING DOWN TO BUSINESS

Unforeseen problems arose when Mrs. Eddy's will was probated. The Christian Science Board of Directors had been formed in 1892 in accordance with Section 1 of Chapter 37 of the Revised Laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Section 9 of the same chapter states, "The income of the gifts, grants, bequests and devises made or for the use any one church shall not exceed $2000 a year exclusive of the income of any parsonage land granted to or for the use of the ministry." According to the Concord [N.H.]Evening Monitor of October 15, 1911, Mrs. Eddy's estate was valued at more than $2,000,000.

In 1907 Mrs. Eddy had turned over her estate to three trustees (Adam H. Dickey, Archibald McLellan, and Josiah E. Fernald) during the Next Friends Suit to prevent the "next" friends from getting control of her property. Because of the law restricting the amount of money a church could receive from a bequest, the Board of Directors had to sue the trustees in order to legally take possession of the estate. At the same time Mrs. Eddy's son and adopted son went to court in an attempt to get their mother's estate. They had both agreed in 1909 to a monetary settlement with the understanding that they would not contest their mother's will. When her will was probated and the $2000 limit on bequests came to light, they once again engaged the services of former Senator William E. Chandler who had represented them as the "next" friends in 1907 in an effort to take possession of the estate at that time.

Ultimately the Directors were successful before the New Hampshire Supreme Court on October 7, 1913. Their attorneys, including Mrs. Eddy's trusted New Hampshire lawyer Frank S. Streeter, successfully argued that, "[bequests] are not




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within purview of said statutes [limiting them to $2000], for those uses are not the local uses of a particular religious society or church, but are denominational and general." Thus ended what could have been a disastrous thwarting of Mrs. Eddy's expressed intentions regarding the disposition of her estate. Credit for preserving Mrs. Eddy's expressed wishes belongs to Frank S. Streeter and his exceptional legal skill.

An article which appeared in the Concord Evening Monitor of October 4, 1911, is of more than passing interest because it brings to light Mrs. Eddy's own plans regarding her place of residence which have never been made public other than in this one newspaper article. On Sunday afternoon, January 26, 1908, Mrs. Eddy made a surprise move, along with her household, from Concord to a suburb of Boston. No public explanation had ever been given for this change. The revealing newspaper article from 1911 follows: "The action now on trial in the Massachusetts court to establish the residence of the late Rev. Mary Ilaker G. Eddy in the state for the purpose of collecting inheritance tax in that state as against the claims of New Hampshire brought some interesting testimony on Tuesday of the desire of Mrs. Eddy to retain her residence in Concord and to return to Pleasant View after repairs had been made or a new residence erected for her habitation. "After establishing the age of Mrs. Eddy at the time of her death, Attorney General Swift, who appealed from the action to the Suffolk county probate court in accepting a copy of the will filed in the Merrimack registry here, introduced as the first witness Calvin A. Frye, the major domo of Mrs. Eddy's household, who testified to the facts of the removal to Chestnut Hill, February 26, 1908, the make-up of the household there, and to the fact that Pleasant View had been kept open for the occupancy of Prof. and Mrs. Hermann S. Hering. He also gave facts concerning Mrs. Eddy's accounts in local banks. "Archibald McClellan [sic], editor of the Christian Science Monitor, was called by Mr. Choate, and testified that he had known Mrs. Eddy since 1908, and that she wrote him a letter about changing her residence from Concord to Boston. As he had lost the original, the letter was read from a letter copy book as follows: 'March 7, 1908 — Mr. Archibald McClellan, beloved student and trustee — I hereby state that I desire to retain my beloved residence in Concord and to have my property assessed there.'

"Witness said he had a talk with Chairman Cochrane of the Newton board of assessors, telling him of Mrs. Eddy's wishes. 'One-third of the estate was taxed to me at Brookline, one-third to Gen. Henry M. Baker of Bow, N.H., and one third to Mr. Fernald of Concord — as trustees,' he continued. Mr. McClellan also testified that when Mrs. Eddy moved from Pleasant View, most of her old furniture was left there, and duplicates were made for the home at Chestnut Hill.

9

"Laura Ella Sargent, student and companion of Mrs. Eddy, testified that she assisted Mrs. Eddy in her removal and that she took only some treasured gifts and her old writing desk to Newton. After that she sent for articles to furnish her suite of three rooms. "'She spoke to me often,' said the witness, 'in regard to coming to Boston (in November, 1907) because she wanted to be absent while repairs were going on at Concord and she must have a place to stay. She often spoke of her love for her home in Concord and of her desire to have a new brick home there.'

"Gen. Henry M. Baker of Bow, told of the reception of Mrs. Eddy's will in the National Shawmut bank of Boston and filing it in court. In May, 1908, when he and she were looking at the Blue Hills from Chestnut Hill, she exclaimed: 'It is very pleasant, but not so pleasant as from Pleasant View. You know, Henry, that is my home!' In several conversations she spoke about returning to Concord and to 'Pleasant View, my home.'

"August Mann, who was coachman and had charge of the grounds at Concord, produced a letter of Jan. 19, 1908, saying: 'Dear Mr. and Mrs. Mann: I am going to Massachusetts to spend my winter, and am going to take my household. You can keep the place while I am gone. Keep this to yourself till I get away.'

"Solon Spencer Beaman, A Chicago architect testified to several talks with Mrs. Eddy about plans for changes in the old house or the construction of a new one in Concord, and read a letter from her of one sentence, 'I will try one summer here,' dated April 28, 1908, at Chestnut Hill. There were also conversations in the fall of 1907 and in October 1908, but nothing came of them. "Irving Clinton Tomlinson, a Christian Science practitioner of Boston, testified to receiving a letter from Judge James W. Remick of New Hampshire about buying or leasing Pleasant View. He said Mrs. Eddy was much pleased that the judge should have such an interest, but she asked the witness to write that she was disinclined to leave or part with her old home. "Miss Minnie Adelaide Still, Mrs. Eddy's stenographer, Miss Elizabeth Lands and John C. Salchow, all former members of the Eddy household, testified to the love of Mrs. Eddy for her Concord home and her desire to return there."

In May of 1911, the Christian Science Sentinel announced a fund to build a memorial for Mrs. Eddy. The Concord Evening Monitor of October 5, 1911, announced, "Alfred Farlow [Committee on Publication] gave out the information that in a short time the work will be under way at Mount Auburn Cemetery on one of the most splendid memorials ever constructed in this or any other country. No expense is to be spared to make the monument to Mrs. Eddy,




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which may be in the form of a mausoleum, unique with approaches and architectural features unparalleled in history." The monument was over subscribed and was completed in 1912.

Norman Beasley writes in his book, The Continuing Spirit, "In the year ending March 31, 1912, 65 churches and societies — a new one every few days - were organized in the United States, in Canada, in Europe, in South America, in Australia, and in New Zealand. During the same fiscal year, the number persons devoting themselves wholly to the practice of Christian Science healing increased to 5,193 from a total of 4,870 at the close of the preceding year. This increase of 323 practitioners was the largest in any one year since the beginning of the movement." 12

The October 1913 Christian Science Journal announced that practitioners who did not have class instruction with an authorized teacher would no longer have "C.S." after their names in their Journal listing. In Mrs. Eddy's day, all pracliliuners hall Lhe designalion because they were her students via Science and Health.

The Christian Science Sentinel of November 1, 1913, announced the publication of The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, which contained collected articles written by Mrs. Eddy after the publication of Miscellaneous Writings in 1896. In addition, the Concordance to Other Writings by Mrs. Eddy was published in 1913 and joined the concordance for Science and Health which had been completed in 1903 and later revised to incorporate changes she made up to and including 1910.

The year 1913 also inaugurated some disturbing actions by the Christian Science Board of Directors which have long since become commonplace. Reverend G. A. Kratzer of Chicago had written an article, "Dominion Within", which appeared in the February 29, 1908, Christian Science Sentinel. Two days later, he received an autograph letter from Mary Baker Eddy, the first sentence of which was, "Your article, 'Dominion Within', is superb."13 Other of his articles were also published in the periodicals. The author was a former Protestant minister who had come into Christian Science and become a Journal listed practitioner. He found it helpful to write articles for his patients and give them to others as well.

He received a letter from the Board of Directors dated February 15, 1913: "From time to time information has reached the officers of The Mother Church to the effect that your practice does not conform to the established usage of the Christian Science movement. It is claimed that you violate the provisions of

12. Beasley, The Continuing Spirit, pp. 38, 39
13. Kratzer, Dominion Within, p. 7



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our Church Manual by the circulation of literature other than that which is published by our denomination and which correctly sets forth the teaching of Christian Science, and that you systematically furnish your patients with your own written formulas and articles in preference to the literature provided by our Leader and our Publishing Society."

The letter ended with the invitation to resign his membership from The Mother Church.

In his reply to the Board, Rev. Kratzer assured the Directors that all of his patients owned the Bible and Science and Health and that he recommended the periodicals to them. He further explained: "You speak for the fact that my articles were appearing occasionally in the periodicals. How much does the appearing of a dozen articles in a year amount to, as a means of expression, to a man whose mentality is so fertile that it would naturally produce an article every day? How would it seem to Paderewski, if some one should say to him, 'You ought to be satisfied if you are allowed to give a dozen concerts a year.' I think that you and I can readily imagine about what kind of a reply Paderewski would make. A man like Paderewski plays, not primarily 'To be heard of men', not even primarily to entertain or elevate men, but primarily because he is full of music; and to inhibit the musical expression of such a man would be to strike at his very life. And it would not help him a particle to tell him that, for certain reasons, it was inexpedient that he should be allowed much musical expression, but that he could express himself in painting all he cared to..."

In another letter to the Directors, Rev. Kratzer observes, "All through human history, the tendency of religious movements has been to center thought more and more about manmade rules, about forms and ceremonies, about buildings and outward display, and to center it less and less upon spontaneous spiritual activity upon the part of the members...Undoubtedly, so-called 'authorized literature' is more likely to be correct in doctrine than literature which has not been officially revised; and, no doubt, a great body of authorized literature is very important. And if this literature continues to be published and circulated, as at present, it will serve as a standard of correct doctrine among students of Christian Science. If some of them do pick up a false idea here and there, they will in time discover its falsity, through their reading and study of the authorized literature. As long as the authorized literature continues to be issued, as at present, the Christian Science movement will be like a running stream, constantly tending to purify itself, even though some impurities do get into it, through the circulation of unauthorized literature. Whatever might be lost through temporary and occasional corruption of doctrine would be more than compensated for, if members of the church are allowed freedom in speech and writing, by the fresh, spiritual life, direct from God, that will be energizing the activity of members of




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the church, here and there. Only through the encouragement of such liberty of expression can the spiritual life of the Christian Science organization be permanently maintained. From a spiritual standpoint, it is absolutely unsafe, in the long account, to force, or attempt to force, all of the members of the church on to a Procrustean bed of uniformity, as to their activities in speech and writing. In the preface to Science and Health, Mrs. Eddy declares: 'The time for thinkers has come'... "Through the tendencies to conservatism and to the worship of organization in human nature, I can see an imminent danger that the Christian Science hierarchy, if allowed to proceed unquestioned, will soon become so entrenched in its own sense of authority and in the blind support of the comparatively unthinking masses of Scientists and others, that it will get a 'strangle hold' on the mental liberties of a large section of the civilized world; and to enslave men mentally, — that is, to impede their freedom of mental action and utterance, — is far more <lamnahle than to enslave them physically. How long will it be before we shall have an 'index expurgatorius'?...While my personal conduct may not have been always irreproachable, — and what human being's conduct has, — I feel that, as measured by our Leader's own definition, my loyalty, — at least in desire and purpose, — to the cause of Christian Science cannot legitimately be doubted; and I feel that there should continue to be a place for me in the Christian Science organization, — and that without the imputation of 'disloyalty.'"

The Board of Directors was unmoved by Rev. Kratzer's appeal. He was sent a blank form of request for dismissal which he signed. His practitioner card was removed from The Christian Science Journal and he was removed from membership in The Mother Church. Once free from the control and disfavor of the Board, Rev. Kratzer published a book of his collected articles entitled, Dominion Within later that same year.

In view of the unbending treatment meted out to Rev. Kratzer, the editorial of December 6, 1913, in the Christian Science Sentinel is surprisingly tolerant: "If the letters received at this office from time to time are to be taken as indicative of the thought of the field at large, there is considerable perplexity among Christian Scientists as to what their attitude should be toward what is termed Christian Science literature, but not 'authorized,' as are our Leader's writings and the periodicals issued under the auspices of The Christian Science Publishing Society. Fortunately, through the publication of 'The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany,' we are able to refer our readers directly to what Mrs. Eddy herself has to say on this subject. On page 224 of the new volume she writes: — 'My books state Christian Science correctly. They may not be as taking to those ignorant of this Science as books less correct and therefore less profound. But it is not safe to accept the latter as standards. We




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would not deny their authors a hearing , since the Scripture declares, "He that is not against us is on our part." and we should also speak in loving terms of their efforts, but we cannot afford to recommend any literature as wholly Christian Science which is not absolutely genuine.'

"There is only one standard to which we may safely ally ourselves in gaining a correct understanding of Christian Science, and that is the teaching of its Discoverer and Founder, Mary Baker Eddy. "Much of this has been said before, in the Sentinel of Feb. 4, 1905, and in response to the many requests for something on this question we quote a part of the editorial as being equally applicable to the conditions of today, as follows: —

"While it is possible to answer these questions in a very few words, it seems better to go into the matter in a more general way, because of the very considerable number of books of various kinds which have been issued by Christian Scientists within the past few years, and because of other books issued by persons who are not Christian Scientists, but who have mentioned Christian Science in a commendatory manner. As both these classes of books seem to be on the increase, and as they are being extensively advertised among Christian Scientists, it has become a fair question to ask whether any of these publications can be considered as having the official approval of the denomination, or as speaking for the cause in an authoritative way. The answer which must be made to this question is that the only publications for which the Christian Science church assumes responsibility are the writings of the Rev. Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, issued through her own publisher, and the periodicals, pamphlets, etc., issued by The Christian Science Publishing Society. All other must be considered as not being Christian Science literature and as having no more authority to speak for, or bind, the denomination, or to represent the cause than would properly be conceded to a book published by a lay member of the Methodist church, for instance, to bind that denomination, even though the book should set forth the author's views about Methodism or attempt through fiction to present the doctrines of that faith in an attractive manner. "This statement must not be construed to mean that we are passing judgment upon these books. It simply means that they are not Christian Science literature in the sense in which that term is used by Christian Scientists. One of the greatest dangers in their circulation is the inconsiderate acceptance of all their statements as synonymous with the teachings of Christian Science. Another danger is that they may be given out in substitution for the authorized literature which alone is representative of this great movement. "We are told that some Christian Scientists have looked upon these books as the most suitable literature to place in the hands of investigators or beginners, but this seems to us to be a subtle temptation to make Christian Science so easy




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for one's friends that it will not grate harshly upon their established views regarding God, man, and disease. When we accede to such temptations we forget that many of these established views need to be overturned as speedily as possible, it the individual is to be benefited; therefore the best service we can render our friends is frankly to take the ground that mortal and material concepts of ethics, economics, religion, and medicine have not saved mankind from the results of their self-imposed laws, and in doing this it is not necessary for us to prepare the way for Science by first presenting a diluted article.'"

In the July 1891 Journal, Mrs. Eddy made her thoughts clear about selecting reading matter on a "tip" sheet placed inside the front cover just before binding: "Since my attention has been called to the article in the May Journal, I think it would have been wiser not to have organized the General Association for Dispensing Christian Science Literature. "l. Because I disbelieve in the utility of so wide spread an organization. It tends to promote monopolies, class legislation and unchristian motives for Christian work. "2. I consider my students as capable, individually, of selecting their own reading matter and circulating it, as a committee would be which is chosen for this purpose. "I shall have nothing further to say on this subject, but hope my students' conclusion will be wisely drawn, and tend to promote the welfare of those outside, as well as inside this organization."

In a letter to her publisher, William G. Nixon, dated June 24, 1891, Mrs. Eddy wrote, "I will rip up all my business relations and take into my hands before this most wicked, prescriptive, uncharitable measure shall be carried." 14

The December 6, 1913 Sentinel editorial proved to be the high water mark for freedom of selecting reading matter after the passing of Mrs. Eddy.

14. Oakes, M.B.E. 's Six Days of Revelation, p. 373



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CHAPTER 3 — BREWING CONTROVERSIES

The December 1913 Journal and the January 10, 1914, Sentinel carried editorials by Associate Editor Annie M. Knott which were widely interpreted as attacks on the teaching of the late Edward M. Kimball of Chicago. Mr. Kimball taught the Normal classes from 1899 to 1902 as well as his own primary classes. The response to the editorials in the form of letters was so antagonistic that the Editor, Archibald McLellan, attempted to pacify the offended readers in the February 4, 1914 Sentinel:

"Imagine the editor's surprise...when letters began to come in which claimed that these editorials were regarded by some as having been written in condemnation of the teachings of a well-known and greatly honored and respected teacher of Christian Science. Their surprise was two-fold. In the first place, because they had no teacher in view when the editorials were written, and were not knowingly condemning any teacher or teaching. In the second place, some of the editors had been taught by this teacher, and knew of their own knowledge that he did not teach the manifestly erroneous views of Christian Science which were condemned in these editorials." 15

The appearance of these editorials marked the beginning of the dispute between what have come to be known as the Boston school and the Chicago school of Christian Science. Those who identify with the Boston school maintain that theirs represents the pure teaching of Mrs. Eddy. These same individuals say that the Chicago school represents an aberrant teaching which

15. C.S. Sentinel, Feb. 4, 1914, p. 450



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they attribute to Edward M. Kimball. The school attributed to him is so called because he was a Chicago native and First Reader in First Church, Chicago at the time of its founding.

According to Charles S. Braden, author of Christian Science Today: "A prominent Kimball student declares categorically that since this controversy broke out into print at the end of 1913, no writings have appeared in the church periodicals in which Kimball teaching could be identified, save in two periods. The first was during the Great Litigation, when Herbert Eustace, a leading champion of Kimball and his group took over the Publishing Society... The second period was during the ascendancy of George Shaw Cook [editor of the Journal and Sentinel], an organization stalwart who died in 1944...He adds that this latest resurgence of Kimballism had its last gasp with Cook's retirement in 1942." 16

Norman Deasley writes: "By 1914, so many were Lhe y_ueslions rey_uiring the attention of the Directors that regular meetings were held, several times a week. This was quite a change from earlier years when only an occasional meeting was needed, or from a few years before when one afternoon a week was sufficient to deal with matters concerning The Mother Church" 17

The Church Manual on pages 56 and 57 specifies the regular and special meetings which the Board of Directors are to have: the annual meeting for electing officers and other business before the regular annual meeting of The Mother Church, meetings in June and November for electing candidates to membership with The Mother Church, and special meetings which may be called by the Clerk of The Mother Church.

There were events which did absorb the attention of the Directors. One was the establishment in London, England, of "The Central and Universal Church of Christ, Scientist." by a former member of The Mother Church and Third Church, London, — Mrs. Annie C. Bill. To quote Charles S. Braden: "After Mrs. Eddy's death, Mrs. Bill saw the difficulty the Mother Church officials faced in trying to operate according to the Manual, with so many of its vital provisions requiring its author's specific approval at the time of any action under them. It finally occurred to her — and she thought of herself as the first to make the discovery — that the church must be formally dissolved and reconstructed under a new constitution. She regarded herself as the natural successor to Mrs. Eddy, on the authority of her presumably unique discovery of the Manual impasse and of what she regarded as the only legitimate way around it... Mrs.

16. Braden, Christian Science Today, p. 312, 313
17. Beasley, The Continuing Spirit, p. 93



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Bill maintained that the Boston Board could not inherit Mrs. Eddy's mantle, that the leadership had been clearly reserved for a woman."18 Mrs. Bill also claimed that she should have control of all the periodicals as well as Mrs. Eddy's Trust under her will. She even published a journal using the copyrighted name of the one published by the Publishing Society in Boston. Legal action was taken to stop the use of the copyrighted name, and Mrs. Bill after a series of changes ultimately called her organization, "The Parent Church". For the time being, her activities did not present serious problems, but later circumstances would propel her into prominence.

Other problems closer to home were occupying the attention of the Board of Directors. A letter written on September 8, 1915, to the Board by Frank S. Streeter pointed to major internal problems hidden from the church membership. It will be remembered that General Streeter was Mrs. Eddy's trusted New Hampshire lawyer. He was not a Christian Scientist, and so he felt free to state his position in blunt terms. This letter did not become public until several years later. Pertinent portions of General Streeter' s letter follow: "Shortly before the middle of July, Mr. McLellan conferred with me relative to the proposals made in the board to make certain readjustments and specifically to increase the salaries of board members from $2500, the amount now limited by Section 8 of the By-Laws, to $8000 or $10,000 and to do this without changing the By-Law and without notice to or knowledge of the Church members... "Since that time I have had various conferences with Mr. Choate and Mr. McLellan respectively, relative to the controversies growing out of the matter as well as subsequent proposals to expunge a part or the whole of the official records relating to salary increase... "As these controversies in the board steadily became more personal in character, and the board seemed to be fast dividing into two opposing factions, I began to reflect on the dangers to the Church organization which were thereby being developed, and reached the conclusion that (1) the general situation in the board was of far higher importance than the particular questions in controversy or the desires or rights of any individual member, that (2) I ought not, certainly at this stage to be in the position of even seeming to act for any individual member of the board in controversies with other members, and of thereby contributing to the growing dissension, and that (3) it was my duty to point out to the board as a whole the dangers incident to such dissension... "By this form of organization the five members of the board stand in a position practically without precedent in modern history. No other board in the

18. Braden, Christian Science Today, p. 381



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English-speaking world is vested with such a combination of exclusive and unrevisable power over spiritual and property concerns as this board seems to possess on the face of the creating documents. I use the word 'seem' advisedly, because I am convinced that these powers although not so intended, are not immutable, but are probably subject to change or modification if occasion therefore arises... "So far as I know, this is the only church organization in the western world, outside of the Catholic Church, in which the church members have no voice in the management of their temporal or spiritual church concerns and the foundation of the two organizations does not seem to afford just grounds of analogy... "The organization of the Mother Church rests upon the powers conferred by general statute, combined with powers created by the Founder. In all church organization resting on the statute, the ultimate management and control of all the temporal and spiritual concerns of the church is vested in the beneficiaries namely, the church members... If the Church members or any considerable number thereof shall be aroused to challenge at law the board's power of exclusive control conferred by the Founder in disregard of the statutes on which the Church is based and which confer exclusive control on the members, this question of power of control by the board conferred by the Founder, or power of control by the Church members conferred by the statutes will immediately be raised. And while the result of such a controversy cannot certainly be predicted, no good lawyer will advise that such a claim would not constitute a distinct menace to the power of control now possessed by this board... "In my opinion, the most serious legal question involved in the proposed action arises from the fact that when the Board of Directors undertake to vote an increase in their own salary, whether by amendment of the By-Laws or by any other method, they will be acting as judges in their own case, and that such action, either by corporate directors, by private agents or trustees, or by anybody else who occupies a representative or fiduciary position, is forbidden by an elementary principle that has long obtained... "An amendment of this by-law, however objectionable, has the merit of frankness and publicity because the Church members will know. The comparative secrecy of the method proposed renders it still more objectionable. It would invite suspicion and criticism and leave the directors' action open to attack in the courts for an indefinite, period... "To a greater extent than any other religious movement in the western world for nineteen hundred years, Christian Science owes its origin and growth to a single personality, viz., its discoverer and founder, Mary Baker G. Eddy. For this reason it seems to me of the utmost importance that, at any rate during these earlier years following her decease, The Christian Science Board of




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Directors, which has succeeded to her leadership so far as anybody can succeed thereto, should refrain from any action tending to impair the confidence of Christian Scientists in their leadership or to afford the enemies of Christian Science ground for impugning their motives and good faith. And in my judgment no action better calculated to create suspicion and adverse criticism could well be taken than for the directors to lay themselves open to the charge of using their official powers to advance their own pecuniary interest almost as soon as Mrs. Eddy's guiding hand has been removed... "Let me suggest for your consideration a fundamental rule of action, for the time being at least, namely — That every matter before this board involving controversy shall be fairly and tolerantly discussed and then disposed of by unanimous agreement. If such a thing cannot be done unanimously, don't do it at all. "If any member thinks me impertinent or presumptuous in presenting these views, let me remind him that my connection with the fortunes of this Church at highly critical periods, when its Founder, its doctrines and its property were viciously assailed and its fortunes seemed to hang in the balance, may afford some justification for my present desire that this organization shall not be disrupted, but shall be preserved to carry on the great work in accordance with the hopes and intentions of the Founder."19 No public record exists to indicate whether the Board accepted General Streeter's advice. Later events would shed further light on the story.

19. Proceedings in Equity, 1919 -1921, pp. 735-739



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CHAPTER 4 — INITIATIVES

The year 1916 brought the announcement in the October 7th Sentinel that the Directors were establishing The Christian Science Benevolent Association. "On July 27, 1909, an envelope containing a new By-law for the Church Manual and a signed letter [by Mrs. Eddy] was sent to The Christian Science Board of Directors." The by-law stated: "The Mother Church shall establish and maintain a Christian Science resort for the so-called sick." However, Mrs. Eddy requested that the by-law be repealed just two weeks later before it ever appeared in print, with the comment, "If The Mother Church is not ready to establish and maintain a Christian Science resort for the sick, she [Mrs. Eddy] is willing to let this matter rest for the present and suggests that you vote on the repeal of the by-law providing for the same."20 Mrs. Eddy never renewed her original request even though more than a year elapsed from the time of the repeal to the time of her passing. It should also be noted that Mrs. Eddy required a separate by-law to establish such a "resort", but the Directors chose to revive the idea as a syndicate using provisions outlined in the Church Manual on page 27 well knowing that they were not permitted to adopt, amend, or annul any by-law. (Manual, p. 105)

The Sentinel of December 2, 1916, included the following from the Directors: "Today we may all rejoice in the fact that no demands have been made upon it [The Mother Church] which have been beyond its strength, and no problems have been presented for which the by-laws have not already provided

20. Beasley, The Continuing Spirit, p. 212



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the solution... The Mother Church is extending the channels of its usefulness. It is taking a forward look, to make provisions for that day, now near at hand, which will compel a broader, more comprehensive and more universal activity... During these six years [since Mrs. Eddy's passing] it has been the policy of the Directors of The Mother Church to avoid making calls on the field for financial assistance; but an era of more intimate cooperation is now dawning..." Numerous and repeated appeals appeared in the periodicals asking for funds to complete the sanatorium which was finally opened in 1919. Funds were then asked for on a regular basis to make up for continual budget shortfalls.

In a letter from Alice L. Orgain, a longtime practitioner and writer on Christian Science, to the Board of Directors dated September 16, 1929, she wrote, "In the article 'The Christian Science Benevolent Association', Sentinel, October 7, 1916, Mrs. Eddy requests the repeal of her by-law relating to the establishment of an institution for the so-called sick; 'The by-law was at once repealed.' Here Mrs. Eddy was 'willing to let this matter rest.' That she did not again resume this subject and that she did not put in the the Manual a by-law concerning the founding and government of this institution, certainly shows her progressive unfoldment beyond what she then thought to be wise and helpful. Mrs. Eddy never retracted a statement but progressively unfolded her revelation." 21

The sanatorium marked the beginning of a series of appeals for funds for a wide variety of projects. This elicited the following from Mrs. Orgain, "What would be thought of a Mother, having abundance and knowing her children were in want and poverty, drained of spirituality by constant struggle over unpaid debts (even on their very Branch Church buildings), constantly demanding their all for her activities, which are turned not back to them but to the gaining of more for 'Mother'?...It may be said that these activities are all for our benefit! Are they? The Benevolent Home has sent out more suggestions of sickness in its literature and otherwise to try to maintain its position than it could ever be the means of healing. The hard struggle it has had for existence proves its lack of being needed. We should have rejoiced in its lack of patronage rather than have tried to stimulate need therefor." 22

Calvin A. Frye was chosen by the Board of Directors to be the President of The Mother Church for the year beginning in June 1916. Mr. Frye had served Mrs. Eddy on a continuous basis from 1882 until her passing in 1910, a period longer than any other worker in Christian Science.

His selection as President was an honor, but it was also a surprising one

21. Flynn, The Alice Orgain Letters, p. 36
22. Orgain, As It Is, p. 719



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because students closest to Mrs. Eddy were rarely included in any important positions in the Church. The Directors were soon to regret their choice, because Mr. Frye delivered a message from Mrs. Eddy during his remarks in the Extension filled to overflowing. Samuel Greenwood described and quoted what happened in his Association Address for 1937: "...I am going to quote again what I gave to the Association twelve years ago, and that is our Leader's last message to her followers. Shortly before she passed away she called Mr. Calvin Frye to her and said: 'Tell the dear Scientists that this is not disease or old age, but the animal magnetism which they are not meeting.' He gave this in his address at the Annual Meeting of The Mother Church. He afterwards told me about it himself, and it is substantially as I have quoted." 23

The account of the Annual Meeting for 1916 given in the Sentinel, needless to say, does not include this last message from Mrs. Eddy. Calvin Frye did not live to complete his term as President of The Mother Church. William P. McKenzie finished his term.

The former members of Mrs. Eddy's household were told not to relate their experiences with Mrs. Eddy to others. Martha Wilcox, a teacher in Kansas City, had been called to be in Mrs. Eddy's household on two occasions, the last being from February 1909 to January 1911. Several years after her return to Missouri, the Board wrote to Mrs. Wilcox and ordered her to come to Boston to show cause why she should not be removed from the Journal and her teaching taken from her. She had merely given to her association what later appeared in We Knew Mary Baker Eddy, Fourth Series24 , but without the Board's permission. Mrs. Wilcox prayed earnestly about the situation, and received a telegram canceling the demand for her appearance in Boston.

Early in 1917, Rev. G.A. Kratzer, who had been forced out of The Mother Church in 1913, published Teaching and Addresses on Christian Science by Edward A. Kimball. The introduction to the book states: "In some of the classes of Mr. Edward A. Kimball, C.S.D., notes, shorthand or otherwise, were taken by various students, and considerable material was given by dictation. The present volume contains a set of such notes taken in his last class by one of his most capable students, a full report of the Association Address following, also notes by students in other classes. 25 The book brought a sharp reply with an editorial in the Sentinel of April 7, 1917, which consisted of an article by Edward A. Kimball written in 1903 entitled "The Integrity of Christian Science

23. Greenwood, The Key of Divine Science (Assn. Address 1937), p. 31
24. We Knew Mary Baker Eddy, Fourth Series, pp. 89-105
25. Kimball, Teaching & Addresses, G. A. Kratzer, Ed., p. 9



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Literature". Despite, the displeasure expressed in Boston, the book found immediate and wide popularity and is still in print today.

Frederick Dixon wrote an article in the September 1, 1917, Sentinel entitled, "Mortal Mind and Human Mind". Mr. Dixon was editor of The Christian Science Monitor and was a prolific writer for the religious periodicals as well. This particular article stated that the human mind was no less evil than mortal mind. Mr. Dixon ignored the three degrees in the Scientific Translation of Mortal Mind given in Science and Health 26 and, in particular, the Second Degree transitional qualities. This omission, while not original with Mr. Dixon, — who was a Christian Science teacher in addition to his duties as editor of the newspaper, — was also gaining subtle acceptance among some other teachers.

In 1916, books began to carry the words "Authorized Literature" for the first time. On September 15, 1917, the cross and crown seal was placed on the cover of the Sentinel. The cross and crown had previously appeared on the cover, but Mrs. Eddy had it removed beginning with the September 1, 1906 issue. Earlier, on May 1, 1917, the words, "An International Daily Newspaper" were added to the masthead of The Christian Science Monitor. In October 1917, the white cross on the cover of the Quarterly was changed to a shaded one. Mrs. Eddy had made a change from shaded to white in October 1910. The cover of the Journal remained essentially the same. 27 It should be remembered that all of the covers of the periodicals were selected by Mrs. Eddy. 28

The Sentinel of September 29, 1917, contained an appeal from the Directors for students in the Christian Science field to send in all letters they had in their possession which had been written to them by Mrs. Eddy. The purpose of this was said to be for preservation. The Journal of March 1928 contained a notice entitled, "Preservation Not Suppression" which was intended to assure people that the letters sent into the archives were not being destroyed as rumored, but were being used for reference by the Board of Directors.

At some point during the first decade after Mrs. Eddy's passing, another change started to take place in the branch churches. Alice L. Orgain wrote in a letter dated June 25, 1950, "In regard to what I say in the last pamphlet in reference to the announcement from the Reader's desk that 'this branch is a branch of The Mother Church, The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Mass.," I wrote from my own personal experience after Mrs. Eddy's passing. My mother-in-law, who was a practitioner also, had just returned from Boston

26. Eddy, Science and Health , pp. 115, 116
27. Flynn, The Alice Orgain Letters, pp. 99, 100-102
28. Oakes, M.B.E. 's Lessons of the Seventh Day, pp. 34-37



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when she talked with me about introducing this statement in our branch church. I opposed it most emphatically from the start, as I felt even then that The Mother Church had nothing to do with the branches, but she insisted on introducing the subject, saying that the branches in the East were beginning to use it as an introduction in their services. So I know personally that this statement was never used in the branches as an introduction until after Mrs. Eddy's passing, for I was both first and second reader, respectively, in two of the churches in our city at about that time, and it could not have been used without my knowledge."29 This usage was formalized in instructions given to readers in branch churches in the October 1935 Journal (p. 417).

The October 27, 1917, Sentinel included an article from the Board of Directors entitled, "Footsteps of Progress". The article stated: "For several years it has been apparent that the increasing demands of the movement upon the time and thought of the members of The Christian Science Board of Directors would necessitate some readjustment of their duties. The growth and expansion of The Mother Church and its branches naturally and necessarily require a corresponding growth and expansion in the organization charged with the duty of handling the organic affairs of the movement." This represented a major departure from the structure of the Board and its duties. In Mrs. Eddy's day, each Director also undertook another position in addition to his Board duties such as clerk or treasurer. Now these posts would be filled by other appointees, leaving the Directors more time to involve themselves with other projects.

The Concord Evening Monitor of December 24, 1918, contained an interesting article regarding the project of a lone Christian Scientist: "On the old Mark Baker farm at Bow, New Hampshire, now owned by James F. Lord, of Boston and near the site of the ancient house in which Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of the Christian Science Church, was born in 1821, has just been completed a unique monument in the form of a great pyramid-shaped monolith. It is cut from one of the largest pieces of granite ever quarried and handled. The block, taken from the quarries of the New England Granite Works at North Concord, weighed in the rough over one hundred tons and was over eleven feet square. This block was first moved about seventy-five feet from where it was quarried, to a convenient place for rough cutting, where thirty or forth tons of surplus stone were removed, and the work was then started of shaping it true to the exact dimensions. When placed upon its concrete foundation on the bow plateau overlooking the Merrimack valley, it will measure seven feet, nine and one-eighths inches (7' 9 1/8") in height, including its granite base. the actual dimensions of the pyramid are: base, 10' 10-9/16"

29. Flynn, The Alice Orgain Letters, p. 885



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square; height, 6' 11-1/8" angle 51 degrees, 51 minutes, 14. 3 seconds. It is placed in exact orientation. "Upon each of the four sides will be a tablet made of Benedict nickel which is the only bronze alloy known which will not corrode or tarnish with the weather. These tablets are very beautifully executed after a classical design and are as follows: On the south side:

MARY BAKER EDDY

Discoverer of Christian Science

The Baker Homestead

'Around the memory thereof clusters the golden days of my childhood.'

Mary Baker Eddy "This quotation is reproduced in facsimile from a letter in regard to her girlhood, written by Mrs. Eddy to relatives. "On the eastern side is the following quotation, it being the sixteenth verse of the twenty-eighth chapter of the prophecy of Isaiah:

Therefore, thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.

Isaiah "On the north side is the following from Mrs. Eddy's writing: 'No and Yes", page 38:

This Truth is the rock which the builders rejected; but 'the same is become the head of the corner.' This is the chief corner-stone, the basis and support of creation, the interpreter of one God, the infinity and unity of good.

Mary Baker Eddy "On the west, the tablet bears the following:

Novus Ordo Seclorum "This fourth tablet containing the Latin motto, 'Novus Ordo Seclorum' meaning 'The New Order of the Ages,' is an intentionally altered quotation from Virgil's rendition of the Sibylline brooks in connection with the prophecy of the return of the virgin. it is the same motto which appears on the reverse side of

26

the Great Seal of the United States beneath the representation of the Great Pyramid with its cap stone including the symbolic all-seeing eye suspended 'in glory' above it. "It is said that the form of a pyramid was chosen for the monument as being considered eminently appropriate as a symbol of Science. the Angles of this monument are identical with those of the Great Pyramid of Egypt. In fact, this great granite monolith constitutes a perfect cap stone for that marvelous architectural triumph of antiquity to which Mrs. Eddy herself refers in her writings as the 'miracle in stone,' and is one-seventh the size of the original. "It is said by Christian Scientists that the essence of Mrs. Eddy's discovery is that Principle is God and that therefore Christianity correctly understood must be demonstrable as Science. However, they admit that as yet its Science is but faintly discerned and that few of Mrs. Eddy's adherents, have as she herself has pointed out, grasped the deeper significance of her discovery in this relation to the larger problems of existence. "The pyramid at Bow, like the Great Pyramid of Egypt, constitutes in its exact dimensions, a perfect demonstration in matter of the problem of the quadrature of the circle, a problem which has been uppermost in the thought of mathematicians since the days of Archimedes. The Astronomer royal of Scotland, Professor Piazzi Smyth, has been the foremost writer on the subject. His Book, 'Our Inheritance in the Great Pyramid,' based upon his discoveries in 1866, has gone through several editions. this search for the solution of the problem of 'squaring the circle' has resulted in the admission by all mathematicians that the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter is incommensurable — the mathematical symbol of infinity... "In its demonstration of the squaring of the circle, the pyramid is said to symbolize the momentous fact that the spiritual and that which has been called the temporal are one when the illusion of the senses is swept away and God's eternal completeness is revealed. "The monument was taken from North Concord to Bow Junction on a railroad car although its size and dimensions exceeded the capacity of an ordinary car. From there a special equipment was perfected to convey it to Bow Hill. A hoisting engine mounted upon heavy wagon was anchored in the road and with 200 feet and gradually the load was taken to its destination. Bridges over which it passed were specially strengthened to bear the unusual burden. It required about three weeks to transport it from the railroad siding to its foundation, a distance of about two miles. Elbert S. Barlow of Boston, who also erected the Memorial to Mrs. Eddy in Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, was the general contractor for this work."

A dedication ceremony was planned for July 16, 1921, — the one hundredth

27

anniversary of Mrs. Eddy's birth. "On July 7, 1921, the Board of Directors issued a letter 'To All Christian Scientists' cautioning them to 'beware of personal propaganda attached to that date [July 16, 1921]' saying 'We should not centre our thoughts on pyramids or on personal history...or that her life began at a certain spot on earth or at a certain point in time.'" 30

The City of Concord held an impressive ceremony with Scripture readings and an oration by ex-Governor McCall. the Concord Evening Patriot of July 16th featured the headline, "Centenary Exercises of Birth of Mary Baker Eddy". A wire was sent from The Mother Church in Boston requesting a "corrective" statement which referred to the ceremony as "mistaken zeal".

However, the cornerstones of First Church, Concord, and the Extension were laid on July 16, 1903, and July 16, 1904, respectively. In addition, Mrs. Eddy's dedicatory address at the Concord church was delivered on July 17, 1904. All the dates of these earlier events had been chosen by Mrs. Eddy.

Mr. Lord gave the property with the capstone to The Mother Church on May 18, 1927, according to the June 11, 1927 Sentinel. The monument was never included in the list of historic sites routinely listed in the Journal.

It was also apparently during the years 1917 and 1918 that Mrs. Eddy's beloved Pleasant View was torn down. Accounts of this event have been difficult to track down. However, the evidence from the time clearly showed that Mrs. Eddy considered her home to be Pleasant View with its symbolic pond, the beautifully kept grounds, and her birthplace visible across the hills. She referred to the house at Chestnut Hill as "splendid misery". If an historic site was to be maintained for posterity, it is not clear why the Board of Directors chose Chestnut Hill rather than Pleasant View.

30. Stewart, Myrtle; The Washington [D.C.] Newsletters, p. 20



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CHAPTER 5 — GATHERING STORM CLOUDS

The World War had been raging in Europe since the summer of 1914. In the fall of that year, the Board of Directors opened a relief fund for the aid of civilians enduring the hardships of war and also for men in uniform. The aid was impartial and was supplied to both sides with help going to individuals in England, France, and other western European countries. To a lesser degree, aid also found its way into Germany. War relief committees were set up in forty-six states, Washington, D.C., Hawaii, Panama, Canada, and Great Britain. 31

For the first time, Christian Scientists were accepted as chaplains in the military. This demonstrated the growing recognition and acceptance that the religion had gained in the United States. There were eleven chaplains in the army and navy by war's end. 32 War Relief Rooms were set up in many camps where services were held and literature was available. By June 2, 1919, over $1. 9 million had been collected for war relief efforts. 33

During the hostilities in Europe, hidden battles were brewing in Boston. Conflicts between the Board of Directors and the Trustees of The Christian Science Publishing Society were taking place behind closed doors unknown to the church membership. It was in 1898 that Mary Baker Eddy had set up the Deed of Trust for The Publishing Society in great secrecy. Not even the

31. C.S. Wartime Activities, pp. 9, 10
32. ibid, p. 378
33. Beasley, The Continuing Spirit,p. 109

29

Directors knew about it until it was a reality. William P. McKenzie, who was one of the original Publishing Society Trustees told a colleague that a Board member, who had considered himself to be McKenzie's mentor, wouldn't speak to him for two years after that. 34 The contents of the Deed of Trust were not made public until 1918. 35

The Deed of Trust states, "Said trustees shall energetically and judiciously manage the business of the Publishing Society on a strictly Christian basis, and upon their own responsibility, and without consulting me [Mary Baker Eddy] about details, subject only to my supervision, if I shall at any time elect to advise or direct them Once in every six months the trustees shall account for and pay over to the treasurer of 'The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Mass.,' the entire net profits of said business...The Trustees shall employ such number of persons as they may deem necessary to prepare Bible Lessons or Lesson Sermons to be read in the Christian Science churches Said Trustees shall have direction and supervision of the publication of said Quarterly, and also of all pamphlets, tracts, and other literature pertaining to said business using their best judgment as to the means of preparing and issuing the same, so as to promote the best interests of the Cause...The First Members [of the Church] together with the directors of said Church shall have the power to declare vacancies in said trusteeship for such reasons as to them may seem expedient."

The Church Manual also has a section governing the Publishing Society which states that the editors and the manager are selected by the Board of Directors, but that the Publishing Society selects, approves, and publishes the books and literature it sends forth. In addition, it gives the Directors the sole power to declare a vacancy among the trustees, since the First Members (later called Executive Members) had been abolished in 1908. The Manual also gives the Directors the power to remove advertising cards from the Journal, but the power to accept the cards of churches, practitioners, and nurses for publication remains with the Trustees, subject to the provisions given in the Church

Manual. 36

Beginning in February 1916, the Directors tried to get the Trustees to acknowledge them as "the supreme governing power of the Christian Science movement, including the periodicals."37 On January 3, 1918, the Directors demanded that all three Trustees resign. The Trustees declined. Later in 1918,

34. Oakes, M.B.E. 's Lessons of the Seventh Day, pp. 8, 278
35. Proceedings in Equity, p. 101
36. Eddy, Church Manual, pp. 49, 72, 79-82
37. C.S. Foundation, Continuity of the Cause of C.S., p. 11:4



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the Trustees decided to reprint articles by Frederick Dixon which had appeared in the Monitor in a pamphlet to be entitled "Purification". The Directors demanded that the pamphlet not be issued even though they had made no objection to the individual articles when they had appeared in the newspaper. The Trustees declined to withdraw the pamphlet.

On February 10, 1919, the Directors again proposed that they be considered to have "final authority in regard to the editorial policy of the official organs of The Mother Church, and final authority in regard to all matters affecting the policy of The Mother Church or the cause of Christian Science." The editors of the periodicals were already being chosen by the Directors. The Trustees stated that they felt that the editors, once appointed, should be free to make their own demonstration free from undue interference. Their stated desire was to follow the terms of their Deed of Trust and the provisions given in the Manual (enumerated above). 38

In Pebruary 1919, the Directors extracted from the Trustees an agreement published in the March 1, 1919 Sentinel, "...from this date all new applications of branch churches and societies, practitioners, and nurses, for advertisement ...shall be made for recognition directly to The Christian Science Board of Directors of The Mother Church... [through the newly created] Department of Branches and Practitioners. As noted previously, this function had always belonged to the Publishing Society Trustees since January 28, 1898 as established by Mrs. Eddy.

On March 17, 1919, the Directors exercised their power under the Church Manual and declared a vacancy on the Board of Trustees by dismissing Lamont Rowlands. The Directors cited frequent absences as their reason for firing him. The other two Trustees were Herbert W. Eustace and David B. Ogden. On the same day, they voted out of office one of their own number, John V. Dittemore, for what they termed abusive and uncooperative conduct. He was replaced by Annie M. Knott. At the same time, the Trustees got a court injunction barring the dismissal of Lamont Rowlands or any effort "to impair, destroy, or in any way injure the business of the Christian Science Publishing Society..." On March 25th, they filed a Bill in Equity with the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts.

In short order, John V. Dittemore filed a complaint with the same court asking to be reinstated. In 1909, it had been Archibald McLellan who urged Mrs. Eddy to appoint his close friend Dittemore to the Board. She at first resisted, but later relented with the comment, "If you want him, take him — and

38. Proceedings in Equity 1919-1921, p. 33



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all that goes with him!"39 Now that John Dittemore was off the Board, the private discussions of the Directors became known. It turned out that the Directors were planning to dismiss all of the Trustees one by one. They had picked Lamont Rowlands for dismissal first because he was the newest member and had few friends in Boston. One of the points of disagreement between Dittemore and the other Directors was that he had wanted to fire all three Trustees at the same time while the others preferred a more gradual and discrete removal. The Trustees hired Charles Evans Hughes to present their case before the court. In 1916, he had been the Republican presidential candidate opposing Woodrow Wilson. Later in 1930, he was nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court by President Hoover and became Chief Justice of the United States. The Directors were represented by former Massachusetts governor, John L. Bates.

The case was presented to a single judge who was appointed as Master, and the proceedings began on June 3, 1919. The first order of business was contempt charge against the Directors for violating the court injunction preventing them from harming the business of the Publishing Society. Four of the Directors (Adam H. Dickey, James A. Neal, William R. Rathvon, and Annie M. Knott) and the Committee on Publication, Clifford P. Smith, were found guilty of contempt of court because they had quietly initiated a campaign urging people to cancel their subscriptions to the periodicals. The Directors were fined $50. each and the C.O.P was fined $100. 40

Now the actual case began.The central question was: Who had the power to declare a vacancy on the Board ofTrustees? The Deed ofTnist of 1898 gave that power to the First Members of the Church together with the Directors. The First Members had been disbanded eleven years before.The Church Manual had been changed to give the power to dismiss solely to the Directors, but the Deed ofTrust was a legal document and the Manual was not. Did the Directors have the power to declare a vacancy by themselves, or did that section of the Deed of Trust become null and void with the disbanding of the First Members?

Charles Evans Hughes stated the case for the Trustees: "A good deal has been said with respect to the importance of harmony. No one could dispute the desirability of harmony. But there are two conceptions of harmony. One is the harmony produced by despotic power; the other is the harmony that results from a unity of ideas and common views of religious truth. It seems to us most unjust to Mrs. Eddy, most contrary to her teachings, to assume for a moment that she relied upon the exercise of the despotic power which these directors have arrogated to themselves...She believed that that truth would have a harmonizing

39. Oakes, M.B.E. 's Lessons of the Seventh Day, p. 282
40. Answer to Bill in Equity (April 4, 1920), p. 7



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power, that it would bring all those devoted to the truth, as she taught it, together in a unity of action, not through forms of organization; in fact, it seems to me and I submit that when with her knowledge of these Directors, and having already constituted them trustees of the real estate under the deed of 1892 she selected another Board of Trustees under the deed of 1898 for the publishing power, it was because she feared the autocracy that might result if the entire power of organization was in one hand; she feared that when she drafted Article X, when she invested, not the Board of Directors with the power to declare vacancies, but the First Members together with the Directors. Whatever may have been said or done later, that was her last word, spoken through her will which spoke her intent as at the time of her death...She acted of course in accordance with the advice given her, but she declared this Trust under the law...If the Court has not this power [to inquire into how the Trust is being carried out, — and the counsel for the Directors had argued that the Court did not have this power] then the Trust, that which has always appealed so especially to the conscience of a Court of Equity, has no protection at all, and the power given to save and maintain the Trust can be used absolutely to destroy it."41 The Master handed down his decision on March 6, 1920, in favor of the Trustees of the Publishing Society. The Directors immediately filed their own Bill in Equity on April 14, 1920, appealing to the Full Bench of the Massachusetts Supreme Court for a reversal of the Master's decision.

The news of the decision stunned the Christian Science field which had supported the Directors from almost the beginning. A new nationwide campaign was started in New York to get people to cancel their subscriptions. Employees at the Publishing Society were urged to walk out. The accounting books were defaced, and pages ripped out, and the offices were left in general disorder. The editors also resigned. For the duration of the litigation, Frederick Dixon, Gustavus Paine, and Hugh A. Studdert-Kennedy held down the editorial positions. Most churches and practitioners removed their cards from the Journal as a show of support for the Directors. The only periodical which did not suffer was The Christian Science Quarterly which all the churches relied upon for their Sunday services. It would be some twenty months before the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts would hand down its final ruling.

41. Studdert-Kennedy, C. S. and Organized Religion, pp. 93-95



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CHAPTER 6 — THE GENERAL WELFARE

The Christian Science Sentinel for June 14, 1919, gave the report of the Annual Meeting for 1919 and announced that the Directors had resolved to create "the Committee on General Welfare, to be composed of seven members of the Mother Church, and to continue its duties until the next Annual Meeting of this Church...The Committee on General Welfare shall have power to make such inquiries into the affairs of The Mother Church as it may determine. The Committee's report or reports may include such recommendations to the Board of Directors as the Committee may deem expedient or necessary. The Committee on General Welfare may determine its own course of procedure, and all members of The Mother Church may communicate with the Committee freely." It would appear that the Directors took this action to consolidate support in the field during the litigation with the Publishing Society trustees.

The Committee members were Richard P. Verrall of New York (Chairman), Martha W. Wilcox of Kansas City, Jacob S. Shield of Chicago, Henry Deutsch of Minneapolis, Mabel S. Thomson of London, Edward E. Norwood of Washington, D.C., and Edward W. Dickey of Los Angeles (Secretary).

By the time of publication of the June 14, 1919, Sentinel, many readers had already canceled their subscriptions, and so the Committee's existence was not widely known. The incoming President of The Mother Church, John Doorly gave the traditional address which this year reflected the crisis in the Church: "Only those who knew our Leader best or those who study her writings most earnestly can appreciate the great amount of labor and consecrated thought she put into the Manual of The Mother Church, and the overwhelming importance




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she placed on that Manual...We also recognize that it is the increasing purpose of the carnal mind through every subtlety of evil to accomplish the destruction of our Church Manual or to nullify its provisions by interpreting them in a wholly material sense, and thus to prevent humanity's deliverance through Christian Science."

The Committee on General Welfare issued its seventy-eight page report on March 3, 1920. In the preamble, attention was drawn to a letter from the Directors to a branch church which appeared in the June 30, 1917, Sentinel. The report quoted the letter: "It is a part of the mission of Christian Science to give a new definition of 'government' to the world. It is the destiny of Christian Science to show to the world that mankind cannot be deprived of their right of representation unless they be deprived of their right to think."

Other parts of that same letter, which were not included in the report, are revealing: "Replying to your letter of June 18th, Christian Science churches which have had a rapid and successful growth are occasionally faced with the necessity of meeting certain arguments of ambitious mortal mind expressed in the form of veiled attacks on The Mother Church by-laws in the name of 'democracy.' In such instances it is usual for every effort to be made to force some particular definition of democracy upon the members regardless of their desires, and to 'suggest' to the thought of the young students and those who have not yet become analytical thinkers, that there is something wrong with the plan of government of the Christian Science church."

Regarding democracy, the Church Manual states on page 70: "The Mother Church of Christ, Scientist, shall assume no general official control of other churches, and it shall be controlled by none other." The 28th Manual and previous ones had said that The Mother Church would, "assume no official control of other churches..." In the 29th Manual of 1903, Mrs. Eddy inserted the word "general" to insure that there would be no official or unofficial control of the branches. On page 74, the Manual states, "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."

Reading between the lines of the June 30th letter from the Directors, and judging the tenor of the times, it would be reasonable to surmise that some local branch members were insisting on the literal application of the by-laws referred to above, while other members considered this as an affront to the Board of Directors.

The report of the Committee on General Welfare included questions asked by Scientists in the field which ranged from the mundane to the profound: "Would not a purchasing department for the supplies of The Mother Church, and through which printing and stationery could be purchased by the Branch Churches, be




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desirable and advisable?... Should there be segregation of the colored race in Christian Science churches?... Is distribution of Christian Science literature propaganda? And is there danger of excessive distribution?"

In answer to the question: "Are any further memorials to Mrs. Eddy in contemplation and are her former homes being properly cared for?" The Committee responded in part: "The property known as 'Pleasant View' is still in the hands of The Mother Church. The house was razed and the fittings destroyed so that nothing remains of the material structure."

Another question with a revealing answer was: "What was the authorization for the publication of 'The First Church of Christ, Scientist and Miscellany'?" The answer: "The Christian Science Board of Directors informs the Committee that after the publishing of 'Miscellaneous Writings.' Mrs. Eddy began to collect a series of articles which appeared from her pen in our periodicals, and also the articles now in 'Miscellany' referring to the building of the extension to The Mother Church. On August 21st, 1909, Mrs. Eddy sealed up the package of prepared articles and wrote on the wrapper: 'Nobody shall open this or read its contents during my lifetime without my written consent.'

"In March 1913, The Christian Science Board of Directors turned the package of manuscript over to the publisher of Mrs. Eddy's writings, with instructions to prepare for publication a volume to be entitled 'The First Church of Christ, Scientist and Miscellany.' At the same time 'Ways that are Vain' [written in 1887 and not chosen by Mrs. Eddy for inclusion in Miscellaneous Writings which was published in 1897] and additional articles by Mrs. Eddy which had appeared in the periodicals subsequent to August 21st, 1909, were included. After 'Miscellany' had been published the Directors' attention was called to an announcement by Mrs. Eddy which had been inserted in the Sentinel at her request, and which was not included in 'Miscellany.' The Directors then on June 9, 1915, voted to insert this and it may be found on page 242 under the heading 'Take Notice.'

"On May 26, 1916, the Trustees under the Will of Mary Baker Eddy [four of the Directors] who held the copyrights to her writings, voted to insert in 'Miscellany' the matter from the Christian Science Sentinel of February 15, 1908, which is now to be found on pages 364 to 366 on 'Miscellany.'

"On October 8, 1915, the Trustees under the Will of Mary Baker Eddy voted to insert on page 360 the footnote explanatory of Mrs. Eddy's letter, which was first published in the Sentinel of November 20, 1909, and later in the Sentinel of December 4, 1909."

Other findings: "The Committee finds that much valuable time is consumed at headquarters by communications from the Field that would be unnecessary if members would make a more careful study of the Manual, and of the instructions




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printed in the several bulletins and circulars sent out by the various departments of The Mother Church, and in notices to the the Field in the periodicals. "The Committee finds however that there is a sense in the Field that the official treatment of correspondence is sometimes disappointing, in that it fails to express that degree of courtesy and sympathetic consideration to which the members are entitled... "The Committee finds that there is an impression in the Field that appointees and employees in the departments of The Mother Church have been recruited to a great extent from among students of church officials and of certain teachers. The Committee finds however...that this impression has only the very slightest foundation... "The Committee finds that the granting of very high salaries to the chief officials of the church has been a matter of considerable adverse comment in the Field, and it believes that there is some justification therefor. According to the pay roll eleven of the officials are receiving a total of $95,400. 00 per annum. This amount does not include the sum of $21,190. 64 (a/c 1919) paid to four Directors as Trustees under the Will of Mary Baker Eddy... "In view of the inherent tendency in the human mind toward personal advancement there is unquestionably a danger of students being drawn to this or that official as a teacher, on account not only of the high light in which such official necessarily stands, but also, though possibly quite unconsciously, because of the reflected lustre which might accrue to the student, and of some prospective advantage... "The Committee on General Welfare finds that since the passing of Mrs. Eddy the policy of the Board of Directors has been based upon the assumption that the Church By-laws 'place the direction of the spiritual and business affairs of the Church entirely in the hands of the Christian Science Board of Directors.' (Excerpt from statement issued by the Board, December 7, 1910, and given to the press through the Committee on Publication.)

"The Committee finds, however, that there is a sentiment in the Christian Science Field that the passing of Mrs. Eddy did not automatically vest all of the authority of the government of the Church in the Christian Science Board of Directors, but that those reservations of authority retained by Mrs. Eddy for herself, passed legitimately to her successor as named in her statement on page 347 of 'Miscellany,' where she refers to 'man the generic term for mankind' as her successor." The Committee's findings were not what the Directors had hoped for, and the report in booklet form received very little circulation in the Christian Science field. The report of the Annual Meeting for 1920 published in the Sentinel that year was seen by a very small readership now that the cancellations of the periodicals were at their peak.




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Most of the recommendations of the Committee were ignored by the Board of Directors. Salaries were not rolled back; they did not return to the management structure established in Mrs. Eddy's time when each Director also assumed a position such as clerk, treasurer, etc.; and they did not cease teaching classes while serving on the Board. The support the Directors were receiving from the field in the litigation crisis was enough to reassure them that their positions were secure. Still the long anticipated decision in the courts could change everything.




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CHAPTER 7 — THE COURT DECISION AND AFTERMATH

The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts handed down its final decision on November 21, 1921. Hugh A. Studdert-Kennedy described it this way: "The Supreme Court of Massachusetts upheld the Master's findings of fact in every particular, that the Trustees had been faithful to their trust and that they had managed it honestly, successfully, and disinterestedly. The court, however, was inclined to admit this other law to which the Directors and their supporters had appealed, this ecclesiastical law which in this case they were inclined to agree might be regarded as paramount to the law of the land. At any rate, it was an ecclesiastical matter and it was not for the Court to sit in judgment on ecclesiastical matters. "The Court, therefore, would wash its hands of the whole question by declaring that final power of removal [of Publishing Society trustees] did rest with the Board of Directors, that the Directors were the supreme authority in the Christian Science organization, any Deed of Trust or provisions to the contrary notwithstanding." 42

Alice L. Orgain explained in a letter how the court could agree with the initial findings of its own Master and yet reach a different decision: "I hope you remember what I told you in reference to the Master's Report — that it was made 42 Studdert-Kennedy, C.S. and Organized Religion, p. 98




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for the Supreme Court (of the State) before the Court's decision. The usual course in this respect is to choose a past member of the Supreme Court to try the facts under the law and submit them to the Supreme Court (of the State), which is a court in equity and not in law — that is, the court makes its own decision upon its own initiative with the facts as the only probable basis of its decision. The Supreme Court in equity is not under the bonds of the law. In this case, undoubtedly the Supreme Court would have decided for the Board of Trustees had it not been that when the Board of Directors and their agents over the Field, having heard of the unfavorable nature of the Master's Report to the Board of Directors' case, employed every means to have the churches declare their unwillingness to have a decision in favor of the Trustees, and acting upon its own freedom of decision the Supreme Court realized that it would disrupt the Cause if its decision was in favor of the Board of Trustees. So the Supreme court made its decision in favor of the Board of Directors." 43

The Publishing Society Trustees resigned their offices to the court, and the latter appointed replacements acceptable and subservient to the Board of Directors. In this way, the Publishing Society was totally dominated by the Directors, and Mrs. Eddy's Deed of Trust of 1898, for all intents and purposes, became a nullity.

Virgil 0. Strickler, a prominent lecturer, wrote an open letter to the members of The Mother Church in June 1921.

Ironically, he had been the Directors' star witness against Augusta E. Stetson when she was excommunicated in 1909. Now he found himself at odds with them.

In his letter he wrote: "For two years and more some of us have had a growing conviction that a spirit of domination existed in the Board of Directors and that they were seeking to acquire an autocratic control over the Christian Science organization and its property that was entirely at variance with the expressed wishes of Mrs. Eddy. The conviction has been strengthened by successive acts of the Directors, until today there can no longer be the slightest doubt that they are seeking, by every means at their command, to acquire for themselves a domination of the Christian Science movement that is almost unbelievable, and that they intend, unless restrained, to attempt to deprive all members of the right to serve in the organization who are not entirely obedient to their personal will...In all Churches where the adherents of the Directors are in the majority, those who hold positions, including readers, librarians, prison workers, ushers, and Sunday School teachers are dismissed and branded as disloyal Christian Scientists unless they subscribe [to the Directors' position]. It makes no· difference how good a Practitioner one may be, he is not even 43 Flynn, The Alice Orgain Letters, p. 422




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allowed to be an usher unless he approves..."44 The resigned Trustees were eventually excommunicated. The most prominent of the three was Herbert W. Eustace of San Jose, California, who was also an authorized teacher of Christian Science. After a lengthy correspondence, he was removed from membership in The Mother Church and had his authorization to teach taken away from him. Nevertheless, he continued to teach classes until his passing in 1957. He wrote a book, Christian Science: Its Clear, Correct Teaching, which is still in print today.

Frederick Dixon, the editor of the Monitor since 1914 resigned from The Mother Church on November 5, 1923.

One longtime practitioner wrote: "In the short thirty-five years since our Leader has left us those older Scientists who knew our church before the days of the litigation in 1920 know with deep concern that something precious has gone out of our church — something that the new members know nothing about and can never know under the present regime. The church was founded merely to propagate Christian Science but, little by little during these years, the church has come to occupy a larger place in the consciousness of Christian Scientists, than has the Science itself." This same writer comments on the aftermath of the litigation: "...the Directors sent to each practitioner desiring his card in the Journal the infamous questionnaire which surely put Church above Science. In this questionnaire which every practitioner was required to sign, the moral and spiritual qualifications of the practitioners were scarcely referred to. The only matter in which the Directors seemed to take the slightest interest was the attitude of the practitioners toward the former Trustees of The Publishing Society and towards the Directors themselves." 45

"In 1923 a Christian Science Society placed with the Directors at Boston an application that the Society be recognized as a Branch of The Mother Church. In a letter signed by a secretary of the Board certain questions were asked of the Society. Among them was the following: 'Have the applicants accepted the belief disseminated by the late trustees of the Publishing Society that everyone may adopt his own interpretation of the by-laws or that no one should be subject to discipline?' Here was an unequivocal stand upon the subject of who shall have the right to interpret our By-Laws...Unless that church should relinquish the right to interpret the By-Laws, it apparently would be denied recognition."46 John V. Dittemore's case, in which he appealed his expulsion from the Board of Directors, still was not resolved. On May 26, 1923, the Master ruled in his 44 Studdert-Kennedy, C.S. and Organized Religion, pp. 66, 67

45. "Paul Revere", The Mother Church — Its Permanency, Pamphlet 23, p. 5, 6
46. "Paul Revere", Government of Laws — Not of Men, Pamphlet 14, p. 3, 4



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favor and against the Directors. The Board appealed to the full Court. It was about this time that Dittemore joined forces with Annie C. Bill of England who had established "The Parent Church". She had come to Boston when the trouble started, and Dittemore returned to England with her where he was proclaimed the "Deputy Leader". If he were to win his case against the Directors, he planned to offer a resolution that the Church Manual be scrapped and that Mrs. Bill be made the new leader of the Church. Dittemore edited the Parent Church's periodical, The Christian Science Watchman, and by 1928 the church boasted forty-four branches. 47

The final decision of the court came on May 23, 1924. The full court declared that the Directors did have the right to expel John V. Dittemore by a majority vote. He was still, however, a trustee under the will of Mrs. Eddy. Further negotiations and a monetary settlement persuaded him to resign as trustee effective December 31, 1924. While there would be a skirmishes during the next few years, the Directors were finally emerging from seemingly endless litigation to a position of undisputed dominance in the realm of Christian Science.

The April 1922 Journal carried an article by Adam H. Dickey, a member of the Board of Directors. Referring to the Manual statement, "The business of The Mother Church shall be transacted by its Christian Science Board of Directors," he declared, "This does not mean that the Directors are at liberty to inflict their will or their desire upon the Christian Science movement. Indeed, the very opposite is true. The movement could not endure if the Directors should arbitrarily undertake to tell the members of the Mother Church how to conduct themselves."

A review of the Journal, however, reveals a constant stream of warnings and admonition to Scientists in the field which seem to go far beyond "transacting" the business of The Mother Church.

The June 16, 1923, Sentinel warns: "Many books have been written and published as an aid to Bible students, and a number of these have been prepared by individuals who had gained some knowledge of Christian Science and felt that their views or the results of their research would be helpful to others...It is not necessary for Christian Scientists to study voluminous Bible commentaries, dictionaries, reference books, and compilations of Scripture from various versions of the Bible. All of these must necessarily represent somewhat of the compiler's personal viewpoint or manner of approaching a subject, which may not be the best for others. Sometimes these so-called helps may tend to formalism and away from the initiative, inspiration, and revelation which should accompany individual effort."

47. Braden, Christian Science Today, pp. 382-390



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The June 1923 Journal warns against reading any of Mrs. Eddy's early writings or unpublished correspondence. It notes that "hundreds of her correspondents have sent in their cherished letters to be permanently filed in the vaults of The Mother Church." Allowing others to see one's class notes is also condemned.

The August 4, 1923 Sentinel states, "The question has been raised several times in the last four or five years, and again recently, as to whether it is best for branch churches through the field to send resolutions to the Board of Directors expressing loyalty to our Cause, and especially towards our institutions as established under the counsel of our inspired Leader. These resolutions are invariably a spontaneous expression from the churches...

The September 1923 Journal warns people not to share their insights from study: "Christian Scientists often have special illuminations in which they gain new views of Truth...It should not, however, be forgotten that while some phase of truth may be seen more clearly from a new viewpoint, this <lues not mean that it must necessarily become the experience of others."

The October 1923 Journal removes individual thought and demonstration when it instructs First Readers in branch churches how to prepare the readings for Wednesday evening meetings: "...some topic of present interest may be selected, always keeping it in line with the thought of the overcoming of error, whether manifested as sickness, sin, or some other form of discord. Some story from the Bible can at this time be presented in its entirety, possibly with one or two corroborative passages from another part of the Bible, but the latter, as a rule, should be brief... [I]n The Mother Church it has been thought best that there should be no more than three selections from the Scripture reading which are not consecutive, and from Science and Health not more than five unless in the latter case more seem necessary. It is also considered inadvisable either to begin a reading in the middle of a verse, or to discontinue before the end of a verse, although this is sometimes necessary in the Lesson-Sermon, but the Wednesday evening readings are not a Lesson-Sermon, therefore this necessity does not exist." The December 1923 Journal gives detailed instructions about Students' Associations which they should be demonstrating for themselves.

The July 1927 Journal carried advice from the Directors at Annual Meeting which fostered continuing dependency: "Your Directors would encourage branch church officials to feel free at all times to communicate with us about matters in which we can consistently advise. With the provisions of the Manual ever before us we cannot decide questions of a local character, which each branch must determine according to its own by-laws and by virtue of its own demonstrations; but your Directors are always glad to give information about that which wide experience has shown is a good course to take under similar circumstances. We




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can direct inquirers to the path that leads out of the woods, but we cannot compel them to take it. We are Directors, not dictators.

The Directors seemed to equate branch church committee work with individual spiritual progress when they added: "If at any time the temptation presents itself to feel that one's activities in support of the necessary functions of our organization are giving little time for spiritualization of thought, should not one pause and ask himself whether there is any service of our Cause, rendered to exalt the Christ, which will not bring its harvest of spiritual blessings?"

Regarding questions of an entirely local character, the following raises concerns and points to growing dependency: "We are informed of a branch church whose corporate meeting for election of Readers fell on the same evening that a lecture was scheduled to be given by one of the other churches in the same city. Instead of turning to God to ascertain which meeting the members should attend, they wrote a letter to the Board of Directors in Boston asking them to answer this question. And the Board of Directors told them! We are not concerned with the board's advice, be it in favor of one meeting or the other. That is immaterial. The thing that is serious is the evident fact that we of the Field have reached a place in loss of individual demonstration that prompts a group of Christian Scientists to feel impelled to write to Boston for information on such a small matter. It is surprising that Boston would reply in any other way than to discourage such inquiries, informing them that such matters had to be left to individual demonstration and could not be decided by the Board of Directors for a branch church... "Another incident: A man is know to us, who, not so long ago, gave a testimony at a Wednesday evening testimony meeting in a branch church of which he as a member in good standing. Within a few days, he received a letter from the Board of Directors saying that it had been brought to its attention that he had made certain incorrect statements in his testimony. He had not made the statements reported and he so wrote the Board. But, again, whether he made them or not, is not the point we desire to make. Assuming that he did make them, whose business is it to correct a testimony in a Christian Science branch church, — the First Reader conducting the service or the Board of Directors in Boston? Is not this act of the Board in writing to this member a violation of the rights of that church to govern itself?" 48

The report of the Annual Meeting in the July 1929 Journal conveyed a lofty mission assumed by the Directors: "Not many of those who have listened to these reports may realize, however, that the substance of what has been presented to them here has been considered from day to day throughout the year in the work of the Board of Directors. They have little to add to these reports except to

48. "Paul Revere," Support for The C. S. Board of Directors, pp. 39, 40



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say that the Directors' work is never confined to what Christian Scientists speak of as 'Headquarters,' but goes out in response to the appeal of human need whatever its nature, in line with the Master's declaration, 'The field is the world.'"




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CHAPTER 8 — THE REST OF THE 1920s

First Church of Christ, Scientist, New York City, sent a letter to Augusta Stetson dated August 24, 1921. Mrs. Stetson's house was located behind this church which she had built and dedicated on November 29, 1903. Since her excommunication from The Mother Church in 1909 and her voluntary withdrawal from First Church, New York, she had had no contact with the church's membership. The letter from the church announced a plan to build a "much needed and long contemplated improvement" on its property which was to be a wall seventeen feet high and forty feet deep which would completely separate their property from Mrs. Stetson's. They had proposed a similar wall in 1911, but no action was ever taken. Mrs. Stetson objected to the revival of these plans saying that the proposed wall's "primary purpose [was] to injure me", that it would cut off all light and air and tum the entrance to her home into a tunnel twenty-eight feet deep. The church announced its intention to proceed with the project, whereupon Mrs. Stetson went to court to stop them. The Supreme Court of the State of New York ruled in Mrs. Stetson's favor on July 6, 1923, and on August 14th ordered First Church, New York City to pay Augusta Stetson $1522. 18 to pay for legal fees and court costs. 49

Many of Mrs. Stetson's students had refused to denounce her during the trial of 1909. Others, like Virgil 0. Strickler, who had not been her student, but had been First Reader in First Church, New York, at the time of the trial, had denounced her only to find himself at odds with the Board of Directors of The

49. Stetson, Sermons & Other Writings on C. S., pp. 568-599



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Mother Church later on. In fact, Mr. Strickler's open letter which dared to criticize the Directors in 1921 had led to his being expelled from First Church, New York, in that same year.

Mrs. Stetson started one more project outside the church organization in 1925: Radio Station WRAP. It was on the air Sunday afternoon, three Saturday afternoons per month, and on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 6:30 P.M. to 11:15 P.M. The station featured Iive performance of sacred and classical music, readings from the Bible and Mrs. Eddy's writings, readings of sermons and poems by Mrs. Stetson, as well as news and speakers on public issues. 50 This turned out to be Mrs. Stetson's last project as she passed on in 1928. First Church, New York, acquired her property and promptly tore her house down. All of Mrs. Stetson's books are still in print today.

In 1921, Herman Zadek, a Christian Scientist in New York City, started the Rare Book Company. While the bookstore began by handling a variety of rare volumes and documents on various subjects, it soon began to deal exclusively with hard to find books and documents relating to Christian Science. The owner hired Ralph Geradi in 1926, who would carry on the business into the 1990s. Rare Book Company bought and sold collections of books from estates and also reprinted the first and third editions of Science and Health and the rare editions of the Science of Man copyrighted by Mrs. Eddy in 1875 and 1883.

All of these books have been denounced in the pages of The Christian Science Journal over the years since Mrs. Eddy's passing in spite of the fact that an article, which clearly had Mrs. Eddy's approval, appeared in the March 1891 Journal and was expanded and reprinted again the next month. It stated, "A practical suggestion or two regarding study of the new [50th] edition [of Science and Health]: In the first place, do not attempt to dispose ofthe earlier editions. Some are asking, 'Can we be permitted to exchange?' Probably not; but you do not want to do so, even if you can. Fortunate is he who has all former revisions, together with the original edition of 1875 ! They are indicators of successive stages of growth in Christian Science; and as such, at some future day will not only possess historic value, but will be exceedingly difficult to procure. Keep them all; they will prove a 'treasure trove.' Again: Let the new volume be studied in connection with earlier editions. The very contrasts help to see how the thoughts have risen only as we have been able to receive them."51 (emphasis in original) The August 1934 Journal carried the following notice: "The readers of this column will be interested in the correction of an erroneous report which has been circulated during the past year or more, concerning the article entitled

50. Weatherbe, Augusta E. Stetson, Apostle to the World, pp. 143-156
51. C.S. Journal, p. 515

'Science and Health. By Rev. Mary Baker G. Eddy' in Volume IX of The Christian Science Journal. Some have surmised from its title that this article was written by Mrs. Eddy and that its appraisals of the several editions of 'Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures' should therefore have particular credence today as representing the views of the Leader of Christian Science. This article, however, was not written by Mrs. Eddy, but by the then pastor of The Mother Church [probably Lanson P. Norcross]. This was before the days of the impersonal Pastor — the Bible and Science and Health. None of the articles published in the periodicals are intended to be mandatory. They all have the purpose of being helpful currently, and useful for reference. Having in thought these aspects of their usefulness, one relegates to their proper place any article not by our Leader. The March 1935 Journal carried a specific warning against reading the first edition of Science and Health. 52

Back in Boston, blueprints were being drawn for more big projects at The Mother Church. The October 21, 1924, Concord Daily Monitor announced, "Christian Scientists to Build a Home for Elderly Members at Pleasant View." The October 31 issue of the same newspaper included a statement from the Directors: "We take pleasure in announcing to the field that plans are well underway for the establishing of a permanent home for elderly persons whose length of service in our cause, good works, and other circumstances furnish special reasons for generous provision by Christian Scientists. This institution is to be maintained and operated under the auspices of the Mother Church and to be financed and supported by voluntary contributions of churches, societies, associations, and individuals." The large building was constructed on the site of Mrs. Eddy's home and was completed and opened on July 15, 1927. The building was debt free by opening day.

The Directors requested that First Church, Concord, make alterations to the building in order to accommodate the residents of the Pleasant View Home. Doorways were cut through the side of the heavy granite walls and a garage was built on to the side of the church to accommodate the residents of the new retirement facility who were transported there for church services. Seats also had to be removed because of the alterations. The Sunday school pupils were moved into a frame dwelling some distance away. The Board of Directors paid for the garage and the Sunday school building. Concern was expressed because of the obliteration of the original architectural concept and the unique symbolism of this one branch church built by Mrs. Eddy. 53

Even before the Pleasant View Home was completed, the Directors

52. C.S. Journal, p. 659
53. Orgain, As It Is, pp. 668, 669



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announced plans for the Pacific Coast Sanatorium to be known as Arden Wood. It was opened on May 23, 1930. Similar projects were initiated in England a few months after that.

In 1926, Mrs. Mary Beecher Longyear founded the Longyear Historical Society which was dedicated to acquiring and preserving sites connected with Mrs. Eddy's life. A museum was also established to house a library and historical objects related to Mrs. Eddy and the pioneers of Christian Science.

In 1927, the Board of Directors initiated a new policy regarding the Board of Lectureship. All lectures would have to be submitted in advance for review by an English critic who would check the text for errors and recommend other changes. The effect was devastating. Many lecturers commented that the heart had been cut out of their work and that no consideration had been given to the metaphysical content. The Board stuck to its new policy which had a chilling effect and lessened the spiritual depth of lectures delivered in the field. Some lecturers resigned rather than submit to this new policy.

Adam H. Dickey had resigned from the Board of Directors on February 8, 1925. While still a worker in Mrs. Eddy home, she had made him promise that he would write an account of his stay in her household. In the book he wrote the following: "On Tuesday, August 25, 1908, my bell rang, calling me to Mrs. Eddy's apartment. When I entered her study she was lying on the lounge where she usually took her rest. Requesting Mrs. Sargent, Mr. Frye, and third student to leave the room, she beckoned me to approach. She extended her hand to me, took mine in both of hers, and asked in a deep, earnest voice, 'Mr. Dickey, I want you to promise me something, will you?'

"I said, 'Yes, Mother, I certainly will.'

"'Well,' she continued, 'if I should ever leave here — do you know what I mean by that?'

"'Yes, Mother.'

"'If I should ever leave here,' she repeated, 'will you promise me that you will write a history of what has transpired in your experiences with me, and say that I was mentally murdered?'

"I answered, 'Yes, Mother, I will.'

"'Now, Mr. Dickey, do not let anything interfere with your keeping this promise. Will you swear to me before God that you will not fail to carry out my wish?'

"I raised my right hand and said, 'Mother, I swear before God that I will do what you request of me, namely, write a history of what I have seen, and heard from your lips, concerning your life.'

"'That will do, dear. I know now that you will not fail me.'

"Her whole demeanor was one of solemn intensity, and there was an




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eagerness in her voice and manner such as I seldom saw. "I returned to my room and pondered deeply over what she had said. In a few minutes one of the workers and Mrs. Sargent brought me a sealed envelope. In it was a penciled note reiterating the statement that she had made in our conversation of a short time before." 54

The book was printed after Adam Dickey's death in 1926, and copies of it were distributed to members of his association and also in the Library of Congress. The Board of Directors, on hearing of the book, wrote a letter to each member of Adam Dickey's association demanding that they send their copies to them. They told Mrs. Dickey to retrieve the copies in the Library of Congress and to turn over to them the printing plates and that they would reimburse her for all expenses involved in the printing of the book. They argued in their letter to the Dickey association that Mrs. Eddy had asked Adam Dickey to write a book, not publish a book. The Board acquired the copyright, but not all copies were turned in. Typed manuscripts and versions written in longhand quietly circulated for years. 55 The December 1927 Journal ran an item entitled, "Writing About Our Leader", which warned Christian Scientists not to read written anecdotes, incidents, or impressions about Mrs. Eddy which had not been authorized by the Board of Directors.

In 1929, a very harsh biography of Mrs. Eddy was published by Edwin Dakin who used, among other things, documents which John V. Dittemore had acquired while Clerk of The Mother Church.

On June 28, 1929, Alice L. Orgain was surprised to receive a telegram from the Board of Directors which stated, "We have seen thirty-three pages of book attributed to you. Apparently it infringes Mrs. Eddy's copyrights and disregards article eight, section ten of Manual. Apparently also it involves objectionable inferences and interpretations. Therefore we ask you to let us see entire book and ask you to suspend printing until then." 56

Alice Orgain was a native of Texas, had taken class instruction from one of Mrs. Eddy's own students, Ruth B. Ewing of Chicago, in 1901, and had been a Journal -listed practitioner ever since. She now lived in New York City and had written a book called As It Is which had not even left the printers yet when she received the telegram from Boston. Clearly the Board had contacts all over the field including someone working for her publisher in Cincinnati, Ohio, where her book was being printed. Her name did not even appear in the book and the author was listed only as "A Loyal Christian Scientist". Among other things

54. Dickey, Memoirs ofMary Baker Eddy, Preface
55. Braden, Christian Science Today, pp. 163-167
56. Flynn, The Alice Orgain Letters, p. 29



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her 949-page book traced the evolution of the Christian Science Textbook and that of the church organization and also examined the significance of the twelve tribes of Israel and their prophetic significance based on Mrs. Eddy's definitions of them given in the Glossary of Science and Health. The correspondence with the Board of Directors went on for months. Finally she was accused of "advocacy of Numerology, colorology, astrology, symbolism and other extreme and erroneous teachings."57 Anyone who has read the book would be mystified by the charges especially the one regarding "colorology" since no one has ever been able to define what that is.

What really troubled the Board of Directors was Alice Orgain's contention that any functions outlined in the Church Manual which required Mrs. Eddy's consent, approval, or signature — the so-called estoppel clauses — could not, and should not, be carried out any longer. Doing this would shut down most functions at headquarters and leave the legal Deeds of Trust of 1892 establishing the Board of Directors and that of 1898 establishing The Christian Science Publishing Society to operate alone. The concern of the Directors over this issue of the estoppel clauses was reflected in the notices which they placed in the Journal: January 1923, "Organization and Progress" which warned against attacks on the church organization; February 1924, "Our Church is Built to Stand" by Clifford Smith; and April 1928, "Alertness to Duty" which warns against erroneous propaganda which clamors for attention and printed matter whose intent is to deceive. Finally the May 1928 Journal announced "An Important Pamphlet" which was The Permanency of The Mother Church and Its Manual which contained a reprint of Adam Dickey's April 1922 Journal (discussed in Chapter Seven) as well as legal opinions which said that the Manual requirements for Mrs. Eddy's consent, approval, or signature were null and void. Mrs. Orgain's new book opened up this troubling question once again.

The New York Times of February 11, 1930, ran a story about the Orgain controversy: "After a bitter fight in the Board of Trustees which resulted in the ousting of two members, one of whom was later reinstated, members of the Fifth Church of Christ, Scientist, 342 Madison Avenue, have been instructed to refrain from reading a book, 'As It Is', by Alice L. Orgain, if they wish to retain membership in the church, it was charged yesterday by members who have presented resignations."

Mrs. Orgain's practitioner card was removed from the Journal in February 1930, and she was excommunicated from The Mother Church on October 13th of that same year.

57. Flynn, The Alice Orgain Letters, p. 65



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CHAPTER 9 — JOHN V. DITTEMORE'S TRUNK

Norman Beasley wrote: "In 1930, eighty-two churches and societies were added to the list of branches of The Mother Church. Fifty of the branches were in the United States, four were in Canada, twenty-one were in Europe, two were in Africa, and five were in Australasia. Altogether, there were 2,451 branches along with thirty-nine college organizations, five of which were admitted in 1930. "In the late nineteen-twenties and nineteen-thirties, a new church or society was being formed every four or five days. In 1931, among the 2,519 branch churches and societies, and forty college and university organizations, was the first branch church in Poland. In 1932, the first branches of The Mother Church were formed in Greece, in Belgium, and in Czechoslovakia; and in 1933, in Nairobi, in the British crown colony of Kenya in East Africa, a new branch was founded 2,000 miles away from the nearest Church of Christ, Scientist. "In Cairo was another church, the first in Egypt; there were two branches in Brazil, and five additional branches in Australasia. In 1933, there were 2,639 branch churches and societies, forty-seven college and university organizations and, devoting full time to the healing work of Christian Science were 10,747

practitioners and 505 nurses." 58

Without a doubt, the Christian Science movement was prospering in every way. Besides the burgeoning churches and societies, lavish spending on the sanatoriums at Chestnut Hill and Arden Wood, as well as the Pleasant View

58. Beasley, The Continuing Spirit, p. 229



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Home seemed to demonstrate the limitless possibilities of the Christian Science organization. Branches, societies, and class associations poured money into Boston to support each new project and to sustain those already completed.

Christian Scientists in the field attributed all of these signs of progress to the Board of Directors who were held in great reverence and were considered to be the most advanced students of Christian Science in the world. For this reason whatever plan, suggestion, or admonition the Directors might announce was accepted without question in the field. Loyalty to the Board was considered to be the true test of a genuine Christian Scientist.

The Board's instructions appeared in a constant stream in the periodicals. Their number and frequency increased greatly after the litigation regarding the Publishing Society. The June 1930 Journal warned against making and using copies of articles appearing in the periodicals: "Thus the addition of the letter 'n' to the little word 'or' has worked havoc with many a message." The July 1930 issue gave extended instructions to First Readers in branch churches regarding the proper extent of their authority in discipline and the conducting of meetings.

The September 1930 Journal announced a new biography of Mrs. Eddy by Lyman P. Powell entitled, Mary Baker Eddy, A Life Size Portrait. Dr. Powell was a rector of a Protestant Episcopal church in New York City who had originally been hostile to Mrs. Eddy. The appearance of his new book was a welcome event which would counteract the Dakin biography which appeared the year before. The Powell book was endorsed by the Board of Directors who had worked closely with the author and allowed him access to many documents in their keeping.

At about this same time, Clifford P. Smith at The Mother Church was collecting material for his own biography of Mrs. Eddy. In 1931, he asked Gilbert C. Carpenter of Providence, Rhode Island, to submit to him his recollections of the year he had spent in Mrs. Eddy's household from April 16, 1905 to April 16, 1906. Mr. Carpenter had joined The Mother Church in 1896; he had primary class instruction from Eugene H. Greene; and he was asked by Mrs. Eddy to be chairman of the building committee for the Extension in 1902. She called him to Pleasant View in 1905, and when he left after serving one year, she conferred the C.S.B. degree upon him — the only time she is known to have given this degree after so short a time. While he held the C.S.B. degree, he never taught classes in Christian Science.

Gilbert Carpenter set about recording his experiences with the view of correcting the inaccuracies and misimpressions left by such books as the one by Edwin Dakin in 1929. He completed his book entitled, Mary Baker Eddy, Her Spiritual Footsteps and had it copyrighted in 1934, with two copies going to the Library of Congress. Clifford P. Smith was not pleased. He had wanted an




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unpublished manuscript which he could use as source material for his own book. The Directors immediately made efforts to have the copies removed from the Library of Congress and get the copyright rescinded. However, by now the books were eagerly sought after, and people were traveling from all over the country to read the book. For this reason, the Librarian of Congress, Archibald MacLeish, — who, incidentally, won the Pulitzer prize for poetry in 1933, — declined to hand the copies over.

The April 1935 Journal ran the following: "...Even though the biographical undertakings of individuals may be executed with the best of motives, those who would serve The Mother Church will contribute their unpublished manuscripts of this nature to The Mother Church itself, and thus will perform an unselfish and loving service to the movement. All of the points here discussed indicate the advisability of relying upon biographies of Mrs. Eddy issued with the genuine aid or approve of the Directors of The Mother Church and circulated by The Christian Science Publishing Society."

Now outside the orbit of The Mother Church, John V. Dittemore had teamed up with Ernest Sutherland Bates to write an unfavorable biography of Mrs. Eddy in 1932. The information used in this book came from a large collection of copied documents which Dittemore had acquired while still Clerk of The Mother Church.

In 1933, Dittemore offered all of these documents for sale. They were packed in a large trunk, and the asking price was $10,000. A Roman Catholic priest had already offered $5,000, and Gilbert C. Carpenter and his son urged the Directors of The Mother Church to buy the trunk. They refused to have any dealings with John V. Dittemore. The Carpenters were able to strike a deal whereby they would get loan of the trunk for two weeks during which they could photostat its contents. They raised the required $400 with the help of the New York Public Library. The Carpenters and the library would each get a set of the documents. When the Board of Directors heard that the Carpenters had the trunk, they immediately agreed to pay the $10,000 for the Dittemore collection. The Mother Church sent a representative to get the copies held by the Carpenters but left in despair on hearing that the New York Public Library had a set also. It is not clear if the Directors ultimately retrieved the library's copies.

The senior Carpenter's son was named Gilbert C. Carpenter, Jr. He joined The Mother Church in 1918, had been elected First Reader in his branch church in 1922, and had served as Committee on Publication for Rhode Island for seven years. In 1928 he went through the Normal Class taught by Irving C. Tomlinson and became an authorized teacher of Christian Science.

Since the late 1920s, the elder Carpenter had given morning talks at their home. Word had spread, and a number of visitors and regulars were present to hear his comments about Mrs. Eddy and Christian Science. The younger Carpenter had all of these talks taken down in shorthand and later transcribed for preservation. The Board of Directors heard of this unauthorized activity and asked that it stop. The Carpenters agreed only to dissuade some of the visitors. The father and son also began going through and organizing the documents from the Dittemore trunk. Their collection became known among early workers who gave many of their reminiscences, memoirs, and memorabilia to the Carpenters for preservation. 59 The Directors kept a watchful eye on the Carpenters and what they perceived to be their dangerous activities in Providence.

Another major project was on the drawing board in Boston which absorbed the attention of the Directors. The July 1931 Journal announced the proposed construction of a greatly expanded Publishing Society. A fund was opened for contributions from the field. The United States and the world were in the midst of an economic depression which was reaching its depths in 1931. The proposal, therefore, was met with skepticism and disbelief. The December Journal gave the rationale for so large a project, and the January 1932 issue reminded people that previous church building had been done during hard economic times.

The cornerstone was laid on October 17, 1932, and construction began in earnest in 1933. The building contained marble from Italy, woodwork from England, mosaics from Germany, and tile from Czechoslovakia. The new building also featured a unique Globe Room (later called the Mapparium). Visitors could walk through the hollow globe on a walkway to see a model of the entire earth from a unprecedented perspective. The acoustic effect inside the globe would also prove to be a singular experience. The project was completed on January 20, 1934. It had been fully paid for seven months before actual completion. The cost was $4,500,000. 60

Even in the midst of the very difficult times, Christian Scientists dug deep into their pockets and made many personal sacrifices to keep faith with the Directors' call. Apparently this fervor led to some unwise giving and alarmed the Board, because they caused to printed in the January 1933 Journal a warning to branch churches to monitor their own financial condition and not neglect accumulating debts. The April 1933 Journal offered to lend a movie film of the construction of the new publishing house to branch churches.

In 1932 a new, greatly expanded, hymnal was released, the first change since 1910. That same year the Archives of The Mother Church were formally established. Documents had been collected all along, and a call for Mrs. Eddy's

59. Oakes, Discerning the Right of Man, pp. 12-28
60. Beasley, The Continuing Spirit, pp. 277, 278; Braden, C.S. Today, p. 277



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letters to be sent to Boston had gone out in 1917. This call for her letters was renewed in the May 1934 Journal. Donors were promised photostatic copies of their precious letters if they would send in the originals. The formal beginning of the Archives coincided with the appointment of Clifford P. Smith as Editor of the Bureau of History and Records, — a post he occupied until 1935.

It was John V. Dittemore who began collecting many of the documents which constituted the core of the present Archives. It is ironic that he was also responsible for the collection which came into possession of the Carpenters. Near the end of his life, he read Gilbert Carpenter's Mary Baker Eddy, Her Spiritual Footsteps — the book disapproved of by the Directors — and remarked that "if he had had access to the book earlier, he never would have written of Mrs. Eddy in the way he did...The reading of the book brought him back to the fold."61 At the end he wrote a letter of contrition to the Board of Directors which was printed in the August 1937 Journal.

61. Oakes, Discerning the Rights of Man, p. 29



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CHAPTER 10 — PHILOSOPHIES OF GOVERNMENT

The Mother Church expressed early interest in the unlimited potential of radio programming as a notice in the December 1932 Christian Science Journal demonstrates. An era of widely broadcast ideas was fast approaching. Others were enthralled with the possibilities of mass audiences and magnified influence. The November 9, 1923, Christian Science Monitor, reported on the failed coup d'etat led by Adolf Hitler. Once he came to power in January 1933, he was to teach the world a lesson about the manipulation of thought through the mass media of cinema and radio. His would also view Christian Science as a security threat as later events would show.

For the moment the focus of Boston was on the meticulous grooming of the Christian Science field. The February 1934 Journal gave instruction about class taught students attending other teachers' associations and warned again about reading unpublished manuscripts and taking notes. The June 1934 issue gave additional guidance for readers in branch churches and warned against "Hints on Healing" by Rev. Frank E. Mason who had formerly been Assistant Pastor to Mrs. Eddy in the late 1880s.

The August 1934 issue states: "Committees on Publication often act as helpers to The Christian Science Board of Directors in investigating situations of various kinds and in making reports to them." It should be pointed out that the C.O.P.s were never intended to be a bureau of investigation for the Board, and the duties of C.O.P.s are very clearly and narrowly specified in the Church Manual.




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The September 1934 issue defined what literature was proper for Sunday schools, outlined what constituted a recognized branch church, and advised against joining organizations promoting peace. The November issue that same year gave advice about selecting Wednesday readings by First Readers and offered suggestions about handling testimonies from the congregation. The December Journal stated that Mrs. Eddy's notice on the tip sheet in the July 1891 Journal condemning the "General Association for Dispensing Christian Science Literature" does not preclude literature distribution by branch churches.

In the Journals for 1935, the Directors admitted in June that Miscellany did contain articles selected by them, not by Mrs. Eddy, but that Miscellaneous Writings had not been tampered with. In October, they advised against admitting to membership in branch churches anyone who had not yet been healed of alcohol or tobacco addictions. Some branches in the field had determined that such people could better be healed if included inside a loving church. They argued that by categorizing sins, people who sought healing of specified ills such as smoking and drinking were kept out while others with equally undesirable dispositional sins such as the malicious gossip, the domineering tyrant, the witheringly cruel critic, and the socially aloof could easily pass through the membership inter.view undetected. The October Journal for the first time instructs the branches: "The customary announcement in regard to The Mother Church in the services of branch churches is perhaps: 'This church (naming the church) is a branch of The Mother Church, The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Massachusetts."' Alice Orgain's observation that this form was not used by branches in Mrs. Eddy's day has since given way to the set requirement that branch churches use this form of announcement. The same October issue announces that autograph dealers who sell Mrs. Eddy's letters have been ordered by the courts not to print long quotations from the letters they advertise for sale.

In April 1935, the cover of The Christian Science Quarterly was significantly altered by the removal of the "detached branch" which referred symbolically to the branch mentioned in Isaiah 11:1 and elsewhere in the Bible.

The Journals for 1936 announced a wide variety of items. In March the publication of Historical Sketches by Clifford P. Smith was announced. In April branch church members were told that Wednesday testimonies should not be hear-say, and should not try to teach or instruct. It was noted that rules for borrowing from Reading Room lending libraries should not be too strict. A clarification regarding notices was also issued: "When the Items of Interest were instituted, the following statement appeared at the head of this column: 'The Christian Science Board of Directors has authorized the publication of this column of brief items relating to our Cause.' It should be understood that these




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Items of Interest are designed to be informative and helpful, but they are not mandatory... The statements appearing in our periodicals over the signature of the Board of Directors of The Mother Church and those bearing the heading 'From the Directors' should be regarded as in a different classification from the Items of Interest." Even with this clarification, it was the practice in most branch churches to implement all suggestions in the Items of Interest as if they were mandatory. The Director did not dissuade them from this practice.

The same April Journal also defined the proper roles of the branch church Clerk and Treasurer and suggested that letters received from Boston be kept in a special file for future reference. Readers were reminded that those who owned letters written by Mrs. Eddy did have legal and physical possession of them, but that all literary rights belonged to The Mother Church. The May 1936 Journal repeated an earlier notice that Mrs. Eddy's letters donated to the Archives have not been destroyed as rumored. The same month a notice was carried which indirectly condemned The Divinity Course as recorded by Lyda Fitzpatrick while she was a worker in Mrs. Eddy's home. Her notes were later acquired and published by the Carpenters. The notice tells readers that Mrs. Eddy did not permit note taking in her classes and that any notes should be disregarded.

In August, it was announced that practitioners who serve in Reading Rooms should not accept patient calls while acting as librarian. The September issue said that it was desirable that branch church officers be class taught, but that this need not be an inflexible rule.

Some in the Christian Science field felt that the frequency and volume of advice coming from Boston encouraged dependence and a lack of resourceful thinking by members in the branch churches, and that the already established habit of waiting for or seeking advice over the smallest details of branch church activity was leading to a mental indolence and paralysis. These views were definitely in the minority and were dismissed with suspicion.

An announcement in the November 1936 Journal gave hints of ominous events to come: Christian Science literature entering Germany had been put under severe restrictions by order of the National Socialist government. German Christian Scientists were also prohibited from paying their annual per capita tax of at least one dollar to The Mother Church. A fund was opened for sending free copies of the periodicals and books because it was now unlawful for payments to be made to the Publishing Society or The Mother Church.

The situation in Europe was absorbing the attention of Christian Scientists in England at this time. At Cliveden, the estate of Lord and Lady Astor, regular gatherings of some of the most influential people in that country were held to discuss the world situation and ways to prevent a coming war. Lady Astor, an American by birth, had become a Christian Scientist in 1911. She gave a copy




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of Science and Health to what might be described as her soul mate, Philip Kerr, who also came into Science within a few months of reading the book. Later given the title Marquis of Lothian, Philip Kerr was editor of The Round Table a periodical dedicated to voicing the rationale for a world government under British stewardship. During the 1920s two young American Christian Scientists had been chosen to be Rhodes scholars. They were Erwin D. Canham, who would later become editor of The Christian Science Monitor, and Clayton Bion Craig, who would later be on the Board of Directors of The Mother Church. It is known that Erwin Canham was included in some of the activities at Cliveden. He and Clayton Bion Craig were to become lifelong friends.

Regarding The Round Table and other background events, Dr. Carrol Quigley, professor at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., wrote Tragedy and Hope — A History of the World in Our Time. It is noteworthy that in his acceptance speech at the 1992 Democratic Convention, President Bill Clinton, — who is himself a Rhodes scholar, — praised Dr. Quigley as one of the most influential people in his life.

Dr. Quigley writes: "The Round Table Groups were semi-secret discussion and lobbying groups organized by Lionel Curtis, Philip H. Kerr (Lord Lothian), and (Sir) William S. Marris in 1908-1911. This was done on behalf of Lord Milner, the dominant Trustee of the Rhodes Trust in the two decades 1905-1925. The original purpose of these groups was to seek to federate the English speaking world along lines laid down by Cecil Rhodes (1853-1902) and William T. Stead (1849-1912), and the money from the organizational work came originally from the Rhodes Trust. By 1915 Round Table groups existed in seven countries, including England, South Africa, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India, and a rather loosely organized group in the United States (George Louis Beer, Walter Lippmann, Frank D. Greene, Erwin D. Canham of the Christian Science Monitor and others). The attitudes of the various groups were coordinated by frequent visits and discussions and by a well-informed and totally anonymous quarterly magazine, The Round Table, whose first issue, largely written by Philip Kerr, appeared in November 1910... "At the end of the war of 1914, it became clear that the organization of this system had to be greatly extended [because The United States had declined to join the League of Nations]. Once again the task was entrusted to Lionel Curtis who established, in England and each dominion, a front organization to the existing local Round Table Group. This front organization, called the Royal Institute of International Affairs, had as its nucleus in each area the existing submerged Round Table Group. In New York it was known as the Council on Foreign Relations, and was a front for J.P. Morgan and Company in association with the very small American Round Table group...




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"The American Branch of this 'English Establishment' exerted much of its influence through five American newspapers (The New York Times, New York Herald Tribune, Christian Science Monitor, the Washington Post, and the lamented Boston Evening Transcript). In fact, the editor of the Christian Science Monitor was the chief American correspondent (anonymously) of The Round Table, and Lord Lothian, the original editor of The Round Table and later secretary of the Rhodes Trust (1925-1939) and ambassador to Washington, was a frequent writer in the Monitor."62

Frederick Dixon, editor of the Monitor from 1914 to 1922, had many of the same connections as Lord Lothian. During his editorship, there had been criticism that the Monitor was "being run in the interest of the British Foreign Office." 63

Lord Lothian gave an address at Oxford University in 1937 in which he clearly stated his position: "Few people seem to realize the far-reaching and demonic effects which the almost universal acceptance of national sovereignly as the basis of our present-day world order has both in producing war and in making impossible fidelity to the moral law or to Christian principle both in international and increasing spheres of national life... There is, indeed, no ultimate remedy for the demonic evils which spring from national sovereignty save the creation of a common sovereignty representing all men and nations by the pooling of that part of state sovereignty which deals with supernational matters, in a world federation — a state which, in its own sphere, will command the allegiance of mankind, will be able to legislate for, judge, and tax everybody, and will be responsible to everybody while leaving the national state freedom to deal with affairs in the national sphere. 64

Lord Lothian had been appointed British Ambassador to the United States in 1939. His known religious views and important diplomatic position lent great prestige to Christian Science. He had been warned, however, by friends "against talking world government to the Americans." 65

62. Quigley, Tragedy and Hope, pp. 165,950-952
63. Proceedings in Equity 1919-1921, p. 583
64. Kerr,The Universal Church and the World ofNations, 1938
65. Langhorne, Nancy Astor and Her Friends, p. 210



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CHAPTER 11 — CHANGES ON MANY FRONTS

The Christian Science Journal for 1937 carried the usual notices, advice, and warnings. The January issue again raised the tobacco and alcohol issue and instructed that no one should be processed for Mother Church membership who had not overcome these problems. The February issue discussed the experience of a "western church" which found that its membership began to increase once it had set aside specific financial requirements from members in favor of a more general request for financial "demonstration". The March issue stated that people should not be discouraged from pursuing class instruction, and readers were reminded that patients were not restricted to calling only their teachers for help or to pupils of that teacher. The May Journal asked branch churches to send in their histories to the Archives. The June issue included a major statement from the Directors that they had decided to give up class teaching for as long as they served on the Board. This had been one of the recommendations given in the "Report of the Committee on General Welfare" in 1920. Alleged plagiarism by Mrs. Eddy was announced as proven false. In the August issue it was denied that the Bible lessons were prepared according to any pattern or formula, and the letter of contrition from John V. Dittemore, previously referred to, was printed. The October Journal recommended that branch churches not neglect literature distribution boxes. In December, readers were discouraged from using aids which were being sold to assist in the study of the weekly Bible lessons.

The Normal Class of 1937 was held in December. The Board was sharply divided over who should teach the class. Bicknell Young had been called and was

62

waiting in one room, and Bliss Knapp who had received a similar call was waiting in another room. It wasn't until just minutes before the class was actually to begin that Bicknell Young was notified that he would conduct the class. It was considered a shabby way to treat two highly respected workers. Bicknell Young had Normal Class from Edward Kimball in 1902, and had himself taught the Normal Class of 1910. Bliss Knapp, who had been close to Mrs. Eddy since childhood, had had Normal Class in 1907 from Septimus J. Hanna and had served as Treasurer and First Reader of The Mother Church as well as lecturer all over the world. Once again the dispute over the Chicago and Boston schools of Christian Science was raised. Young, who was related to the Mormon Church leader, Brigham Young, was seen as representing the Chicago school and Knapp, the Boston school.

Charles S. Braden wrote: "Several members of the 1937 Normal class report that there was quite a stir among them when, at the opening session, it was discovered that Young was to be the teacher. One of them told me that two men, seated directly in front of her, voiced great disapproval of the appointment of a teacher bearing the Kimball stigma, and even some horror that Kimball's daughter, Edna, was present as a fellow-student. Others have confirmed this report, and they add that in the field generally there was an adverse reaction. Rumors were circulated that the Normal class would have to be retaught, breaking all precedent. So insistent was the gossip that the board was obliged to send out a letter to prevent further disruption." 66

Edna Kimball Wait had published, with the Board's encouragement, Lectures and Articles on Christian Science by Edward A. Kimball in November 1921 as a way to counteract — and hopefully supplant — the book of Kimball material put out by Rev. Kratzer in 1917 entitled, Teaching and Addresses on Christian Science. Interestingly, during the 1937 Normal Class, Edna Kimball Wait wanted to do some research in the Archives and was turned down. This was to prove to be a general pattern as the metaphysical and literary treasures of Christian Science were locked away from all but the ruling elite. The next few years would show that controversy over this 1937 Normal Class was far from over.

The Journal for 1938 included in the January issue a warning from the Directors to beware of spurious and apocryphal sayings and writings of Mary Baker Eddy. They also expressed disapproval of declarations and denials "intended for use as formulas." They also stated that this violated the copyright laws and suggested that Christian Scientists should ask themselves whether material is authentic and if it is circulated with the consent of the Trustees under the will of Mrs. Eddy. This warning was a clear reference to Watches, Prayers,

66. Braden, Christian Science Today, p. 328



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Arguments issued by the Carpenters in January 1938. The book consisted of items given out daily by Mrs. Eddy's to her household workers for metaphysical work. These were assembled by the Carpenters from documents in John V. Dittemore's trunk.

The February 1938 Journal announced a fund for literature going to Germany and also gave the results of the Normal Class of the preceding December by naming the teacher and the states and countries of the class members. The April issue gave advice to First Readers about selecting benedictions and branch church members were admonished for closing their hymnals and putting on their coats before the final hymn was finished. The June issue included advice for First Readers when reading I John, chapter three. Professor Hermann S. Hering's study of where to place emphasis was included. The August issue reminded that only the King James Version of the Bible should be used in church services. The September Journal asked readers to advise the Archives of old editions of Science and Health so that the collection of the textbook could be completed. The October issue reminded distribution committees not to put Monitor's of too recent a date in the distribution boxes because strangers might think that the newspaper is a gift paper. In November, the Directors recommended urging prospective members to "awaken to their obligation and apply for membership" and to join both the branch church and The Mother Church at the same time.

In the spring of 1938, Hugh A. Studdert-Kennedy who had worked in the Publishing Society during the litigation of 1919-1921 decided that it was time to write a book about Mary Baker Eddy's life which would neither be hostile nor appear to be church propaganda. He had resigned from The Mother Church shortly after the departure of the Trustees in 1921 and had written Christian Science and Organized Religion in 1930 which was critical of the growing authoritarianism of the Board of Directors. Studdert-Kennedy was from England and was "a direct descendant of George Studdert, cleric of Oliver Cromwell's time, 1653...and Hugh A. Studdert-Kennedy was himself ordained to the ministry of the Church of England by Bishop Gore."67 He became a student of Christian Science and never left it though he had resigned his membership in The Mother Church. He hoped to have access to the Archives, and, therefore, sought the agreement of the Board of Directors. The Directors were cordial, and William P. McKenzie was very supportive and helpful with the project. He began writing in earnest and submitted a first draft to the Board via McKenzie on January 22, 1940. 68 In the meantime, other events were taking place regarding

67. Studdert-Kennedy, C.S. and Organized Religion, p. 170
68. Braden, Christian Science Today, pp. 128-133



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biographical information. Since 1937, talks had been given on Tuesdays following the Annual Meeting. "These addresses were delivered by those who had the priceless privilege of acquaintance with Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, and who shared her warm friendship."69 These meetings were to continue until 1942. The volume containing the addresses would be published in 1943, and would be followed by three more volumes with similar accounts in 1950, 1953, and 1972. The remembrances were carefully screened, and their publication presented a hesitant departure from past policy forbidding discussions of individual experiences from Mrs. Eddy's early workers.

In 1938, The Board of Directors appointed a committee of editors to assemble all the published and unpublished statements of Mrs. Eddy regarding her place in Bible prophecy. The members of the committee included Albert Gilmore, W. Stuart Booth, Violet Ker Seymer, Duncan Sinclair, and George Shaw Cook. Their report would eventually consist of 57 typewritten pages. According to one account, the idea for this committee originated with Richard C. Shoup of Atlanta, Georgia, who had come to Boston in 1916 to help install modern equipment in the Publishing Society. "In talking with individual members of the Boston Board my father discovered some of them were not sure of what stand to take regarding Mrs. Eddy. My father, therefore, being the most persuasive man I ever knew, convinced the Board of Directors to appoint a committee (to search the archives). This committee was called the 'Committee of Editors. '"70 The committee would work for several years before presenting its final conclusion to the Board.

The year 1938 marked the beginning of troubles for some members of the Normal Class of 1937. Margaret Laird had roomed with Edna Kimball Wait during the class. She had primary class from Bicknell Young, and as it turned out, she was also taught the Normal course by him as well. She had a reputation for successful healing practice in Evanston, Illinois. In August 1938, she received a letter from the Board which included a long list of allegations made by unnamed accusers. She replied that some of the accusations resulted from sayings taken out of context. Other charges she flatly denied. The Board accepted her explanations, and the issue was temporarily laid to rest.

The Christian Science Journal for 1939 gave a variety of instructions. In January, First Readers were told how to prepare Wednesday readings and how long to allow for the testimonies. In February, the Directors warned, "From time to time there have appeared books written by and published for individuals,

69. We Knew Mary Baker Eddy, First Series, Foreword
70. Letter. to CSBD from R. Conwell Shoup, Jr., Feb. 27, 1993



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some of whom are members of The Mother Church in the belief that the notes made during their study and practice of the teachings of Christian Science will be of particular benefit to others. Although these books may not be intended by the writers as textbooks of Christian Science, yet in some cases they are mistakenly used as such by some readers, who hope to find something not found in the authorized Christian Science literature, or a short method for gaining an understanding of God... A distinct phase of mortal mind is the temptation to prefer what is irregular or unauthorized to what is provided in the authorized and regular ways. If additional literature on the subject of Christian Science were needed, this need would be recognized and would naturally be supplied by The Christian Science Board of Directors...Alert students realize that their growth in the understanding of its teachings is abundant and continuous when they confine their study and reading to the Bible, to our Leader's writings, and to that authorized literature which has had the approval of those appointed and qualified to pronounce upon its correctness and accuracy of statement. Such students therefore do not jeopardize their own progress by investigating unauthorized writings about Christian Science."

That same month the Directors warned against handwritten and typewritten papers containing copies of articles, letters, or sayings attributed to Mrs. Eddy. Regarding her letters, they state that "nearly all of them have been acquired by The Mother Church and are preserved in its vaults."

In March, Journal readers advised again about the literature fund for Germany and reminded that Germans were "not yet allowed to order our literature in the usual way." Readers were told that one might send literature to individuals in Germany if there were a clear return address. Regarding literature distribution, people were told that the Monitor should still be distributed but that it should be made clear that it is not a gift paper. Answering a question about the sale of literature, the Directors said that it should never be sold on Sunday, but that Wednesday evening was all right. People were urged to subscribe to the periodicals so that there would be no need to buy literature at irregular times. The September issue announced hurricane relief for New York and New England churches. In November, branch churches were told not to allow their edifices to be used for any secular purposes (such as boy scouts, girl scouts, meetings, voting, etc.).

William Dana Orcutt was long connected with the publishing books by Mary Baker Eddy. He had proposed on one occasion the printing of a special "sumptuous" edition of Science and Health, and she had expressed interest in the idea, but in 1908 she decided that the time was not right. By 1939, Mr. Orcutt reasoned that since the textbook had entered its final revision in 1910, and since he had made a thorough study of bindings, typefaces, and papers on many trips

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to Europe, that the time had arrived to create this special edition of the Christian Science textbook. After presenting the idea to the Board of Directors, permission to proceed with the project was given on August 15, 1939. The paper for the book would be pure linen and handmade in England. The type chosen was known as the Laurentian face and had the appearance of pen-drawn lettering from the fifteenth century. The covering of the book would be done using goatskins from India. The Second World War began on September 1, 1939, and the handmade paper and the Indian goatskins would have to be transported over seas infested by German U-boats. The project was, nevertheless, finished in June of 1941. 71

Sometime between March 1938 and March 1939, those practitioners who had not had formal class instruction from a C.S.B. were removed from the Journal practitioner listing according to current available research. In October 1913, the designation "C.S." had been removed from their listings. In Mrs. Eddy's day, these practitioners considered themselves to have been taught by Mary Baker Eddy, President of Massachusetts Metaphysical College, via Science And Health. They felt that their success in healing, rather than formal class instruction from a teacher should be sufficient credentials for a Journal listing.

Also, sometime during the 1930s, according to current available research, the Directors instructed the Bible Lesson Committee to include in each lesson an account of a healing from the Bible which might occasionally be supplanted by one given in the text of Science and Health. This had never been a requirement since the Bible Lessons using Mrs. Eddy's subjects had been initiated in July of 1898. Some felt that the constant recycling of the Bible's accounts of healing tended to put a strain on them and thereby devalue them. It has also been pointed out that this arbitrary mandate reduced the flexibility of the Committee. "On December 14, 1939, the Directors appointed the Christian Science Wartime Committees of The Mother Church in the United Kingdom, Canada, and France."72 The Mother Church had to heed the regulations for neutral countries and became a registered voluntary relief agency. Depots were set up in Oregon, New York, Los Angeles, and Boston for the collection and transfer of relief supplies for innocents in the war zone. The second of two world wars was about to engulf civilization once again with only twenty-one years between them.

71. Orcutt, Mary Baker Eddy and Her Books, pp. 157-184
72. Beasley, The Continuing Spirit, p. 247



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CHAPTER 12 — THE WAR YEARS BEGIN

The America First Committee and Charles A. Lindbergh still hoped to keep the United States out of Europe's war. France had fallen to Hitler and the Battle of Britain was raging. The Mother Church maintained and increased its relief efforts.

The Christian Science Journal for the year 1940 included a wide variety of notices. The March issue announced William Dana Orcutt's Subscription Edition of Science and Health. The price of the Quarterly was reduced because of wartime conditions. Advice for lecture preparation was offered including metaphysical work, following up invitations with a telephone call, and reserving seats for strangers. The April issue once again asked for readers to advise the Archives of old editions of Science and Health they might have. The May issue discouraged holding Sunday school and the regular Sunday service at different times so that Sunday school pupils and teachers could attend both. The September issue included a statement from the Directors about alertness in the time of dictators. Availability of envelopes for donations to the War Relief Fund was announced.

The October 1940 issue of the Journal tried to dampen the Chicago vs. Boston school debate with this statement from the Directors: "Early in the history of Christian teaching, division and strife arose between Christians because one said, 'I am of Paul,' while another said 'I am of Apollos.' Paul deprecated such conduct; so probably did Apollos. Paul said, 'Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man?' (See I Cor 3:3-9, 21-23.)




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"In recent history, some Christian Scientists have had occasion to guard against the same trait of human nature. Some of them have spoken as though Christian Science could be divided by the names of particular teachers and parts of its teaching could be identified in this way. Such less-than-careful speaking is even more harmful now than it was in the first century, because communication is faster and spreads farther now than then. "Christian Science is neither divided nor divisible. For its teaching and healing there is only one method or system. This is the one which is set forth in the writings of the Discoverer and Founder, Mary Baker Eddy. Every authorized and loyal teacher of Christian Science aims to teach this one method or system faithfully, to the exclusion of anything different or peculiar to himself." In this same issue, practitioners were reminded to keep communications with patients confidential. Rebinding of worn books in public libraries should be done using free replacement covers supplied by The Mother Church so that they are standard in appearance. In November readers were reminded to give up seats at lectures to strangers. In December, people were reminded that knitted clothing was being collected for British soldiers.

Margaret Laird once again began receiving letters from the Board of Directors. A letter dated July 12, 1939, informed her that several persons whose integrity the Board could not question had accused her of confusing matter and Spirit in her teaching. She was said to have given out unauthorized literature and even typed manuscripts which had come into the Board's possession, and that she had said that it was all right to use medicine and Christian Science at the same time. She was accused of being aggressive in getting pupils for her class. She was accused of tolerating drinking and smoking and that she had criticized other workers and even the Board of Directors. She answered all the charges. Then a new charge was made. She was accused of allowing the wife of a pupil to sit in on her class even though this woman had already had class with another teacher. Mrs. Laird answered: "The maliciousness of purpose shown in the distortion of facts and the gossip presented to you was not apparent except to one who knew the facts, but here is something which can be proved a slanderous falsehood. A report of this kind, which could have been investigated so easily without bothering either you or me, can be construed in but one way, and that is as a willful attempt to discredit and injure." Everyone of her pupils testified that the woman had not sat in on the class. The Board had to agree in a letter dated January 26, 1940, that this had evidently been a false report. 73 This, however, was not to be the end of the story.

On October 17, 1940, the Japanese government ordered a general acknowledgment of the Japanese emperor as God. The only two Christian

73. Braden, Christian Science Today, pp. 215, 216



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Science societies in Japan, Tokyo and Yokohama, disbanded and held informal services in members' homes. 74 Lord Lothian, British Ambassador to the United States, died in December of 1940. It was a shock to Christian Scientists and was cause for deep regret because of the prestige he had given The Mother Church and the religion.

The Christian Science Journal for 1941 stated in February that all those who were subject to the selective service should submit to vaccinations when entering the armed services. It was also stated that Christian Science could not be used as a basis for conscientious objection to military service. The results of the 1940 Normal Class were also given. A request for branch church histories were once again requested for inclusion in the Archives. In March rules for pupils of one association attending another were spelled out. In May, requests for suitable clothing for shipment to England were made, and the publication of Mrs. Eddy's poem, "The United States to Great Britain" was announced. It would be printed on a card with an envelope. The June issue repeated the need for continued donations of war relief clothing and said that cash contributions would also be accepted. Contributions for the Camp Welfare Fund were solicited as were the names and addresses of all Christian Scientists serving in uniform. Readers were also reminded that German churches could not pay for literature sent to them.

The July Journal relayed shipping instructions for relief supplies and repeated other requests for funds set up for the war effort. First Readers in branch churches were reminded not to use the subjects reserved for Sunday Lesson Sermons on Wednesdays. It was acknowledged that a few citations used on Wednesday evenings might occasionally overlap with those in the Sunday service.

In September readers of the Journal were given reminders about all the wartime funds. Branch churches were reminded to be sure that they had sufficient Hymnals and Quarterlies for people attending. The opening of a fourth Reading Room of The Mother Church in Boston was announced. A completely redesigned Sentinel was announced which appeared on January 3, 1942. Its dimensions were greatly reduced. A similar cover design was adopted, but different colors were used until 1947 when a standard blue was adopted. The October issue urged the buying of U.S. War bonds and stamps.

The November 1941 Journal presented ominous news that all Christian Science churches in Germany had been closed by order of the government and that the cards of churches and practitioners would hereafter be omitted. Readers were urged to buy U.S. Defense Savings Bonds. Readers were reminded that there were no other textbooks for self-instruction in Christian Science except Science and Health.

74. Beasley, The Continuing Spirit, p. 245



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In December branch churches were admonished for mistakenly adopting Manual by-laws as their own.

The simple announcement of all Christian Science churches being closed in Germany did not include any details. When the facts did emerge, the picture was a chilling one and hinted at the terror, mayhem, and death which other religious groups would also suffer at the hands of the Nazis. Norman Beasley described it well: "Then came Monday, June 9, 1941. In Germany and in Austria, every Christian Science church, every Christian Science society, every Christian Science reading room, and every Christian Science practitioner's office was closed; all records and all files in all offices, all churches, all societies, and all reading rooms were seized; all funds and all literature were confiscated; every known Christian Scientist was arrested. "Every known Christian Scientist was questioned in minute detail. There were queries concerning personal matters, queries as to how long the individual hatl been a Christian Scientist, whether he became one of his own choosing, or whether he had been coerced; and, if coerced, by whom. There were many questions regarding Christian Science treatment, and practitioners were ordered to give the names and addresses of all persons treated, and of all persons healed. There were questions as to the individual's sympathies toward Hitler, toward Nazism; whether the individual was, or had been, a member of the Nazi party. On July 14, 1941, Hitler published an edict making permanent the action of the previous month... "In Germany, a program of dishonor was under way. Christian Scientists joined the Jews and political prisoners in the concentration camps. Other Christian Scientists were jailed. Others, after receiving warnings, were permitted to return to their homes." 75

The Japanese attack on the U.S. Naval Base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941, plunged the United States into the war which had already been raging for over two years.

Norman Beasley: "Soon after the attack on Pearl Harbor...the edifice of First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Shanghai, was seized, and its Sunday School room used as an ammunition dump. In Hongkong, Tientsin, The Dutch East Indies, Malaya, and other far eastern countries, Christian Scientists were dispossessed of their meeting places and their church buildings. "At Singapore, church dedication services were in progress as Japanese troops began the attack on the city; in the Philippines, literature was hidden, and hidden with it were chairs, and desks, and benches, and organs — sometimes just in time

75. Beasley, The Continuing Spirit, pp. 241-243



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to escape capture."76 Back at The Mother Church, the decision had been made by the Trustees under the Will of Mrs. Eddy to reset the type of all of Mrs. Eddy's books. The job was entrusted to William Dana Orcutt. Some of the changes entailed the rearrangement of the marginal notes so as to remove hyphens between divided words. The bindings were also changed. The cover design developed in 1902 by Mrs. Eddy had an embossed border design with a series of seven detached branches going down the sides, and four across the top and bottom. In the four corners were flowers with twelve petals, and on the inside of the border were four fleurs-de-lis with the cross and crown seal in the middle. 77 This design had been abandoned apparently in the 1930s in favor of plain black or brown covers. The new binding was to be done in blue. 78

Other changes had been made to Science and Health after Mrs. Eddy's passing. Two testimonies were removed from the chapter, "Fruitage". The first one taken out between 1910 and 1914 was entitled "A Priceless Boon" and had been located on page 698. The second one was removed in 1925 and was titled, "Insanity and Epilepsy Healed" on page 604. It was replaced by a new testimony entitled, "Spinal Trouble and Indigestion Healed" and was placed on the same page. The original testimonies had been placed in "Fruitage" in 1907. 79

The Christian Science Journal for 1942 began with the announcement of appointments of Wartime Ministers in the January issue. Before the war was ended there would be 214 such ministers, twenty-six chaplains. 80 The February issue again called for names and addresses of those serving in the armed forces. The March issue announced the opening of the Wartime Fund to replace the War Relief Fund and Camp Welfare Fund now that the United States had officially entered the war. Americans were urged to comply with government emergency requirements. Requests for old editions of Science and Health were once again requested and tours of the Publishing Society were announced as suspended as a security measure for the duration of the war. The April Journal noted that previous instructions that people should not close hymnals or put on coats before the end of the last hymn had been misconstrued. There was no requirement that those in the congregation remain standing until the conclusion of the postlude. The May issue announced that it was all right for church members to take first aid courses during wartime conditions. People were also warned:

76. Beasley, The Continuing Spirit, pp. 245, 246
77. S&H, The Symbolism of its Cover, C.S. Research Library
78. Orcutt, Mary Baker Eddy and Her Books, pp. 146-149
79. Flynn, The Alice Orgain Letters, pp. 86-88
80. Beasley, The Continuing Spirit, p. 249



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"Experience has shown that the text of talks and addresses delivered by Christian Scientists at membership meetings, committee meetings, or at any other meetings held in the interest of dedication or other church activities, should not be made available otherwise than by their oral delivery to the audiences invited to listen to them, unless they are published and circulated through the regular and authorized channels for the dissemination of Christian Science literature. While these talks which are prepared for oral delivery on specific occasions are undoubtedly helpful to those who hear them, to make and distribute copies is inadvisable and objectionable. Therefore no attempt should be made to take shorthand or other voluminous notes of addresses, talks, or Christian Science lectures, and unauthorized copies of them or parts of them should not be made and passed around. "Considering all that has been published in these columns relative to the passing about of papers alleged or purported to be copies of letters, articles, address, and talks by Christian Scientists, or excerpts from them, iL seems strange that the objectionable practice should still persist. Even Christian Scientists who are otherwise loyal and alert need to beware of subtle arguments which would lead them to disregard the warnings repeatedly given on this subject. Care needs to be taken to preserve the purity of the teachings of Christian Science and the integrity of the literature which disseminates these teachings. It is essential, therefore, that Christian Scientists carefully avoid encouraging the circulation of unauthorized copies of statements on Christian Science..." (emphasis in original)

The July 1942 issue asked for contributions to the Literature International Distribution Fund and also said that it was all right to display the American flag in churches, auditoriums, or at entrances to rooms in which services were held. The C.S. Wartime worker in the Middle East was requesting names of servicemen in the region, and a folder, "Prayer and Country" by Mrs. Eddy was announced. The October Journal urged Christian Scientists to advance spiritually by taking class instruction in the present wartime conditions. Suggestions were also given for counteracting the lessening of church attendance. The November issue informed that because of censorship requirements, people could not send individual issues of the periodicals to friends in neutral countries. To save steel, the number of staples in the periodicals would be reduced. In December, it was announced that Mother Church membership continued to increase.

Margaret Laird received another complaint from the Board of Directors in 1942. She was accused of circulating papers which were falling into the hands of people outside her Association of pupils and that this could over time lead to the corruption of Christian Science. This same year, another teacher attracted the




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attention of the Directors. John Doorly had been President of The Mother Church during part of the litigation between the Directors and the Trustees of the Publishing Society. He was also a popular lecturer from 1915 to 1928. A native of England, he had become interested in the structure of Science and Health and in particular the seven synonyms for God. In his study of this he had equated these synonyms with the seven days of creation. His expositions on this subject had attracted much interest. In May of 1942, the Directors wrote him with the reports of many improprieties in his teaching which could separate his pupils from others and warned that his interpretations of Mrs. Eddy's writings could be divisive. He was advised to heed their counsel so that he might preserve his usefulness in the church. John Doorly replied on July 4, 1942, and defended himself by questioning those who constantly write the Board to report on others and wondered if perhaps some members of the Board were encouraging this. He quoted a former Board member who said, "Brother, they write about everybody!" He received no reply, but was subjected to local disciplinary action by Ninth Church, London which suspended him. He resigned his membership in the branch and forwarded the correspondence to Boston.

Mr. Doorly wrote to the Board: "As long as Christian Scientists believe in Christian Science only as a religion and not as a science, we will be afraid of its being tampered with; when Christian Scientists understand our Leader's revelation as absolute Science, this needless fear will also disappear, for no one can add one jot or title to absolute Science, and no one can take it away." 81

80 Braden, Christian Science Today, pp. 225-227




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CHAPTER 13 — WAR IN HEAVEN

January 1943 saw what was to be the turning point of World War Two: the defeat of Hitler's armies at Stalingrad. More than two years of bitter fighting remained before peace was restored. At the Mother Church the Wartime Fund and related activities consumed great attention, but other church business was not neglected.

The Christian Science Journal of 1943 relayed directives and information. The January through March issues included wartime messages asking for contributions to funds, news about chaplains in the armed forces, and explanations about delays in the mail. The April issue stated that the rationing division of the government said that, in spite of gasoline rationing, it was all right to use cars for transportation to Christian Science lectures. The May Journal urged church members to show hospitality in their homes for servicemen.

The July issue included a major announcement. The committee of editors, which had been appointed in 1938 by the Directors, had finished collecting all the published and unpublished statements of Mrs. Eddy's which would shed light on her place in Bible prophecy. The committee's report consisted of fifty-seven typewritten pages. These had been reduced to six points. The report did not really present anything which was not already generally accepted as true among Christian Science teachers and individuals in the field. The statement, signed by the Christian Science Board of Directors, first appeared in the June 5, 1943, Christian Science Sentinel and then in the July Journal. It was entitled "Mrs. Eddy's Place":




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"The position of The Mother Church as to Mary Baker Eddy's place in the fulfillment of Bible prophecy is clearly set forth in the following paragraphs. These conclusions are not new; they are confirmed by our Leader's writings, and the steadily unfolding fruitage of Christian Science bears witness to their truth. "I. Mrs. Eddy, as the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, understood herself to be the one chosen of God to bring the promised Comforter to the world, and therefore, the revelator of Christ, Truth, in this age. "2. Mrs. Eddy regarded portions of Revelation (that is, Chapter 12) as pointing to her as the one who fulfilled prophecy by giving the full and final revelation of Truth; her work thus being complementary to that of Christ Jesus. "3. As Christ Jesus exemplified the fatherhood of God, she (Mrs. Eddy) revealed God's motherhood; she represents in this age the spiritual idea of God typified by the woman in the Apocalypse. (See Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 565: 13-22.)

"4. Mrs. Eddy considered herself to be the 'God-appointed' and 'God anointed' messenger to this age, the woman chosen by God to discover the Science of Christian healing and to interpret it to mankind; she is so closely related to Christian Science that a true sense of her is essential to the understanding of Christian Science; in other words, the revelator cannot be separated from the revelation. "5. This recognition of her true status enabled her to withstand the opposition directed against her by 'the dragon' (malicious animal magnetism); she was touchingly grateful to those who saw her as the woman of prophecy and who therefore trusted, obeyed, and supported her in her mission. "6. This same recognition is equally vital to our movement, for demonstration is the result of vision; the collecting of this indisputable evidence of our Leader's own view of herself and of her mission marks a great step forward; wisely utilized, this evidence will stimulate and stabilize the growth of Christian Scientists today and in succeeding generations; it will establish unity in the Field with regard to the vital question of our Leader's relation to Scriptural prophecy. "As we record these important facts, we remind Christian Scientists of our Leader's words (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 308), 'The Scriptures and Christian Science reveal "the way," and personal revelators will take their proper place in history, but will not be deified.'"

The same July Journal included a terse announcement which was really the last significant notice in the Journal for 1943: "At the request of Peter V. Ross, C.S.B., who has been serving as Editor of The Christian Science Journal, the Christian Science Sentinel, and the Herald of Christian Science in its several editions, The Christian Science Board of Directors has released him from the

76

editorial duties in order that he may return to service as a member of The Christian Science Board of Lectureship, on which he served for many years. "In acceding to Mr. Ross's request that he not be reappointed as Editor, the Directors expressed to him their appreciation of his faithful work in that important department." Mr. Ross had been appointed to the Editorship of the periodicals only a year earlier, and his early departure was unusual. He was a popular teacher, and he had been a lecturer since 1922. He had delivered an address at the Chicago World's Fair of 1933 entitled, The Cornerstone of Christian Science: Perfect God and Perfect Man" and had done much to draw new people to Christian Science.

While no public announcement is ever made in such situations, the rumor mill circulated the story that he had been removed from his position because of immorality. Mr. Ross was placed on probation and had his teaching and association taken away from him. He was still listed in the Journal as a practitioner until the next year. Be.fore he had accepted the editorship of the periodicals, he had been taken off the lecture committee because it had been complained that he spoke extemporaneously and did not stick to the literal printed text of his lectures. His probation on the 1943 charge was to stretch beyond the prescribed three years.

In Providence, Rhode Island, Gilbert C. Carpenter and his son continued their activities of speaking, collecting, and publishing. The younger Carpenter was offered a lectureship on two different occasions if he would abandon what had developed into the Carpenter Foundation (although it would not be formally incorporated as such until January 1946). Finally, the Directors removed the names of the father and son from the Journal in November 1943 and put them on a three year probation. The elder Carpenter was also expelled from his local branch church. In response, Gilbert Carpenter, Sr. gave the church a large contribution.

Gilbert Carpenter, Jr. lost permission to teach and also had his association of pupils taken away from him. To accomplish this, the Directors used a formal complaint which had been lodged by a teacher in the District of Columbia which alleged that Gilbert Carpenter, Jr. had been recruiting pupils for his class outside his own territory. This was considered a specious claim since teachers often had pupils in their classes from wide geographic areas.

Anytime a teacher was put on probation, his association was dissolved and his pupils were free to seek class instruction from another teacher who was still in good standing with the Board of Directors. This would cause special difficulty to Journal -listed practitioners who needed the initials "C.S." after their names to qualify for registry in the monthly periodical. They would either have to wait through the three year probation period with their teacher or seek space in




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another teacher's class. All pupils were somewhat stained by the stigma attached to a disciplined teacher.

Even with the anathema placed upon the Carpenters by the Directors, students of Christian Science in the field continued to quietly give their memoirs, reminiscences, manuscripts, rare books, and memorabilia to them for preservation.

Another action, guaranteed to disturb the Directors, started in 1943. Anonymous writers using the pen name of "Paul Revere" began sending out monthly pamphlets to practitioners, teachers, and to other interested people in the field. The first one in August 1943 was titled, "Support for The Christian Science Board of Directors." These pamphlets continued for several years, and their premise was that the Directors had been handled by animal magnetism and that they needed the clear-eyed support and understanding of people in the field. The pamphlets included many examples of grievances and injustices over the years, especially since the time of the litigation of 1919-1922. The examples of mistreatment and unloving conduct by the Board of Directors and others at headquarters was the major theme along with the contention that the Church Manual, which was the governing document of The Mother Church, was generally ignored despite the lavish lip service it received. The hunt for "Paul Revere" began.

Hugh A. Studdert-Kennedy, who had submitted his manuscript for a biography of Mrs. Eddy, had encountered one roadblock after another. The Board retracted the approval they had initially given him and demanded that he include in the new book a retraction of his negative comments about the church organization in his 1930 book, Christian Science and Organized Religion. When he declined, the Directors told him that if he quoted any of Mrs. Eddy's letters he would be in violation of copyright laws. William P. McKenzie, who had supported Studdert-Kennedy's project, was forced to lie low. He had commissioned a painting by Jean Jacques Pfister based on the famous balcony photograph of Mrs. Eddy taken in 1903 especially for the Studdert-Kennedy book. Now the Directors told the author that he could not use the portrait because it was based on the photograph, and they held the copyright.

Negotiations went on endlessly. When one objection was satisfied, another was raised. Then William P. McKenzie died in 1943, and the book's one champion on the Board was gone. On one of Studdert-Kennedy's trips to Boston, he met secretly with George Channing, First Reader of The Mother Church, in an effort to resolve the impasse with the Directors. Channing told him to park his car which had California license plates around the comer so there would be no suspicion raised. Mr. Channing explained that he would be subject to discipline if he were discovered meeting with him. Hugh A. Studdert-




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Kennedy died in 1943 with the matter of his book still unresolved. It remained for his widow to push the issue along. 82

The Christian Science Journal for 1944 began the year with a statement on the importance of church membership. February included the routine announcement of the Wartime Fund and also the news that guided tours of the Publishing Society were resuming. The March issue gave the results of the December 1943 Normal class, and in April Christian Scientists were reminded to show hospitality for traveling servicemen. The July issue carried the report of the Annual Meeting and this statement from the Directors: "People are sometimes tempted to believe that they can be Christian Scientists and enjoy the blessings of divine Love without affiliating with and supporting the Christian Science church organization. The satanic influence back of that temptation is exposed when our hearts are stirred by gratitude to God for benefits received through Christian Science..."

The September issue included the following: "Our Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, encouraged the reprinting of Christian Science lectures in newspapers. Even a short report in a newspaper of wide circulation serves an important purpose. These reports are intended primarily to reach regular readers including particularly those who are not Christian Scientists. Only newspapers with paid circulation should be used. The Christian Science Board of Directors does not endorse offering for sale to Christian Scientists newspapers which contain lecture reprints except within the normal circulation area of the newspaper. Neither does it sanction the publication of lecture reports in newspapers unless the lecture was actually and very recently delivered at or near the place of publication."

The November Journal announced the Cornish Fund to assist branch churches with their building programs and also stated that branch churches were free to have a special service if an armistice or peace were declared in Europe. Advice was given on how to proceed. The December issue announced new plans for radio programming.

John Doorly's disciplinary case was still in progress. The Board had invited him to a meeting with them on October 28, 1943, to discuss the charges against him. This was considered quite an invitation in the middle of World War Two with the prospect of crossing an ocean infested with German U-boats. While he was told that the meeting could be postponed, he was instructed not to teach any more classes until his case was resolved. He wrote to the Directors in late 1943 regarding rumors of new charges against him, but he received no reply. In a letter written on December 30, 1943, John Doorly warned the Directors that, "if any charges whatever are made against his personal character — not infrequently damaging aspersions had been cast officially upon such distinguished Christian

82. Braden, Christian Science Today, pp. 133-152



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Scientists as Peter V. Ross — he for his part will 'take the whole issue to the appropriate Court of Justice, where it will be thoroughly sifted and justice and honesty will decide what is true. Then the whisperers will be given a chance to whisper on oath to experienced counsel.' He had actually done this once before, he reminded them, and had been awarded substantial damages."83 On August 4, 1944, the Board of Directors formally put John Doorly on probation for a period of three years.

A Paul Revere pamphlet entitled "Mene Mene, Tekel, Upharsin" gave a revealing picture of a prominent teacher, William D. Kilpatrick, who discussed the cases of recently disciplined teachers in his annual association address to his pupils. Unknown to Mr. Kilpatrick at the time, one of the Paul Revere writers was a member of his association. The pamphlet reports: "Then came the next recalcitrant in the eyes of the Board, Mr. Peter V. Ross. Here Mr. X was elaborate in praise of Mr. Ross as lecturer, teacher, practitioner and writer for the periodicals. He pointed out that we all had been inspired by his work. But the Board had found it necessary to discipline Mr. Ross. For his failure to write scientifically? No. For failure to teach scientifically? No. But the Board had affidavits. It had been collecting them for a long time. They had gotten them from persons who watched Mr. Ross, persons who investigated Mr. Ross's personal habits. They got what they were looking for. The watchers watched, and they got evidence. They made affidavits. They brought them to the Board and the Board judged. Probably the charges against Mr. Ross were as true as the charges made against Joseph by Potiphar's wife, but the Board convicted and the Board punished. Their sentence was to mete out punishment to Mr. Ross. But Mr. Ross is not the only sufferer; all of Mr. Ross's students suffer also; just as Mr. Doorly's have, and Mr. Carpenter's and students of other teachers whom the watchers have watched and brought in affidavits about for one charge or another. At the present rate there will be more. Perhaps we are having a 'purge' to cleanse the Movement. We know of another teacher that boasted of having affidavits against a practitioner of high motive and spirituality. Unfortunately for that teacher the practitioner was unable to stand against such unscientific and unchristian attacks and passed on. So this collection of affidavits had become useless. In a previous association address Mr. X himself had asked his students for affidavits against Paul Revere." 84

83. Braden, Christian Science Today, pp. 228, 229
84. "Paul Revere," Mene Mene Tekel Upharsin, Pamphlet 25, pp. 11, 12



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CHAPTER 14 — DISCIPLINARY ACTION

The year 1945 saw the surrender of Germany in May and the final defeat of Japan in August. The world enjoyed a temporary respite from war. Much unfinished business remained at The Mother Church. Several authorized teachers were under discipline, and unknown persons were circulating unfavorable pamphlets about the Board of Directors and the church organization.

The Christian Science Journal for 1945 contained its usual wide variety of items of interest and directives from the Board. The March issue reminded local branches how often to use hymns by Mrs. Eddy and gave guidelines for interviewing candidates for church membership. In June guidelines were given for First Readers in branch churches and procedures for choosing scriptural selections and benedictions were given. Instructions were offered for Sunday school teachers. The qualifications for prospective chaplains in the armed forces were also outlined. The July Journal reminded branch churches to insure that adequate seating was available during lectures. In August, instructions were given for a national trend of "weekday religious education." Public schools were releasing students during the day to have religious education in local churches. The branches were advised to prepare to meet this need if there are calls for their participation. Once again, detailed instructions were given to First Readers in the branches regarding the Wednesday evening meetings. When preparing the readings, they were told to use no more than four books from the Bible and not more than ten correlative passages from Science and Health, fewer if possible. The readings should be no longer than ten or twelve minutes, but longer in smaller congregations. Testimonies should not be long and rambling, and First




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Readers were reminded to tell testifiers of time limits. The September issue reprinted an earlier statement regarding Mother Church policy on the use of drugs and medicine. November gave notice that the Wartime Fund would soon be terminated and that contributions should be reduced in anticipation of that announcement. The question of qualifications for offices in branch churches was answered again with the statement that class instruction was a desirable qualification, but not necessary for those elected to various church positions. Branch churches were told to use care in assigning recently graduated Sunday school pupils as Sunday school teachers.

The December Journal alluded to all of the disciplinary actions against teachers by reminding readers that the associations of teachers who had been put on probation were dissolved for the duration of that probationary period and that pupils were not permitted to attend other teachers' associations unless they were retaught by another teacher or their own teacher were restored to good standing with the Directors.

Margaret Laird, the teacher from Evanston, Illinois, had not had any negative correspondence from the Directors since November of 1942. But on January 4, 1945, she received a letter from them reporting that she had been heard speaking disparagingly of the Bible.

She replied on January 16th: "It seems incredible that an earnest student of Christian Science for more than forty years, a person of exemplary character, a listed practitioner for twenty-five years with many accredited healings, a teacher of Christian Science who teaches what she has been taught and knows that teaching since she had it twice, a deep student of our Leader's writings as anyone who knows me well can attest, should be constantly put on the defensive because of unconfirmed gossip." 85

On June 6th, more charges were enumerated and she was told that she should cancel her class for that year. She protested saying that thirty people had enrolled and all of their plans would be disrupted. On June 8th, she was ordered to cancel the class, and on August 22nd she was formally suspended as a teacher.

In Chicago, the First Reader of 12th Church announced at the conclusion of the Wednesday meeting on February 28, 1945, that he was resigning from The Mother Church and the local branch so that he might devote himself to writing and to the practice. His name was Arthur Corey. He was very popular in his church and was widely known in Christian Science circles. What happened next was a major challenge to the Directors. In September of the same year, he published a book entitled, Christian Science Class Instruction. One New York publisher had backed out on an agreement to distribute the book because of the feared backlash from The Mother Church. He finally got the Farallon Press of

85. Braden, Christian Science Today, p. 217



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California to publish it. This foundation had been started by Hugh A. Studdert Kennedy in 1930. It was Farallon which had published his own controversial book, Christian Science and Organized Religion. Arthur Corey's book was especially objectionable in Boston and in the Christian Science field because it put in print for the first time the full course of class instruction in Christian Science.

For years this had been considered a very confidential and secret teaching which should be available only to church members. A book would make it available to anyone. The Mother Church went into action along with the Committees on Publication in every state. Some teachers, practitioners, and other members wrote letters and made telephone calls to discourage newspapers, magazines, and bookstores from advertising, reviewing or handling the book. One person even called a local hotel where Mr. Corey had once stayed and threatened a boycott. Threats of legal action were made by letter and telephone, but nothing ever came of them. Even people like Margaret Laird, who had her own problems with Boston, wrote to Arthur Corey admonishing him for his unauthorized action.

Mr. Corey was not affected by the reaction and proceeded to release the book. In the foreword he wrote: "Consternation will greet the publication of this book in many quarters, for Christian Science Class Instruction has come to be one of the most closely guarded secrets of this age. In fact it has become so sacrosanct that whenever a pupil discloses even a part of what has been said in his Class, he is branded with the scarlet letter of 'disloyalty' and the flames of religious intolerance are fanned against him...The First Teacher of Christian Science never pledged her pupils to secrecy. Nor is that all. She often took into her classes people who had never heard of her doctrine previous to her invitation to join one of her study groups...In her famous Class of 1898, she included two newspaper representatives — Allan H. Robinson and George H. Moses — to give the public an unbiased account of the event. 86 Mr. Corey included a list of some twenty-eight teachers from whose classes he had acquired notes for the preparation of his book. Because he had resigned from the church organization, he was beyond the Directors' control. Despite the most exhaustive efforts of the Board to suppress it, the book went forward. By 1952 it had gone through fourteen editions. In addition Corey began conducting classes all over the country.

To make matters worse for the Directors, the "Paul Revere" writers showed no signs of going away. They had sent out their first pamphlet in August 1943. By the end of 1945, twenty-five different issues had been sent out nationwide and even overseas. Though the writers had taken pains to conceal their identities, the

86. Corey, C.S. Class Instruction, pp. ix-xi



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Directors had discovered them. Apparently a postal worker who was a Christian Scientist had found out the names of the holders of their post office box. But the Directors did not dare act on this illegally obtained information. The writers were Karl N. Smith and Walter H. Wilson. Karl N. Smith was a lifelong Christian Scientist who had served as First Reader in 4th Church, Rochester, New York. He had taken class from William D. Kilpatrick, and was present when his teacher asked the pupils to get affidavits against "Paul Revere." Walter H. Wilson had been a Christian Scientist since 1912, was class taught in 1917, and thereafter became a Journal-listed practitioner. He was a founding member of 4th Church, Rochester. During the litigation over the Publishing Society, he had maintained his Journal listing rather than withdraw it as most everyone else had done, and for this he had been branded as disloyal. He had been refused any practitioner listing once the Directors gained control of the periodicals in 1922.

The "Paul Revere" pamphlets made some of the most critical comments ever to be printed up to that time: "[W]hen no Christian Science lecture can be given to the world without passing through the censorship of the thought of the Board, then the spiritual altitude of the Board's thought becomes a serious matter. When, since the litigation decision in 1922, not a single article in the Sentinel or other Christian Science periodicals can reach human consciousness in the Field, without passing through the same censorship, this then becomes tragic. No fountain can possibly rise higher than its source. No literature sent out from the Publishing Society can flow to the Field from any higher spiritual altitude than the level of the thought of the governing Board in Boston. If then this governing Board can indoctrinate the field with the thought that it is a heinous sin to be found guilty of reading anything that the Board does not authorize; if the Board can indoctrinate human consciousness with a fear that a penalty will ensure to anyone who dares disobey such oft repeated indoctrinations, then the mesmerism of the Field will be complete, individual unfoldment will be at an end, the vision of the Cause will vanish, and the Cause itself perish. Mrs. Eddy's warnings about the age being again sunken by animal magnetism into 1900 years of darkest night have been unheeded; and our Cause is faced with this very peril. 87

Specific examples were given: "A practitioner in the far West, while treating a patient, mentioned that she had read some of the books of Herbert Eustace [one of the three Trustees of the Publishing Society excommunicated in 1922]. The patient immediately felt it her duty to notify the Board in Boston. Instead of the Board replying in substance, 'What is that to thee, follow thou the Christ', it immediately summoned the practitioner to Boston. The practitioner went to Boston at her own expense, whereupon she was turned over to a lawyer who

87. "Paul Revere," The Only Textbooks for Self-Instruction, Pamphlet 17, p. 3 84

warned her that any repetition of the offense of reading something written by Mr. Eustace, would result in her name being removed from the Journal...When Mrs. So and So boasts that she complained to the Board of Directors about another Mrs. So and So, we can be alert to inform her lovingly that there is nothing in her act of which to be proud and that it is not only violating the Golden Rule and the Sermon on the Mount, but building up a second Vatican City in Boston; and making of the Board of Directors a clerical and ecclesiastical court. One person disciplined by such a court not only affects the person immediately concerned but builds up in the minds of all others a fear that if they do not act just as somebody else thinks they should, someone will 'squeal to Boston' (to use the school boy's term for such an opprobrious practice) and that they will 'be called before the Board'. 'Called before the Board' is already getting to be a term among Christian Scientists similar in essence if not in degree to being called before the Inquisition in the days when to read the Protestant Bible was deemed heresy." 88

The following narrative shows how the Directors let "Paul Revere" know that they had been found out: "In 1945 we received information that the dictatorial attitude of the Board of Directors towards the Board of Trustees of the Publishing Society was on the verge of precipitating the whole Movement into turmoil and confusion through another lawsuit between the Board of Directors and the Board of Trustees. Animal magnetism seemed about to succeed in again rending the whole Movement as it had in 1919-1921. "Upon receiving this information, we sent a telegram to the Board of Directors at Boston asking them whether they felt we could serve the Cause better by bringing this issue to the attention of the field in the Paul Revere pamphlets, or by remaining silent. Almost immediately a long distance telephone call came from headquarters at Boston to Mr. Walter H. Wilson in Washington, D.C. asking him to make no reference to the matter in the pamphlets because it already had been settled...The telegram to the Board had been signed by Paul Revere with no other address than the Post Office Box number. The telephone call from the Board had come to Mr. Wilson at his Washington office address. This shows clearly that the Board of Directors, even as early as 1945 was cognizant of Mr. Wilson's connection with the Paul Revere pamphlets. As a matter of fact, the authors have correspondence from the Board of Directors written three months after the first pamphlet was published, showing that they then knew the identity of the authors..." 89

88. "Paul Revere," Human Footsteps, Pamphlet 13, pp. 4, 6
89. "Paul Revere," Paul Revere Author Excommunicated, Pamphlet 32, p. 1



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CHAPTER 15 — THE BURDENS OF AUTHORITY

The first year after the end_ of World War Two was devoted to disposing of old problems and returning the full focus of attention to church affairs. The Christian Science Journal for 1946 reflected this adjustment. In February the Directors reminded readers that only the King James Version of the Bible could be used in church services. A new Herald in Spanish was announced, and the Board requested that branches send in accounts of their histories for preservation in the Archives.

The May Journal stated that "It is advisable and desirable" that branch churches discontinue holding local board and committee meetings on Wednesdays and Sundays with the explanation that this practice was tolerated as long as gasoline rationing was in effect during the war to minimize unnecessary travel. The October issue amended this requirement by allowing occasional meetings on Wednesdays and Sundays when strict compliance with the ban would result in hardship on members living a long distance from churches. The Board also explained the challenges and solutions encountered when translating Mrs. Eddy's writings into other languages. The formation of Youth Forums to promote the Monitor was also announced. The November issue announced the formal end of the Wartime Fund. The December issue recommended training for readers to improve their diction and expression.

The constant irritation of the Carpenters' work often appeared with such announcements when the following could be quoted: "When Mrs. [Henrietta] Chanfrau asked Mrs. Eddy if she should take elocution lessons to help her in her new work of reading in the Philadelphia church, she said, 'A Christian Science




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reader tells the congregation that she takes the Bible and Science and Health as her only textbooks. Will you stand before them and lie ?^'"90

The final chapter in the trials of John Doody was also played out in 1946. "Paul Revere" quoted a pamphlet sent out by Mr. Doody: "A group of thirty seven Christian Science students from all over the United States, unable to believe that the Board of Directors would place their teacher on probation 'on hearsay evidence,' went to Boston 'to see the Board and place the facts before them.' They were met by a 'legal representative' of the Directors, who asked them if they were aware that they were 'approaching the highest ecclesiastical

court in the land.' (emphasis in original)91

Mr. Doorly published the correspondence he had with the Board of Directors in 1945. In May of 1946 the Board of Directors wrote admonishing him for publishing the statement saying that it was calculated to harm the church. On June 8th, Mr. Doody replied: "During this period of attack upon me, you have constantly been supplied with gossip and unproved accusations by what may now be regarded as a private gestapo, i.e., people who write you copiously about others, well knowing that they will never be called upon to prove a single statement they have made. Your Board should know that such methods as these are universally condemned by all decent-minded people, and it is only a matter of time until these methods defeat their own ends... "The mistaken concept that five human beings can tell the rest of humanity exactly what Christian Science is, what they shall think, what they shall read, to whom they shall speak, when and what they shall write, is entirely out of harmony with the thought of our world today. The Christian Science Church organization is in fetters, the fetters of vested interest, of conservatism, of conventionality, or autocracy, and of lack of vision, and your Board is chiefly responsible for these conditions. The marvel is that with a disastrous record of fifteen years of declining membership and fading warmth, your Board does not see the hopelessness of the present policy." 92

John Doorly was excommunicated from The Mother Church on August 29, 1946. He continued to teach and write independently of the Board of Directors until his passing in 1950. Some forty years later, all of his books are still in print and are widely read by people inside and outside the church organization.

In 1947, Hugh A. Studdert-Kennedy's long delayed book, Mrs. Eddy, was finally published by Farallon Press. This same press had published his

90. Fragments Gathered from Unpublished Items Ascribed to M.B.E., p. 204
91. "Paul Revere," Continuity of the Spiritual Univ. M.C., Pamphlet 28, p. 11
92. Braden, Christian Science Today, p. 231



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previous book, Christian Science and Organized Religion in 1930 and Arthur Corey's Christian Science Class Instruction in 1946.

The year 1947 also signaled the end of the line for Peter V. Ross: "In 1947, Ross wrote his students and friends: 'It has now become clear that Boston has no intention of reinstating me.' The forced dissolution of his Association meant no more, he ventured, than the end of 'the outward formalities of material organization.' But many of his followers had drifted away after he was disciplined and failed to fight back. His most prominent pupil, John J. Selover, Committee on Publication for Southern California, had repudiated him by going through Class with another teacher. Selover was later elevated to the lecture platform and then to teachership. Ross now shorn of all standing in the church and deserted by many upon whose allegiance he had counted, was finally excommunicated.

In 1947 he passed on, a broken man." 93

The Christian Science Journal for 1947 dispensed the usual notices. In January it was announced that patients in veterans' hospitals were entitled to free Christian Science treatment. The February issue announced the routine for the triennial Normal Class held most recently in December 1946. Branches were told to be sure that adequate space was allowed for Sunday school rooms in any building projects they might be considering. The March Journal reprinted a notice stating who was eligible to attend association meetings and also announced a price increase for the periodicals. The May issue announced short wave radiocasts. The June issue announced a Spanish edition of Science and Health; a literature distribution center in Frankfurt, Germany; and the publication of The Story of Christian Science Wartime Activities 1939-1946.

The July Journal included the report of the Annual Meeting for 1947. The message from the Directors included: "The Mother Church is the watchful and tender guardian of human consciousness in its ascent Godward...Of necessity, then this authority is exercised solely to strengthen and heal. It is found painful or irksome only by those who, ignorantly or willfully, have strayed from the path of Christ. Yet even these will some day remember that the authority of The Mother Church was exerted with no other purpose than to help and save them...Church discipline has a twofold aim: to heal the offender and to protect our Cause. Patience must have her perfect healing work, yet not at the price of long-continued wrongs inflicted on the innocent...To promote and extend the religion taught by Mrs. Eddy, in new fields and old, is a primary demand on the Board of Directors...And to it falls in special measure the privilege of counseling and aiding workers in the field, as well as branch churches, societies, and organizations...The Church is in conflict only with materiality, with sin, disease, and death..." In December First Readers were reminded again to use no

93. Braden, Christian Science Today, p. 392



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more than four books from the Bible and no more than ten correlative passages from Science and Health (fewer if possible) when preparing readings for Wednesday meetings. People were also instructed to send any extra Journals prior to 1923 to Boston to help branches complete their sets of periodicals.

In the fall of 1947, Bliss Knapp printed a limited edition of The Destiny of The Mother Church for private distribution to members of his association of pupils and a few other friends.

Members of Bliss Knapp's family had been some of the earliest workers in the Cause of Christian Science and had even given Mrs. Eddy shelter and refuge during some of the darker days. Bliss's parents were Ira 0. Knapp and Flavia Stickney Knapp. Both of them were unwavering supporters of Mrs. Eddy. Mr. Knapp was one of the original members of the Board of Directors from 1892 until his passing in 1910. Mrs. Eddy had always taken a special interest in the young Bliss Knapp and urged him to go to Harvard University. Later she was instrumental in his becoming a lecturer and even edited some of his earlier addresses. He became an authorized teacher of Christian Science in 1907. The teacher of the Normal class was Judge Septimus J. Hanna, with whom he shared deep and abiding convictions regarding Mary Baker Eddy's place in Bible prophecy. Judge Hanna had written a proposed article for the Journal in 1898 while he was editor of the periodicals. It asserted that Isaiah, Chapter 54, referred to Mrs. Eddy's experience just as Chapter 53 of the same book referred to Christ Jesus' mission. Mrs. Eddy gave her specific endorsement and appreciation for the article in letters to Judge Hanna, but it was decided to defer printing the article until a future time. 94

Bliss Knapp's Destiny book included short biographies of his parents, a history of the church organization, the challenges of building The Mother Church, and an examination of the place of Mary Baker Eddy in Bible prophecy. The final chapters were essentially an elaboration of "Mrs. Eddy's Place" published by the Directors in the periodicals in 1943, commonly called the "Six Points."

The Board of Directors were displeased with the Destiny book, and in a letter to Bliss Knapp dated February 20, 1947, stated in part, "In a word, neither the human identity of Jesus nor the human identity of Mrs. Eddy was known to God or foreseen by the prophets, but as individual states of human consciousness they each in their own way perceived and reflected the Christ, the true nature of God, in such marked degree that they became the human avenues of thought through which prophecy was fulfilled...[W]e ask that as a first step you request the withdrawal of the book from the Library of Congress .. .In addition to withdrawing the book from the library, we recommend that, with the exception

94. Knapp, The Destiny of The Mother Church, pp. 265-297



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of such copies as may be essential for the purpose of editing, you call in all copies, so that both the books and the plates may be destroyed by you."

This letter from the Board not only ordered the suppression of The Destiny of The Mother Church but also showed that the misconception expressed by Frederick Dixon (but not necessarily originated by him) in his article "Mortal Mind and Human Mind" in the September 1, 1917, Sentinel had by 1948 become the view of the majority of the Directors. This theosophical doctrine, "God doesn't know anything about us", had supplanted Mrs. Eddy's teaching only thirty-eight years after her passing. This new view totally misconstrued the transitional qualities in the "Scientific Translation of Mortal Mind" which she gives on page 115 and 116 of Science and Health and which is illustrated when she writes, "The testimony of Holy Writ sustains the fact in Science, that the heavens and earth to one human consciousness, that consciousness which God bestows, are spiritual, while to another, the unillumined human mind, the vision is material. This shows unmistakably that what the human mind terms matter and spirit indicates states and stages of consciousness." 95

Those who asked for an explanation of Mrs. Eddy's statement "The Soul inspired patriarchs heard the voice of Truth, and talked with God as consciously as man talks with man."96 and who also wondered to whom, if anyone, Jesus was speaking when he cried from the cross, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"97_ were not appreciated and were viewed with suspicion. Bliss Knapp was advised by the Directors to cease teaching classes, but that he might continue holding the annual association meetings.

Storm clouds were gathering for another teacher, Dr. Hendrick J. deLange. He had been a lecturer since 1929 and was a popular New York teacher and writer for the periodicals since 1925. Jokes were being repeated at the Christian Science Benevolent Association at Chestnut Hill: "What would Dr. deLange do if he died and went to hell? He would deny he was there." As history was showing, any successful teacher, lecturer, or practitioner was the subject of very unchristian jealousy and envy. One worker at the Chestnut Hill Home made an appointment with Miss Emma C. Shipman, one of Mrs. Eddy's students, and told her, "I have felt as if I were living in the middle of hell ever since I got here." Miss Shipman advised her to quit her job and leave Boston, which she did within three days.

95. Eddy, Science and Health, p. 573
96. Eddy, Science and Health, p. 308
97. Mark 15: 34



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CHAPTER 16 — THE POSTWAR PERIOD

Peace had returned to Western Europe and the United States, but in Eastern Europe and Asia, the news was unsettling. One country after another fell under Soviet control and civil war was raging in China between the Communist forces of Mao Tse-tung and the Nationalist forces of Chiang Kai-shek. The tyranny of one group of men had merely been replaced by another.

Churches in Czechoslovakia, Estonia, the eastern sector of Germany, Latvia, Poland, and Romania never re-opened after the end of World War Two. The Christian Science Journal of 1948 continued its concentration on church affairs over which it still had control. The January Journal announced the establishment of a radio fund and also gave a schedule for branch churches to use when announcing Mother Church membership at services. The February issue announced a price increase for the Quarterly. The price had been reduced during the war years. Also the relationship between church membership and individual spiritual progress was expounded with the hope that people would join The Mother Church and the local branch. The May Journal included a report from the Directors abut the radio fund and gave a questionnaire for applicants for Mother Church membership. The June issue announced the air mail rates for subscriptions to the Monitor. In August a list of stations carrying Mother Church radio programming was offered. September announced a revised edition of the book of photographs titled Landmarksfrom Bow to Boston. The October issue gave a list of nine questions which branch churches could use for interviewing applicants for membership in local churches. November issued another directive about Christian Science Associations.




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The year 1948 also marked the beginning of excommunication proceedings against the authors of the "Paul Revere" pamphlets. They wrote, "In the summer of 1948, just five years after the publication of the first pamphlet, Paul Revere published a circular letter stating that the authors were ready and willing to reveal their identity to anyone sufficiently interested to inquire. The letter sent to those who inquired was the first statement made publicly by the authors, that definitely established their identity. In making this statement, they were not unmindful of the fact that in so doing they were furnishing official Boston with what it lacked before, namely, proof of who the authors were — proof that the Board of Directors might use if they sought to discipline the authors with the traditional weapon of excommunication... They did not have to wait long, however. Within a few weeks, Mr. Wilson received a call from Mr. James Watt, Publication Committee for Washington, D.C. Mr. Watt stated that he was calling at the request of the Christian Science Board of Directors, and as their emissary, in regard to Mr. Wilson's connection with the publication of the Paul Revere pamphlets, and in connection with his membership in The Mother Church. Mr. Watt states that the Board considered the pamphlets detrimental to the Cause of Christian Science and wished Mr. Wilson to discontinue their publication."

On November 24, 1948, the Board sent Mr. Wilson a letter stating: "We regret to inform you that complaints have been filed with this Board charging that you have 'the name without the life of a Christian Scientist'.. .in that you have participated in the publication of the so-called 'Paul Revere' pamphlets, the apparent purpose of which has been to injure or destroy The Mother Church and its essential activities as they were established by our beloved Leader." On December 15, 1948, Mr. Wilson replied, "So far as the statement of my having 'the name without the life of a Christian Scientist' is concerned, my twenty-five years of healing work as a practitioner, and my many years of activity in branch church work, refute any such statement." The Board's letter of excommunition was sent to Mr. Wilson on January 7, 1949. 98

The Journals for 1949 included more news and advice. The February issue announced the Swedish translation of Science and Health and in March the need for overseas relief was given. The April Journal included an editorial by George Channing called "The Mother Church: Bulwark of Freedom." It asserted that the Christian Science Board of Directors are charged with administering the affairs of Mary Baker Eddy's church, that the Church Manual is interpreted by the Board with integrity, and that the correct statement of Christian Science is being guarded by the Directors. The May issue advised branch churches to give out lists of its members only at business meetings for the purpose of elections and

98. "Paul Revere," Paul Revere Author Excommunicated, Pamphlet 32, pp. 1-11



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that they be collected immediately thereafter. The Clerks in branch churches were told to keep accurate and adequate records, and they were told that these were not their personal property. Also they were advised to keep the correspondence from the Board of Directors in a separate file for future reference. In June instructions were given about setting up joint lecture committees, how to conduct them, and how to select lecturers and dates. In July the call went out for older literature to help complete the libraries of branch churches. A reminder about the announcement of Mother Church membership at branch church services was included in the August issue. In October the Christian Science exhibit in Washington, D.C. on the second floor of the Christian Science building just two blocks from the White House was announced. The December Journal related the appeals for aid from abroad for displaced persons. The collection of used clothing for these individuals was announced.

Another controversy erupted in 1949. Arthur Corey, who had published his book Christian Science Class Instruction, had developed a screenplay for a motion picture based on Hugh A. Studdert-Kennedy's 1947 book, Mrs. Eddy. Mr. Corey wrote, "Who among the famous would be equal to the exacting demands of the role and command public respect at the outset? Who else but the First Lady of Hollywood, Mary Pickford! A luminary of unapproached magnitude, whose classic features were adaptable to the photogenic requirements, a lifelong devotee of Christian Science, she was offered the part. Mary wrote me candidly: 'Your desire to have me portray the life of Mary Baker Eddy is the highest compliment and honor you could possibly accord me [and] I agree with you that her story would give the world an inspirational message it sadly needs.'"

When the news became public, the blizzard of protests commenced from Boston and from many parts of the Christian Science field. Mary Pickford returned the script to Arthur Corey with regret. Mr. Corey writes, "Although the Mother Church hierarchy had for years used this celebrity's prestigiousness to promote its ends in the officially approved Powell biography of the Leader (p. 34), Miss Pickford was now to be publicly disowned. John J. Selover, California spokesman for the church, said in the succeeding issue of an offending magazine: 'In the June 23 issue of Fortnight, it is declared that Mary Pickford is a Christian Scientist... I am sure that a re-check of your source of information will reveal the fact that Miss Pickford is not a member of the Christian Science Church.'" Joan Crawford also turned down the part with this July 8, 1949, note: "I feel it extremely dangerous for anyone to try to put this on the screen. We have enough to work out of daily, and certainly enough to work with I know, but I see no reason to add to the malpractice." 99

99. Corey, Behind the Scenes with the Metaphysicians, pp. 208-210



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Other matters were also occupying the Directors time and attention. Second Church of Watford, England, wrote to the Board in 1948 and again on November 15, 1949, gave reasons for their unhappiness with Mother Church policies: "The methods which have troubled us must now be mentioned a little more specifically, as follows: 1. The increasing demands for various kinds of information — some of a personal and private nature — and for material statistics, coming in the form of exhaustive questionnaires; also letters from offices and departments of The Mother Church to individual officers of this church presenting various policies and asking for compliance with them. In some instances these have almost amounted to directives 4. The requirement that we should count the numbers attending our lectures. We wrote asking to be excused from turning our attention to this. We fully explained our reasons, giving in support of them an account of experiences of a rich quality resulting from adherence to the spiritual values upon which all our calculations had been based. In spite of this appeal the reply we received told us that we were still required to send the numbers These are just a few items, and they are only mentioned in passing because of the part they have played in bringing us to our present standpoint. The difficulties they brought into our midst — particularly items 1, and 4, — served to show the extent to which the policies and government of The Mother Church are encroaching upon, and fast absorbing, the individuality of the branch church with its 'Local Self Government.'" The correspondence continued into 1950 and resulted in the Directors taking action on the assumption that the Watford church wanted to sever its ties with The Mother Church. While this was not the case, the Watford church decided not to pursue the matter and accepted delisting from the Journal directory.

The Watford church was inspired by the writings of Alice Orgain to take the steps it did. From New York City, Mrs. Orgain wrote to a correspondent on March 29, 1949, "I was very much gratified to hear of the Watford 2nd Church decision to govern itself and that its decision was encouraged by the information contained in the pamphlet 'Whither'"100 Alice Orgain's writings had much more influence in England than they did in the United States. Like John Doorly, she had discerned a system in the writings of Mary Baker Eddy which she elaborated in her 1929 book, As It Is and for which she was excommunicated.

While John Doorly based his work on what he considered to be Mrs. Eddy's system of the seven synonyms for God and their correspondence with the seven days of creation, Mrs. Orgain based her system on the twelve tribes of Israel and the definitions for them given in the Glossary of Science and Health. Using the model of Jacob's ladder, she described seven ascending steps (tribes) typified by the ministry of Jesus and seven descending steps representing Mrs. Eddy's

100. Flynn, The Alice Orgain Letters, p. 524



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mission which ultimates in the City Foursquare and the City of Our God. In addition to her description of the system, Mrs. Orgain wrote that all of the estoppel clauses in the Church Manual which require Mrs. Eddy's approval would mandate that most functions outlined in the by-laws would cease to operate. This would require the Directors to function exclusively within the Deed of Trust of 1892. The Christian Science Publishing Society would operate within its Deed of Trust of 1898.

On another front, Fourth Church, Rochester, New York, found itself in a crisis also. The authors of the "Paul Revere" pamphlets were members of this church. It had been viewed as a disloyal branch ever since the litigation of 1919- 1921 when as a society it had maintained its listing in the Journal even as most branches had taken theirs out as a show of loyalty to the Directors. The Rochester church had struggled from that time forward. Now the Directors had put the First Reader of the church, Maude S. Hartung, on probation because of her part in the "Paul Revere" pamphlets. The Directors told the church that she was ineligible to read while in this disciplinary status. The church did not have anyone who could take her place, and, therefore, took the bold step of severing its ties with The Mother Church.

In an article in the New York Democrat and Chronicle of April 16, 1950, the church announced the separation: '"We are not hostile to nor fighting against anything established by Mrs. Eddy,' [Ernest J.] Brosang [chairman of the local board] said, 'We are loyal to Mrs. Eddy's teachings, operating in strict obedience to the divinely inspired by-laws left by her, and adhering in the conduct of service and other affairs to her explicit instructions in the Manual.' The issue said Brosang, 'is one of democracy versus autocracy [T]he church has suffered unwarranted persecutions and interference with the free and democratic exercise of its rights as a church of Christ, Scientist, and culminating in this recent arbitrary action by the board against our readers — all this has so decimated our ranks that the church is now forced either to close its doors or take some step to free itself from this bond of ecclesiastical control.'"






CHAPTER 17 — TENDING THE FLOCK

The year 1950 brought some important announcements in The Christian Science Journal. The January issue included a routine announcement of the radio fund. But February issued a statement that the individual members of the Board had decided to resume teaching classes in Christian Science while yet serving as Directors, — something they had forsworn less than thirteen years earlier in June of 1937.

The March Journal announced a $1 million project to renovate the Extension. Contributions were welcome. The alterations would include removing the original pipe organ installed under Mrs. Eddy's supervision and replacing it with a more elaborate instrument which would have 5000 pipes instead of the former 4538 pipes. A harp attachment was to be included as well. Those people who remembered the original organ said it had a unique "stony" quality which the new one did not achieve. A newspaper account from 1906 in Miscellany described, "The church is unusually well lighted, and one of the extraordinary features is the eight bronze chains, each suspending seventy-two lamps, each lamp of thirty-two candle-power."101 These lighting fixtures were removed and replaced by a sun burst in the top of the dome.

This same March issue announced that future notices from the Directors would appear in the Journal only and no longer in the Sentinel as had formerly been the case. The May Journal announced the second series of We Knew Mary Baker Eddy. The June issue announced the publication of the 75th

101. Eddy, First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 69:1-4



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anniversary edition of Science and Health. The September Journal announced the temporary closing of Mrs. Eddy's former residence in Lynn, Massachusetts, for renovations. This same issue also included a major statement regarding the Department of Branches and Practitioners which had been established by the Directors in 1919: "It is evident from the large volume of correspondence reaching The Christian Science Board of Directors that branch Churches of Christ, Scientist, and Christian Science Societies are desirous of enlarging their vision of their functions as branches of The Mother Church and expanding their activities locally better to promote and extend the religion of Christian Science in their communities. The Christian Science Board of Directors is desirous of giving every proper assistance to this end, and accordingly has arranged to enlarge the facilities of the Department of Branches and Practitioners to enable it to be of service in this direction. "That Department will henceforth be glad to hear from the Field about the activities and progress of the branch churches. It will be available to counsel with them on questions relating to church progress, including church building, dedication of church edifices, and other important aspects of their work; and it will serve to develop to an even greater degree the close relationship between The Mother Church and its branches. The Department will not undertake to direct or supervise the work of the branch churches but will be ready at all times to give those which inquire the benefit of experiences developed over the entire Field..."

The October Journal stated that contributions for the renovations of The Mother Church were welcome from individuals and from branch churches. It was also announced that renovations of Mrs. Eddy's home in Lynn would be complete by the time of the 1951 Annual Meeting. At the same time Mrs. Eddy's Chestnut Hill home was listed as closed for repairs and renovation. The November issue announced the publication of William Dana Orcutt's Mary Baker Eddy and Her Books.

The year 1950 marked a milestone in the history of Christian Science when Ohio, the last state to restrict the free exercise of the religion, changed its laws to permit practitioners to charge for their services. While it was hailed as a great achievement, it was known to those close to the state C.O.P.'s office that favorable consideration for the change in the state statute was accompanied by a large donation to the Ohio Republican party from Christian Science sources.

The Christian Science Journal for 1951 included the following: In February the Directors urged that interviewing applicants for church membership not be an ordeal and that it be an uplifting experience for the new person. In April the Board stressed the importance of active church membership and urged that branches give some form of church work to every member. The May issue




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reflected world conditions by announcing that contributions be sent for the Wartime Fund for the conflict raging in Korea. The report of the Annual Meeting in the July Journal included statistics. There were a total of 3049 churches/societies in the world with 2279 of them in the United States. There were 42 new branches in the last year, 10 new college organizations, and 362 new practitioners making a total of 10,503 practitioners worldwide. A statement reflecting the unsettled conditions in many parts of the world pronounced: "The enslaving aims of human will, masquerading under a tyrannous show of power, are being exposed through deepened spiritual enlightenment." The same month the translation and publication of Science and Health into Dutch was announced. The October Journal included a statement from the Directors entitled, "Circulation of Unauthorized Literature." After quoting Article VIII, Section 11, of the Church Manual which deals with "No Incorrect Literature," the Directors go on to say: "Alert Christian Scientists do not need to be reminded of the importance of this by-law. Our inspired Leader, Mrs. Eddy, discerned our need of the protection which it affords. "The authorized literature of Christian Science consists of the Bible, Mrs. Eddy's published works, and the periodicals issued by The Christian Science Publishing Society, as well as books published or sold by the Publishing Society. All of these can be obtained in Christian Science Reading Rooms the world over. "Much harm has been done through circulation of manuscripts and publications dealing with Christian Science which emanate from other sources. Unpublished articles and letters attributed to our Leader, for example, are nearly always found on examination to be in part incorrect, if not wholly fraudulent. Transcriptions of addresses, through mistakes of omission or commission, often fail to convey the message actually intended or delivered. "Many items now in circulation against which Christian Scientists should be on guard are the work of disloyal students. Others violate the legal rights of their authors and are being circulated without the author's consent. Others again were intended to apply to a specific occasion, although it is made to appear that they present a broad conclusion. "When a Christian Scientist is urged to read or to circulate unauthorized literature, it is always well to pause long enough to consider whether it will not be safer and wiser to substitute one of the authorized publications of our movement, or to refer to a passage from our Leader's books. Mrs. Eddy's published writings, and the Church which she founded with all its healing activities, present the full and final revelation of Christian Science. Nothing more is needed."




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In 1951 Margaret Laird, the suspended teacher from Evanston, Illinois, finally concluded that the three year probation imposed on her by the Directors would never be lifted. Three years had dragged on to six years with no hope in sight. She resigned from The Mother Church and conducted seminars and talks around the country for several years.

In the fall of 1951, the popular New York teacher and lecturer, Hendrick J. deLange was notified by the Directors that he would not be appointed to the Board of Lectureship. He was told that his statements on Christian Science were too absolute and that he was stirring up the Christian Science field. From that time on, every article submitted to the periodicals was summarily rejected.

Also in 1951, Gilbert C. Carpenter, Jr. bought a Victorian mansion in Providence, Rhode Island, to house the Carpenter Foundation. That same year he was offered reinstatement as an authorized teacher if he would surrender all of the foundation's materials to the Archives in Boston. When he asked if he would have access to the vast store of documents collected there, he was told that he could have access only to the items he donated. He declined the offer. Some years before, Gilbert Jr. had agreed that the corresponding secretary of the Board, a Miss Warren, could come to Providence and remove any material she felt should not be in their possession. She took everything. Shortly thereafter, the man who had done the original photostating of the documents in John V. Dittemore's trunk offered the Carpenters a complete set of extra copies which he had made. So the Carpenter Foundation was restored. In addition Adelaide Still, a former member of Mrs. Eddy's household, sent all of her papers to Providence as did others. 102 So the Carpenter Foundation recovered its documentary endowment much to the displeasure of the Board of Directors. The year 1952 marked the sudden passing of Gilbert C. Carpenter, Jr. The foundation he established had a board of trustees to carry on. The younger Carpenter had always arranged things to protect and insulate his father from the pressures and disapproval emanating from Boston. The elder Carpenter survived his son by seven years.

The Christian Science Journal for 1952 announced in January that applications for the Normal class for December were open. The March issue listed all of the individuals who had donated Mrs. Eddy's letters to the Archives over the years since the first call went out in 1917. By now The Mother Church had almost every significant letter ever written by Mrs. Eddy. The May issue announced that Mrs. Eddy's Chestnut Hill home was again open to visitors now that renovations and repairs were complete. The June Journal announced that there was a lessening need for donations to the Wartime Fund. The availability of money from the Cornish Fund for branch churches' building needs was

102. Oakes, Discerning the Rights of Man, p. 29



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announced. The August issue announced that Science and Health was now available on long-playing records and that translations of Mrs. Eddy's Rudimental Divine Science and No and Yes were now published in Portuguese and Italian.

A review of the 1953 Journal included a notice in the January issue of a new binding for the German edition of Science and Health. February gave the results of the December 1952 Normal class. April announced the Spanish translation of the Church Manual. July included notices of the Swedish and Dutch translations of the Manual. The August issue listed requirements for a Christian Science Society. There should be at least 10 to 12 members, four of them members of The Mother Church. All connections with other denominations must be severed. There should be simple by-laws, regular services at a public location following the order of service given in the Church Manual, and the Readers must be Mother Church members. Wednesday meetings, a Sunday school, and a Reading Room were desirable, though not mandatory. The September issue reiterated instructions to First Readers in branch churches. October announced a new series of radio programs. November restated the Directors' position on the subject of alcohol and tobacco and church membership and also notified readers that the Third Series of We Knew Mary Baker Eddy had been published. The December issue announced the availability of a tape recording of Miss Emma C. Shipman given at a Tuesday Evening Meeting in The Mother Church. The schedule for announcements of Mother Church membership in the branch churches was also restated.




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The only known photograph of Mrs. Eddy's childhood home at Bow, New Hampshire. (From a glass negative in a private collection.)

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Two views of Pleasant View at Concord, New Hampshire.

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A reproduction of a signed statemeitt dictated by mrs. eddy to laura sargent. It was recorded but five days before Mrs. Eddy passed from our sight.

From Essays on Christian Science Ascribed to Mary Baker Eddy. (Carpenter Collection.)

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Mrs. Stetson with the "crown of diamonds" breastpin bequeathed to her by Mrs. Eddy in her Last Will and Testament. Also, Mrs. Stetson's home behind First Church of Christ, Scientist, New York City.

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Architect's drawing of The Christian Science Publishing Society in 1931. (Chester Lindsay Churchill)

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Herbert W. Eustace Trustee of the Publishing Society 1912 - 1921

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Walter H. Wilson "Paul Revere"

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Copyright 1938 The Christian Science Publishing Society The Mother Church

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Gilbert C. Carpenter Junior and Senior

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Hugh A. Studdert-Kennedy Author and Editor

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Paul R. Smillie

The Gethsemane Foundation

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CHAPTER 18 — THE FOE IN AMBUSH

The attention of the world was gripped by the rise of Communism in the early 1950s. The discovery of Soviet spies in the governments of the United States and England and the aggressive actions of the Soviet Union, led to an acute consciousness of political philosophies among great numbers of citizens who had never before been preoccupied with political matters. People saw the political landscape in fundamentally simple terms: freedom vs. communist slavery. Christian Scientists looked to their newspaper, The Christian Science

. Monitor, expecting to see a strong stand against what they rightly viewed as godless tyranny. Many were disappointed by the ambivalence in the reporting and editorializing in the Monitor, and their concerns were focused upon the editor of the newspaper, Erwin D. Canham.

As noted in Chapter 10, Mr. Canham was a Rhodes scholar who was feted by Lord Lothian and Lady Astor while studying at Oxford. A frequent guest of the Astors was the famous playwright, George Bernard Shaw. He was the premier Fabian Socialist of his day. His influence on Lady Astor was significant when one considers that she was quoted as saying, " I would be a socialist if I thought it would work."103 When Erwin Canham returned home he was made a member of the American branch of the secret Round Table Group. Groups fronting for the Round Table had been formed after the First World War when the United States rejected membership in the embryonic world government known as the League of Nations. The failure to get U.S. participation

103. Langhorne, Nancy Astor and Her Friends, p. 120



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constituted a major setback for the whole concept of world government. A front group for the Round Table was formed in the United States and was known as the Council on Foreign Relations in New York City. According to an article entitled "School for Statesmen" by Joseph Kraft in the July 1958 issue of Harper's magazine, the chief architect of the Council on Foreign Relations was "Colonel" Edward Mandell House. He was chief advisor to President Woodrow Wilson and was a power in Democratic party politics until his passing in 1936. In 1912, Colonel House wrote a novel entitled, Philip Dru: Administrator: A Story of Tomorrow, 1920-1935. In his novelization of a new world order under the control of highly educated and benign technocrats, he had the chief character speak approvingly of "Socialism as dreamed of by Karl Marx." 104

Dr. Carroll Quigley, previously mentioned as President Bill Clinton's college professor at Georgetown University, wrote in 1966 concerning the Round Table Groups: "There does exist, and has existed for a generation, an international Anglophile network which operates, to some extent, in the way the radical Right believes the Communists act. In fact, this network, which we may identify as the Round Table Groups, has no aversion to cooperating with the Communists, or any other groups, and frequently does so. I know of the operations of this network because I have studied it for twenty years and was permitted for two years in the early 1960s to examine its papers and secret records. I have no aversion to it or to most of its policies (notably to its belief that England was an Atlantic rather than a European Power and must be allied or even federated with the United States and must remain isolated from Europe), but in general my chief difference of opinion is that it wishes to remain unknown, and I believe its role in history is significant enough to be known." 105

Erwin Canham came to the Monitor as a reporter in 1925. He took a leave of absence from 1926 to 1929 to accept a Rhodes Scholarship at Oxford University. While studying at Oxford, he covered the League of Nations for the Monitor. In 1939 he became general news editor in Boston, then managing editor in 1939, and editor in 1941.

In the 1930s and 1940s, the Monitor's China correspondent was Gunther Stein who was later exposed as a Soviet spy by General Douglas MacArthur's intelligence headquarters. In fact he was called an "indispensable and important member" of the famous Sorge spy ring which reported to Joseph Stalin. 106

Another Monitor writer was Wilfred G. Burchett who was recommended to

104. House, Philip Dru: Administrator, p. 45
105. Quigley, Tragedy and Hope, p. 950
106. Senator McCarran Committee Hearings (Aug. 8, 23, 1951), pp. 383, 635)



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the newspaper by a friend and longtime staff writer William Henry Chamberlin. Mr. Chamberlin was the Monitor's correspondent in Moscow who wrote sympathetic articles about the Soviet system. Burchett was later exposed as a Soviet spy. After his dismissal from the Monitor, he surfaced in North Korea and helped to interrogate captured American soldiers during the Korean War.

Dr. Quigley's statement that the Round Table Groups have "no aversion to cooperating with the Communists...and frequently do" should be recalled. While Erwin Canham was certainly not a Communist, the Round Table Groups, of which he was an important member, sought to shape world events by adapting the dialectic of the German philosopher Hegel who stated that when a thesis meets an antithesis, a synthesis is produced. If the capitalist West were the thesis and the Soviet bloc the antithesis, the resulting conflict would be guided and shaped by strategically placed members of the Round Table and its front groups in various western governments to produce the synthesis of a one world socialist government. The ill-fated League of Nations had been the originally intended vehicle for this new world order. The United Nations is its successor. Erwin Canham was in the official U.S. delegation to the U.N. in 1949. Interestingly, the acting Secretary General of the U.N. at the founding conference in 1945 was Alger Hiss who was later convicted as a Soviet spy.

Longtime Monitor writer Richard Lee Strout served on the newspaper staff from 1921 until the mid 1980s. He also wrote a regular column for The New Republic using the initials "T.R.B." Dr. Quigley states: "The best example of this alliance of Wall Street and Left-wing publications was The New Republic, a magazine founded by Willard Straight using Payne Whitney money... The original purpose for establishing the paper was to provide an outlet for the progressive left and to guide it quietly in an Anglophile direction." 107

Erwin Canham's friend and cohort during their Rhodes Scholar days was Clayton Bion Craig who became a Director of The Mother Church on October 6, 1948. Many Christian Scientists who detected the internationalist slant in the editorials and the ambivalence toward Communism wrote to Boston and, in some cases, traveled from as far away as California to express their concerns in person. They felt that the Monitor's editorial policy should not conflict with Mrs. Eddy's statement, "I believe strictly in the Monroe doctrine, in our Constitution, and in the laws of God. While I admire the faith and friendship of our chief executive in and for all nations, my hope must still rest in God, and the Scriptural injunction, — 'Look unto me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth.'" 108

107. Quigley, Tragedy and Hope, pp. 938,939
108. Eddy, The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 282



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These Christian Scientists felt that if they could document the veering away from Mrs. Eddy's standard for her newspaper, the Board would act. On more than one occasion, those who journeyed to Boston to see Erwin Canham were given three minutes to present their cases and were then unceremoniously ejected from his office. Appeals to the Board of Directors were fruitless because Mr. Craig protected his philosophical soul mate, Erwin Canham, and explained away troubling questions to his fellow Directors.

A former member of the Communist Party, U.S.A., was Kenneth Goff who testified before the Congressional Committee of Martin Dies in 1939. He revealed a secret publication issued in Moscow in the early 1930s entitled, Manual of Instructions of Psychopolitical Warfare which included some statements startling to all Christians, but particularly Christian Scientists: "The psychopolitical operative should. also spare no expense in smashing out of existence by whatever means, any actual healing group, such as that of acupuncture, in China; such as Christian Science, Dianetics and faith healing, in the United States; such as Catholicism iri Italy and Spain; and the practical psychological groups of England... "In the field of pure healing the Church of Christ Science of Boston, Massachusetts excels in commanding the public favor and operates many sanitariums. All these must be swept aside. They must be ridiculed and defamed and every cure they advertise must be asserted as a hoax. A full fifth of a psychopolitician's time should be devoted to smashing these threats... "Insanity must be made to hound the footsteps of every priest and practitioner. His best results must be turned to jibbering insanities no matter what means we have to use... You must recruit every agency of the nation marked for slaughter into a foaming hatred of religious healing. You must suborne district attorneys and judges into an intense belief as fervent as an ancient faith in God that Christian Science or any other religious practice which might devote itself to mental healing is vicious, bad, insanity-causing, publicly hated and intolerable.. "You must work until 'religion' is synonymous with 'insanity.' You must work until the officials of city, county and state governments will not think twice before they pounce upon religious groups as public enemies... "We must be like the vine upon the tree. We use the tree to climb and then, strangling it, grow into power on the nourishment of its flesh... "He [the psychopolitician] should send persons, preferably those well under his control, into the mental health group, whether Christian Science or Dianetics or faith preachers to demonstrate their abilities upon this new person. These, in demonstrating their abilities, will usually act with enthusiasm. Midway in the course of their treatment, a quiet injection of peyote, mescaline, or other drug, or




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an electric shock, will produce the symptoms of insanity in the patient which has been sent to the target group. The patient thus demonstrating momentary insanity should immediately be reported to the police and taken away to some area of incarceration managed by psychopolitical operatives, and so placed out of sight. Officialdom will thus come into a belief that this group drives individuals insane by their practices, and the practices of the group will then be despised and prohibited by law." 109

Again, Christian Scientists were alarmed and went to the Board of Directors with the documentation. Without exception, these people were assured that everything was all right and that the Board was aware of the situation. Because of the curt dismissals these warnings invariably received, many in the Christian Science field became convinced that Communist agents had secretly invaded the inner sanctum of The Mother Church at its highest levels.

109. Manual of Instructions of Psychopolitical Warfare, pp. 49, 59, 60, 46



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CHAPTER 19 — BUSINESS AS USUAL

The year 1954 brought very little new in the way of directives from the Board in The Christian Science Journal. The January issue made the routine request that branch churches send in their histories to the Archives, and an appeal for funds for sanatoriums in England, Scotland, and Wales was also made. In February, reminders were given about endorsing membership applications for The Mother Church. March repeated rules for Christian Science class instruction and the governance of associations. April included a statement from the Directors about the importance of church membership. May announced the translation of Rudimental Divine Science and No and Yes into Greek. A list of sites maintained by the Longyear Foundation was included. July announced the availability of recordings from the Tuesday evening meetings held in The Mother Church and included an appeal for aid for overseas relief.

The August issue included a directive from the Board regarding Readers in Branch Churches. Instructions stated that people should be elected to only one three year term except in extreme cases. Adhering to this same policy in societies would be considered a progressive step. Speech training was recommended for Readers, and how to prepare selections from the Bible and Science and Health for Wednesday evening meetings was also included.

September warned about requests for aid from strangers and suggested that thorough investigations be made before offering help. October announced the Armed Services Activities and Postwar Emergency Fund. November reminded practitioners to maintain confidentiality of communications with patients, and December gave information about practitioners and Social Security self-




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employment taxes. In September 1954, all branch churches in the United States were sent a copy of the "Williams Intelligence Summary" written by Robert H. Williams who listed himself as a "former Counter Intelligence officer." One article entitled "Canham Seduces Monitor" gives the flavor of the times and the intensity of the feelings: "It is not by preference that I report the betrayal, for instance, of the intensely loyal Christian Scientists who cherish American ideals and traditions, by the editor and some staff member of the Christian Science Monitor... Hundreds of members of that church have written protest letters to Erwin D. Canham, but leftwingers hang on so tenaciously as to make us wonder if one of the rich and arrogant secretive organizations of revolution privately eggs them on... Erwin Canham was a Rhodes Scholar and is an active member of the Association of American Rhodes Scholars... Not every Rhodes Scholar has remained permanently indoctrinated with international Socialism, otherwise known as Marxism; but the exceptions seem to be remarkably few and Canham is not one of them. One of his fellow Rhodes Scholars Clarence Kirshman Streit, founded Union Now, which would hoist a flag above Old Glory and set aside our Constitutional government, which means our national independence and personal freedom. Canham' s editorials and featured articles reveal a kinship with Streit... "Another Soviet apologist, featured by Canham is Vera Micheles Dean. Starting November 14, 1950, the Monitor, carried a series of eight articles by her... Canham cannot argue that he didn't know the gun was loaded, for Miss Dean was listed two years before, in the 1948 California Un-American Activities Report, as one of the authors recommended to American teachers by the Communist front National Council of American Soviet Friendship. In the same official report (1948) she was listed as one of the signers of the Golden Book of American Friendship with the Soviet Union. The Un-American Activities Committee report said these signers 'may be said to have met the acid test for admiration of a totalitarian dictatorship'... "You who have tirelessly written Mr. Canham trying to show him wherein he is wrong, have not made a dent on him..."

Branch churches which wrote to Boston to report receiving the Williams newsletter were assured by the Directors that the charges had no basis in fact and that all future unsolicited mail on this subject should be disregarded.

The Christian Science Journal for 1955 included the following: In January those seeking admission to the December 1955 Normal class were were invited to apply. Employment opportunities at The Mother Church were also announced. In February advice was given regarding "Meetings in the Interest of Branch Church Activities." The article stated that occasional meetings were




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helpful, that the meetings should be limited to the members only, that an experienced Christian Scientist should be asked to speak, and that such meetings should not be held too frequently. Other guidelines were also given. The April Journal announced the translation of Unity of Good into French and mentioned employment opportunities at the Christian Science Benevolent Home. The October issue announced a new television program, "How Christian Science Heals" and the fund to support it. The December issue urged people to support the Christian Science Herald by subscribing to any of the several editions.

In late 1955, The Mother Church obtained an injunction in Federal District Court in Ohio forbidding the members of Third Church of Christ, Scientist, in Akron, Ohio, from calling their church by any name identifying itself as connected with Christian Science. Some of the members and officers of the church did not have the blessing or approval of the Directors, and the church was not a recognized branch. This decision had the effect of preventing individuals from forming societies or churches and publicly associating them with Christian Science without the permission of the Board of Directors in Boston.

The Journal for 1956 stated in January that students of Christian Science college organizations meeting in Boston in September of 1955 had been personally greeted by the Directors. The February issue gave a list of those individuals who had donated letters written by Mrs. Eddy to the Archives. Those who still possessed such letters were urged to follow the example of the people listed. The results of the December 1955 Normal class were announced in this same issue. The March Journal again urged Christian Scientists to support the mission of the Heralds. The July issue included advice on how to properly make announcements during services in branch churches and reminded First Readers that they should use no more than ten citations from Science and Health in Wednesday evening meetings. The August issue announced the Christian Science Trust in Great Britain which allowed individuals from England to make contributions to The Mother Church. In October advice about interviewing applicants for church membership was given, and in November guidelines were issued on how to conduct branch church dedications and how the laying of the cornerstone should be done.

In November of 1956, the "Committee of 1,000 Christian Scientists" was formed with R. Roy Pursell of Plymouth, Michigan, as Executive Secretary. The committee put out a newsletter, The Searchlight, which was dedicated to defend The Christian Science Monitor. According to their literature: "Ever since the line 'An International Daily Newspaper' was ADDED on our Monitor's masthead on May 1, 1917, Scientists who realized the danger of Internationalism submerging the American people to a minority in any World [government] group (we are but 8% of the [world] population) have been deeply




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concerned. Many objected to the term 'An International Daily Newspaper' but succeeded only in getting it reduced in size. "More recently one group of Scientists planned on asking for a Congressional investigation of the Monitor writers! "Another group wanted the proposition to be taken to court to save the Monitor from further destruction. "R. Roy Pursell argued that while either plan might eliminate the Internationalism from the Monitor it might well destroy the paper. He offered a plan of alerting as many Scientists as possible, insisting that it should be possible to expose and destroy any error that could possibly creep in — thereby saving The Monitor from the harm that would come when any outside agency was called in.

"The Searchlight was the name given to the Committee's bulletin to be issued as often as needed to provide research data and the photographic reproduction of Monitor articles which should have special consideration. It is sent to all Scientists who are interested in defending the Monitor against the destruction by any group of Internationalists, etc."

One of their newsletters included: "Just as soon as the Directors won the lawsuit to gain absolute control over the Monitor in January 1922 — they hired the THEN Leftist William Henry Chamberlin as Moscow correspondent. INSTEAD OF exposing that organized evil it became a party to eventual recognition of Russia — THE WORST THING WE EVER DID... Today we are shocked to see Editor Erwin Canham going around the country beating the drums and demanding we recognize Red China! Won't Boston ever learn that evil is to be EXPOSED not EMBRACED?"

The most sensational article reprinted by The Searchlight was an editorial from the June 19, 1920, Christian Science Monitor which was written a year and-a-half before the Directors won the litigation against the Trustees of the Publishing Society and took over the Monitor. That editorial included: "What it is important to dwell upon is the increasing evidence of the existence of a secret conspiracy, throughout the world, for destruction of organized government and the letting loose of evil. People are apt to smile, with incredulous tolerance, at the mention of the word witchcraft. But witchcraft when it is understood in the psychology of evil, is not the riding of aged harridans on broomsticks, but the impulse to do evil for the sake of evil in the human consciousness... "The theory that the end justifies the means [Adam] Weishaupt had inherited from the ex-Jesuits, who had assisted him in organizing his new order [the Illuminati founded in Bavaria in 1776]. John Robison, who studied the gyrations of this order, in the spurious Masonic lodges of France and Germany,

109

has summed up its ideals as the obliteration of Christianity; the deification of sensuality; the proscription of property; the abjuration of all religion and morality; the repudiation of marriage, and as a necessary corollary the state adoption of children; universal license; and the wrecking of civilization and giving over of society to general plunder. It was, in short, through the propagation of such crazy iniquity that men like Rabaud de Saint-Etienne [of the French Revolution] were led to the conclusion that society could only be improved by being first destroyed. 'To make the people happy,' he declared, in a burst of revolutionary rabies, 'their ideas must be reconstructed, laws must be changed, morals must be changed, men must be changed, things must be changed, everything, yes, everything must be destroyed, since everything must be remade...'

"For the present, it is sufficient to draw attention to the fact that these ideals keep reappearing with a curious and significant regularity at moments of great political commotion, and exercising an extraordinary and appalling effect upon world politics... It is this theory, more than any one other thing, which brought about the recent world war, and which was used by the military vehmgericht to justify all the horrors of German policy, in a way which recalls the famous conversation between Marmontel and Chamfort in the days of the [French] revolution when, in reply to the opinion hazarded by the former that the nation might go further than it wished, the latter replied, 'True, but does the nation know what it wishes? One can make it wish, and one can make it say, what it has never thought.' There, in naked language, is the whole theory of suggestion as a means to an end, into which scruple is never to be permitted to intrude... "The human mind jeers at the theory of mental manipulation, yet prominent politicians, philosophers, and soldiers, are found at critical moments, giving expression to views of an absolutely non-moral description, which are not in accordance with their behavior in ordinary life. These views are manifestly disseminated mentally, and, unless the victim understands how to protect himself, through a scientific knowledge of what really constitutes Principle, he is liable unconsciously to accept them and even act upon them. It is here that the conspiracy of evil against humanity becomes recognizable..."

One Christian Scientist who attended one of Erwin Canham's speaking engagements around the country was amused when the host, who did not not Mr. Canham, introduced him as "Mr. Cain-Ham". The Christian Scientist, thinking of Mrs. Eddy's definitions of these Bible personages in Science and Health , said, He's got that right!" Most Christian Scientists dismissed all of these efforts to point out problems in Boston. Erwin Canham was lionized by church members as the most respected and prestigious representative of Christian Science to the rest of the world.




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CHAPTER 20 — FINISHING UP THE 1950s

The Christian Science Journal for 1957 included the following notices and directives from the Board: In January, the meeting for college students was announced for September in Boston. February reminded readers of the importance of class instruction for individual spiritual progress. March gave guidelines for choosing church officers and also announced the translation of Christian Science and Its Discoverer by E. Mary Ramsey into French. June announced a training course for Christian Science nurses. October announced a translation of Miscellaneous Writings into German. The November issue included a statement by the Directors rejecting materia medica in theory and in practice. In December the Normal class for December 1958 was announced, and readers were told that the college students attending the September meeting of college organizations had been personally greeted by members of the Board of Directors.

In 1957, the cover of the Christian Science Sentinel was changed. In 1942, the size of the periodical had been reduced, but the design had remained much as Mrs. Eddy had left it. Now, one of the two women was removed and the classical, architectural motif was abandoned.

The year 1957 marked the end for Hendrick J. deLange. He wrote to his association of pupils on October 15th of his decision to take himself out of the official church organization. All contacts with the Board of Directors to resolve misunderstandings had been fruitless. He had been removed as a lecturer in 1951. All of his articles submitted to the periodicals were henceforth rejected, and his teaching was disapproved though not yet taken away from him. Having




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seen the fate of so many other teachers, he decided not to wait for the inevitable ax from Boston and resigned from the organization.

The Directors were quick to act, for in the January 1958 issue of the Journal, they announced that pupils of former teachers were not eligible to attend the association of any other teacher until they had been retaught by an authorized teacher still in good standing with the Board.

The February 1958 Journal repeats the statement from the previous year about the importance of class instruction for spiritual progress. The April issue contains a directive from the Board to Readers in branch churches: "Readers are sometimes circularized to purchase books which contain lists of references arranged under topical headings for the Wednesday evening readings, for Scriptural selections, and for benedictions. The use of such so-called helps is to be avoided. They do not add to a Reader's spiritual growth or to the inspiration of the church services as does the Reader's own prayerful research. "Appropriate benedictions may be found in the writings of both the Old and the New Testament. A benediction should be a continuous statement. It should not be an admonition or an exhortation, but should be a fitting close to the church service."

The June Journal contained an admonition for all church members: "Occasionally practitioners, Readers, and other members of The Mother Church are solicited to purchase unauthorized books and other literature which claim to elucidate the teachings of Christian Science... The student who would progress in his understanding and demonstration will do well to confine his study of the teachings of Christian Science to the Bible, the writings of our Leader published by the Trustees under the Will of Mary Baker Eddy, and the authorized publications of The Christian Science Publishing Society. Thus he will safeguard his thinking from the confusion or adulteration which would result from studying books based upon personal interpretation of our Leader's writings and which add nothing to the pure Science which she herself has given us..."

The July Journal repeated a warning to investigate the background of those soliciting money from branch churches. The August issue announced the publication of Erwin D. Canham's book, Commitment to Freedom, which was published to mark the fiftieth anniversary of The Christian Science Monitor. The book, besides recounting the history of the newspaper, also tried to explain away many of the charges of pro-Communism and the promotion of world government which had been laid at Mr. Canham's doorstep. In addition, the book received much comment for having published the most unflattering photograph of Mrs. Eddy ever to appear in print. The October issue announced that the Christian Science Heralds published on a quarterly basis would appear with newly designed covers. November contained advice about conducting the




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Thanksgiving service in branch churches and December reprinted 1929 guidelines for Readers in branch churches and societies.

The year 1958 marked the passing of Bliss Knapp on March 14th. He had said little about his book, The Destiny of The Mother Church, since the demands made upon him by the Board of Directors in their letter to him dated February 20, 1948. Besides requiring him to destroy the books and the printing plates, the Directors demanded that he delete chapters entitled "The Woman" and "Prophecy" before it could ever be considered for republication.

Provisions of his will gave a portion of his estate to The Mother Church if the Directors would agree to publish the Destiny book including the two chapters they had required him to delete. His will also designated some new material for the book. The Mother Church declined to consider publishing the Knapp book. Bliss Knapp felt so strongly about his book and its statement of Mrs. Eddy's place in Bible prophecy that he specified that the family monument at Mt. Auburn Cemetery include the inscription, "Author of The Destiny of The Mother Church."

His will also made a generous bequest to The Principia, a liberal arts college founded in 1898 by Mary Kimball Morgan. It is located in St. Louis, Missouri, and across the Mississippi River in Elsah, Illinois. It was established for the benefit of Christian Science youth.

Bliss Knapp had never criticized or challenged the Board of Directors at any time during his life. When the Board-appointed English scholar eviscerated his lectures, he calmly rewrote them even while others resigned from the Board of Lectureship in dismay. When the Directors strongly suggested that he suspend teaching classes in 1948, he did so. One cannot help but wonder if the provisions of his will revealed a deep concern for the direction his beloved Church had taken since the passing of Mrs. Eddy and his own father in 1910. The trend on the Board was clearly shifting away from the high regard Christian Scientists had always had for Mrs. Eddy and her place in Bible prophecy. It is reasonable to infer that he foresaw the day when Mrs. Eddy would be moved entirely out of her place.

The Monitor of June 2, 1958, gave the report of the Annual Meeting for 1958 and announced that air conditioning would be installed in the original Mother Church and the Extension within a year. Those in attendance were invited to view a new movie at a local theater the next day to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the Monitor entitled "Assignment: Mankind."

In 1958, Richard Oakes, who had been associated with Gilbert Carpenter, Jr. for many years and who maintained a library of Carpenter material in England, published Divinity Course and General Collectanea. This book was a compilation of key material from the Carpenter Foundation's books. Up until




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this time, the books written by Gilbert Carpenter and his son could be read at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., or might be read by those visiting the Foundation headquarters in Providence, Rhode Island. A few were given to a select number of trusted people in the Christian Science field. The new volume was originally published in South Africa, but word of its availability quickly spread to the rest of the English-speaking world. This popular edition became known as the "Blue Book" and was eagerly read by many practitioners and deeper students of Christian Science who would not otherwise have had access to the Carpenter writings and compilations. The position of the Board of Directors regarding "unauthorized" literature caused almost all who possessed the new book to keep it hidden from those who might report them to Boston. The notice condemning unauthorized books in the June 1958 Journal was clearly aimed at this new book.

The Christian Science Journal for 1959 included in the January issue the notice for the September meeting for students in college organizations. February announced a new film which branch churches could borrow entitled, "The Mother Church in Action." The results of the Normal class of 1958 were also announced along with the notice that Science and Health had been translated into Danish. The March issue included guidelines from the Board regarding charging for practitioner services. April repeated the importance of church membership. June requested branch church and college organization histories for the Archives. The July issue reiterated the condemnation of all unauthorized literature and the circulation of unpublished manuscripts which were "full of mistakes" and not needed. September gave advice about reading and quoting from Mrs. Eddy's writings. November included a notice about the Monitor Youth Forum. The December Journal announced the availability of "Assignment: Mankind," the movie marking the fiftieth anniversary of the Monitor, for branch church viewing and reported that the Board of Director personally greeted the students who had attended the September college organization meeting in Boston.

The year 1959 marked the passing of Gilbert C. Carpenter, Sr., at the age of 90. He had survived his son by seven years. It had been Gilbert, Jr. who had taken steps to incorporate the Foundation bearing their name, and it was also the son who had established a board of trustees which would conduct the business of the Foundation, thus insulating and allowing the elder Carpenter free to work with their archives. The incorporation relieved him from the problems and crosscurrents the "unauthorized" foundation inevitably encountered.

In 1959, Richard Oakes published a second compilation of Carpenter material entitled Essays and Other Footprints. This volume became known as the "Red Book" and found an immediate and appreciative audience.




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CHAPTER 21 — CENTENNIAL

The Christian Science Journal for 1960 started the year with the reminder that all communications between practitioner and patient were confidential and ended the year with a notice for those wishing to apply for the 1961 Normal class to be held the following December.

Erwin D. Canham managed to keep himself and the Monitor controversial. On April 29, 1960, he wrote a letter on Monitor stationery, "I believe that the United States should open diplomatic relations with communist China."110 This was written at a time when few liberal politicians in the United States would risk stating such a policy. The Guiness Book of World Records gave top billing to the regime of Mao Tse-tung under "Greatest Mass Murders" for the execution of an estimated 65,000,000 fellow Chinese. Adolf Hitler came in third place after Joseph Stalin.

The Journal for 1961 included in January the announcement of the translation of Science and Health into Italian and also the notice of the September meeting in Boston for college organization members. The February issue reprinted the article about the importance of class instruction and spiritual growth and also listed all the individuals who had donated letters signed by Mrs. Eddy to the Archives with the invitation for others to do the same. In March, the Directors included an article entitled, "Why is Total Abstinence from Use of Alcohol and Tobacco Required for Membership in The Mother Church?" In the same issue a 1935 article entitled "The Pinnacle of Praise" was reprinted and

110. Smoot, The Invisible Government, p. 40



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contained advice about giving testimonies on Wednesday nights. In April the announcement was made that the Cornish Fund established to aid small branch churches with their financial needs had been exhausted. Over the years, over $4,000,000 had been expended for branch churches. That same month a notice from 1931 was reprinted regarding how often to use Mrs. Eddy's hymns in church services. A 1955 article about holding meetings in the interest of branch churches was repeated. A new booklet entitled "Guidance for Readers" was also advertised in this issue. The June issue gave guidelines about practitioners and Social Security coverage. The July Journal gave the report of the Annual Meeting and stated that the number of branch churches had reached an all time high of 3,273 churches worldwide. The Directors announced that they "appreciate the opportunity to acquire original letters from Mary Baker Eddy, her secretaries, and other items bearing her signature." The October issue reprinted a 1954 article "Christian Science Teaching and Students' Associations." It was also announced that new editions of the Christian Science Herald were now available in Japanese and Indonesian. Plans for a new television series, "How Christian Science Heals" were set forth. It was announced in the December issue that the Directors had decided that it was all right to have the Church Manual in Sunday schools. The translation of Science and Health into Russian and the translation of Rudimental Divine Science and No and Yes into Polish were announced.

In 1962, the Board of Directors voted to demolish the pyramid marker at the site of Mary Baker Eddy's birth in Bow, New Hampshire. After Mrs. Eddy's passing, James F. Lord had acquired the property of the old Baker homestead. The house had burned to the ground some years before, and it had grown up with weeds. He improved the site, erected the monument, and donated the property to The Mother Church in 1927. His efforts had never been viewed with favor by the Directors, and the monument was never included in notices of historic sites occasionally listed in the Journal. A photograph, however, was included in the book, Landmarks from Bow to Boston. The precisely carved granite was the largest single piece ever quarried in New Hampshire, and, despite its official lack of approval, it attracted many visitors over the years since its dedication on the centennial of Mrs. Eddy's birth on July 16, 1921.

Workmen at the site had prepared to blast the monument with dynamite as instructed by the Directors. At the last minute, L. Ivimy Gwalter, a member of the Board who did not want it destroyed, persuaded her fe1low Directors to postpone the destruction, and word was immediately sent to New Hampshire. But the message arrived too late, and the destructive deed was done. The fragments were buried somewhere to prevent souvenir seekers from getting any of the pieces. This was in keeping with the Directors' policy established with




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the destruction of Mrs. Eddy's home at Pleasant View when every fragment of the house was taken away and secretly buried to thwart those who wanted some tangible remembrance.

The rumor spread that the Directors waited until the death of Mr. Lord the donor of the property, before ordering the destruction of the pyramid marker, but this could not be confirmed through research. When asked why the marker was destroyed, one of the Directors reportedly said that people were writing on it.

The Journal for 1962 included in the January edition a reprint of "The Christian Science Standard of Healing" by the Directors which originally appeared in November 1957. The February issue announced the results of the previous December's Normal class. March included a message from the Committee on Publication "Meeting Hostile Attacks." Members were urged not to answer them or to circulate them, but to work impersonally. A new radio series, "The Bible Speaks to You," was announced. The June issue included an editorial, "Authority of the Manual." In December, the 1943 statement from the Directors entitled "Mrs. Eddy's Place" was reprinted.

The year 1963 marked the publication of Mary Baker Eddy, Her Revelation of Divine Egoism by Ames Nowell. Dr. Nowell had been a member of the 1946 Normal Class and was an authorized teacher in New York City. He was descended from four families who arrived at Plymouth on the Mayflower and his grandfather had been twice elected governor of Massachusetts. The dust jacket of his book includes, "As Dr. Nowell taught and practiced Christian Science he became more and more aware of a 'silent gap' in the voicing of divine Science throughout the Christian Science Field, and he determined to do what he could to correct this serious situation." The book traces the meaning of "I AM THAT I AM" as it appears in the Bible and Mrs. Eddy's writings. Needless to say, he did not remain an authorized teacher or a member of The Mother Church for very long. He went on to publish a second book, The Decalogue, Its Spiritual Significance, in 1968.

The Christian Science Journal for 1963 included "Democratic Branch Church Government" from the Directors in the April issue: "Questions pertaining to the formation of branches and to standards governing the presentation and promotion of Christian Science may properly be referred to The Mother Church for consideration. It must be understood, however, that The Mother Church cannot interfere with internal church affairs or with the conduct of the business of its branches."

The April issue also announced a new edition of The Christian Science Quarterly in Portuguese. The May issue announced the translation of Science and Health into the same language. The June Journal announced a new paperback edition of Science and Health in English. The November issue gave




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instructions to Readers in branch churches about how to read I John 3: 1-3 from the Bible at the close of the Sunday service. The December issue announced enrollment for the Normal class to be held in December 1964.

In 1964 the Journal included in April a message from the Directors to branch churches urging them to apply the Golden Rule when dealing with inactive members. The article suggests that contact be made and perhaps a committee assignment would encourage such members to take part in church activities again. The May issue announced a Greek edition of the Herald. The June issue gives guidelines for interviewing applicants for church membership. The person should have been a student of Christian Science for at least a year; there should not be any deep metaphysical questions; sincerity should be the key element to watch for; the applicant should be asked how long he has studied the lesson-sermon, how long he has attended church regularly and whether he relies wholly on Christian Science. Applicants should be free from alcohol, tobacco, and medicine. The November Journal repeats that members should refrain from circulating papers or articles attributed to Mrs. Eddy or any other Christian Scientist.

The July 1, 1965, Christian Science Monitor announced a major building project at The Mother Church which would take until 1969 to complete. A high rise administration building would be the focal point of the new church center as it towered over the original Mother Church and the Extension.

The Journals for 1965 announced in January that Science and Health had been translated into Norwegian and that Retrospection and Introspection was now available in Italian. The February issue included advice that occasional meetings in branch churches should give as many members as possible an active role, and that inviting an experienced Christian Scientist to talk to the members would be a good idea. The results of the December 1964 Normal class were given, and branch churches were urged to send reports for use at Annual Meeting. In March, it was recommended that retiring readers give their copies of Guidance to Readers, published by The Mother Church, to those replacing them. The November Journal announced that a new series commemorating the discovery of Christian Science would appear in the Journal beginning in January of 1966.

In 1965, the trustees of the Carpenter Foundation decided to sue Richard Oakes for publishing Divinity Course and General Collectanea and Essays and Other Footprints. The trustees consulted the Chief Legal Counsel of The Mother Church who advised them to get a good lawyer. This was a strange move considering the hostility displayed by The Mother Church over the years toward the Carpenters. Mr. Oakes was charged with breach of trust and confidence. No copyright laws had been violated. The legal proceedings were to stretch on for several years.




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The Journals for 1966 included in the February issue a directive from the Board instructing branch churches not to charge teachers and students' associations who might wish to use a church for their classes or meetings. It was all right for those using the church to offer a donation to the branch church if they wished. The March issue announced that entirely new covers would appear on the Journal and Sentinel beginning in April. This represented the first real change in the cover of the Journal. Up until this time it had remained much as Mrs. Eddy had designed it. The Sentinel which had already undergone two changes, first in 1942 when its dimensions had been greatly reduced, and then in 1957 when one of the two women bearing lamps had been removed. In this 1966 cover change, the one remaining woman was moved to the inside of the front cover.

The April issue declared that the Journal and Sentinel would have new and changed roles as The Mother Church entered the second century of Christian Science. Already the roles of the two periodicals had been blurred over the years. The Journal was originally the official organ of The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Massachusetts. The Sentinel was intended to be the periodical for the branches. In Mrs. Eddy's day, the inside of the front cover had been devoted in its entirety to a digest of secular news which Christian Scientists in the field would find especially useful or which required their thoughtful work. Over the years the Sentinel had become a miniature copy of the Journal and was commonly thought of as the periodical which one should give to newcomers because its articles were simple and not as deep as those found in the Journal. The April Journal also announced a new International Department to coordinate The Mother Church's overseas activities. The May issue announced the opening of the Church Center Building Fund.

The Monitor of June 6, 1966, carried a photograph of the new proposed Church Center and also a magazine section with articles commemorating the Centennial of Christian Science.

The July Journal announced Medicare benefits for Christian Scientists in the United States. The same issue once again warned not to give money to strangers without investigating them first. The November issue included "To Correct a False Rumor" which said that contrary to reports circulated in the field, enough money was not on hand for the Church Center Building Fund. The December issue announced the 1967 Normal Class to be held the following year.

Also in 1966, the Publishing Society printed a speech by Erwin Canham entitled The Spiritual Revolution. It set forth, in veiled terms, the internationalist vision of the future: "Technology is forcing unification on us, if we are wise enough to work out the social and political answers... Some thinkers believe that beneath the many political and other divisions which seem




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tragically to separate mankind, there have come into being truly universal convictions which will ultimately unite mankind."111 Colonel Edward Mandell House, who was the father of the Council on Foreign Relations and a proponent of world government, wrote, "Do your work gently and with moderation, so that some at least may listen. If we would convince and convert, we must veil our thoughts and curb our enthusiasm, so that those we would influence will think us reasonable." 112

The year 1966 also marked the publication of Mary Baker Eddy: The Years of Discovery by Robert Peel. This book was the first of three Peel biographies of Mrs. Eddy to appear over the next eleven years. The author had unprecedented access to the Archives of The Mother Church. He also spent considerable time at the Carpenter Foundation in Providence, Rhode Island. Mr. Peel had previously written Christian Science: Its Encounter with American Culture in 1958. That book began with, "This book records a neglected chapter of American intellectual history." Erwin Canham wrote endorsing the book, "Mr. Peel's book should carry to layman and scholar alike a sense of the true intellectual depth and seriousness of Christian Science." Mr. Peel wrote of Mr. Canham, "The Christian Science Monitor is already touching the world of affairs; it is noteworthy that the paper's brilliant editor, Erwin D. Canham, in various writings and speeches has also been exploring some of the revolutionary changes in the world of intellect which may be linked with the metaphysical insights of Christian Science."113 Mr. Peel was a former professor at Harvard University and Principia College and, at the time of the writing of his 1958 book, was on the editorial staff of the Monitor. It would be fair to say that Mr. Peel's approach to the subject of Christian Science and its Discoverer was primarily intellectual and academic as his own words and those of Mr. Canham would suggest. As events and more books unfolded, this would become a divisive issue among Christian Scientists.

A Century of Christian Science Healing was issued by the Publishing Society during the centennial year and included some of the most outstanding instances of healing recorded during the first hundred years.

111. Canham, The Spiritual Revolution, pp. 14, 31
112. House, Philip Dru: Administrator, p. 64
113. Peel, Christian Science: Its Encounter with American Culture, p. 169



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CHAPTER 22 — CONSTRUCTION PROJECT

The year 1967 marked the first year of real activity at the site of the new Church Center in Boston. Before this new building project, the original Mother Church, the Extension, the administration building, and the Publishing Society had blended into the surrounding city. The new construction would stand out as a showcase to the city of Boston and the world. Before the new building could commence, the old administration building, one end of the Publishing Society, and low income housing in the area had to be demolished to prepare the construction site. While efforts were apparently made to resettle residents displaced by the demolition, some hard feelings would become evident later.

The Directors engaged the architectural firm of I. M. Pei, and the actual building work was to be done by the Aberthaw Construction Company which had built the new Publishing Society in the 1930s. The estimated cost of the new Center was $8,000,000. The Aberthaw Company was given the contract on a cost-plus basis. 114

The Christian Science Journal for 1967 included in January an article about the Archives of The Mother Church. It said in part, "There are many occasions when the Archivist's office can help a Christian Scientist to see that some

114. Beals, Crisis in the Christian Science Church, p. 101



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handwritten or typewritten manuscript attributed to Mrs. Eddy is not hers. Alert workers are rarely misled by spurious material. They usually detect that it disobeys a By-Law in the Manual (for example, Art. VIII, Sect. 9), contradicts the letter or spirit of Christian Science, or simply does not sound like Mrs. Eddy. But many Scientists write to the Archives each month just to make sure. Even when one of these items proves authentic, it always has only limited value."

The March Journal announced the publication of Mary Baker Eddy: A Centennial Appreciation which consisted of reprints of articles on this subject appearing in the Journals for 1966. The April issue included diagrams and sketches of the new Church Center. The October issue included a statement from the Directors that the use of quotations from Mrs. Eddy's writings was strictly limited in the articles approved for the periodicals. The same issue offered to lend a new film promoting the Church Center to branch churches. The November issue announced the translation of Unity of Good into Norwegian and reminded people that those applying for a practitioner card in the Journal were not to write to the Directors, but to the Department of Branches and Practitioners.

August 15, 1968, was the official beginning of actual construction. The project for the Church Center was already experiencing serious cost overruns. The contract, let to the Aberthaw Construction Company on a cost-plus basis without a firm bid, was an open invitation to waste.

The Journals for 1968 included a variety of advice and instruction. In January, branch church members were told that after the benediction, they could stand a moment, leave immediately, or sit and listen to the postlude. The choice was theirs. In February the results of the previous December's Normal class were given. March repeated instructions for interviewing applicants for church membership. The April issue stated that a member of an association who attends the meeting of another teacher should not be permitted to read the association address of his own teacher given in that same year. The August Journal reprinted the policy on practitioners and what they should charge. In November, a new Practitioners' Division was announced to encourage closer communication and provide a focal point between individual practitioners and The Mother Church. December stated the availability of the Sunday School Handbook.

Construction of the Church Center continued in 1969. The Annual Meeting for that year was held on June 2nd. After the meeting had begun, a group representing the Metropolitan Boston Committee of Black Churchmen demanded to speak to the assembled Christian Scientists. The guards at the doors refused them entry, and threats were made to set fire to the Publishing Society. The




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delegation was reluctantly admitted, and the representative for the group, Hayward Henry, spoke to the stunned members and church officers. Demands for reparations were presented and were based on a "Manifesto to the White Churches and Jewish Synagogues in the United States of America and All Other Racist Institutions." This document had been adopted in Detroit, Michigan, on April 26, 1969. Mr. Henry read a statement which included a demand for $100 million dollars from Boston churches as reparations for 529 years of slavery. After presenting their case, the delegation left the meeting peacefully, and the Annual Meeting resumed its normal schedule.

Ironically, the theme for that year's Annual Meeting was "What Can We Do For Our World?" The Mother Church was chosen as a target for the demands because considerable discontent had been generated when low income housing was bought up and torn down to make way for the new Church Center. The displaced residents were unhappy with the loss of their old neighborhood, the dispersal of lifelong friends, and what they considered to be the patronizing attitude of Mother Church officials regarding their concerns.

The account of the Annual Meeting in The Christian Science Journal for 1969 did not make any mention of the unscheduled appearance of the Boston Committee of Black Churchmen. The February issue of the Journal gave the official start of construction of the Church Center as August 15, 1969. In June, a film about the construction of the Church Center was offered for viewing by branch churches. July contained a "Statement on Conscience and National Service" from the Directors. This was in response to the war in Vietnam and the protests which had grown up since American involvement began in earnest in the early 1960s. Unlike earlier statements on this subject which had said flatly that Christian Science could not be used as an official reason to request conscientious objection to military service, this new statement modified the previous stand by saying that it was up to each individual to decide for himself. The October issue announced the translation of Science and Health into Polish. In November, the Directors told branch churches that they could determine the number of special meetings they held, but that the Board felt that there should not be too many. The December issue announced that applications for the next year's Normal class were available.

The year 1970 revealed growing financial problems at headquarters in Boston. The concerns were couched in low key statements in the periodicals and at the Annual Meeting. The Journals for that year included these statements and other news. In January, the Directors issued "A Statement on Pacifism" which was a further clarification on their position on conscientious objection. The March issue announced that Alan Young had been appointed as Manager of the Film and Broadcasting Department. (He had actually been appointed in October of




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1969.) Mr. Young was widely known for his acting career, popular television show, and most recently for his lecture, "Can You Simply Trust?" He had quit his popular TV show, Mr. Ed, to go on the lecture circuit. Many people expressed the hope that, with a real professional on board, The Mother Church could reach what Mrs. Eddy's called the "millions of unprejudiced minds." The May Journal gave a progress report on the construction at the Church Center and called for more donations. In July the Directors included "Class Instruction: An Essential and Unique Step." The September issue contained an ominous message from the Board of Directors which admitted that The Christian Science Monitor is "seriously in the red" and asking requested support for the newspaper. The October issue announced the translation of Science and Health into Greek. The December Journal included an "Important Notice" to all Mother Church members from the Directors. Members were told that there would not be any workshops at the 1971 Annual Meeting and were requested to stay home and send the money they would have spent attending the meeting to the building fund for the Church Center.

Erwin D. Canham stated in his book, Commitment to Freedom, that "It would be inconceivable for The Church of Christ, Scientist, actually to subsidize such a big annual operation as the Monitor — no less than $6,000,000 overhead per year."115 The request that members not travel to the next Annual Meeting was one of the first indicators that the financial end of the Church Center project was going awry.

In 1971, the trustees of the Carpenter Foundation finally won their legal battle in Superior Court in Stockton, California, against Richard Oakes for publishing Divinity Course and General Collectanea and Essays and Other Footprints. The court determined that Mr. Oakes was guilty of "breach of trust and confidence." However, the only effect of the verdict was to prevent him from publishing the books again. Anyone else in the world was free to do so. The legal battle was expensive, fruitless, and pointless, and, worst of all, the funds of the Carpenter Foundation were completely exhausted. Observers suspected, with good reason, that The Mother Church, through its Chief Legal Counsel and the friendly contacts of Robert Peel, had led the Carpenter trustees to pursue the issue well knowing that it would doom the foundation as an independent entity. The Mother Church's friendly encouragement of unwise and ruinous action succeeded where all of their previous efforts had failed in shutting down this "unauthorized" activity.

The Christian Science Journal for 1971 revealed the carefully veiled concerns about cash flow in Boston. The January and February issues repeated the request that members not attend the Annual Meeting and send money to the building

115. Canham, Commitment to Freedom, p. 382



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fund for the Church Center. February reported the results of the 1970 Normal class. March and April again appealed for people to send money and not come to Boston in June. June included a statement, "Class Instruction: An Unselfed and Complete Demonstration." July had a statement from the Directors about "Healing Racial Divisions." August announced that microfilm of the first issue of the Monitor had been taken to the moon by Alan Shepherd, a Christian Scientist. In November, the Directors gave guidelines for associations without a teacher, the policy for attending other associations, and the disbanding of associations. December announced the availability of a new color movie film of the Church Center.

In 1971, Alan Young resigned from his position as Manager of the Film and Broadcasting Department. All of his proposals were met with approval by the Directors in face-to-face meetings. Then he would receive memos retracting what he thought had been agreed upon. Every proposal was met with initial approval followed by cancellation. He confided to friends that his mail was opened before he received it and that his telephone was bugged. In frustration, he resigned his position and returned to California with the comment that he found more love in the entertainment industry than he did at The Mother Church. He once remarked, "Having lived through the demise of stage shows, vaudeville, radio, and after having traveled the lecture circuit for two years myself, I see familiar symptoms in the church... Quite probably we have an active membership of a hundred and fifty thousand, and that is dropping at the rate of what I understand to be six hundred to seven hundred a week... Our treasurer says it costs twenty-five million dollars every year to maintain the Mother Church operation. This cost isn't going to decline. It is escalating day by day, and yet the membership is going down... Any sensible organization informs its members or stockholders of its indebtedness. Instead, our church authorities are covering up this situation. Any appearance of life is now due to the financial gifts and endowments given to the church over the last half century." 116

116. Beals, Crisis in The Christian Science Church, pp. 84, 85



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CHAPTER 23 — LEGISLATIVE ACTION

In December 1970 The Mother Church initiated a change in the Public Statutes of Massachusetts, Chapter 39, Section 1. It was this provision in the law which Mrs. Eddy had used in 1892 to create the Deed of Trust for conveying land for the future Mother Church edifice to a board of four directors. Her lawyers had searched for a state statute which would allow Mrs. Eddy to form the new church on the basis she envisioned.

The 1970 Directors presented "the petition of J. Burough Stokes [Committee on Publication] relative to the members of The Christian Science Board of Directors of The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston Massachusetts." The language of the revision of the law proposed by the Directors was: "Section 1 of Chapter 68 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting at the end of said section the following sentence: 'For purposes of this chapter members of The Christian Science Board of Directors of The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Massachusetts, shall, notwithstanding any other provision of law, be deemed to be citizens of the Commonwealth if they are residents thereof.'" Before this change in the law had been made, Directors had to be American citizens. Mrs. Eddy had made no effort to have this statute revised. There were many able lawyers among her students had she wished to pursue such a change.

The legislation was not well received, and it succeeded only by the effort of a non-Christian Scientist who suggested that it be broadened to benefit all religions. This change of emphasis was made in the arguments on the floor of the legislature, and the bill passed both houses of the state legislature on March




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16, 1971. No announcement was made to Mother Church members, and an "Editor's Note" was quietly added to the bottom of page 130 of the Church Manual to reflect the change in the law.

In the October 4, 1971, issue of Publishers' Weekly in an article entitled "Christian Scientists Seek Extension of Eddy Copyright," the world at large learned of the Board of Directors' plans to seek a copyright extension on Science and Health which would otherwise expire at the end of that year.

The private bill, S. 1866, had been quietly introduced in the U.S. Senate in May of that same year. The proposed law called for a 75 year extension (until the year 2046) on the 1906 copyright. The bill not only would extend the 1906 copyright, but would give a blanket copyright on all other editions of Science and Health, even those which had already entered the public domain.

The bill's number, S. 1866, was no accident and certainly not a prophetic sign of divine favor as some were to suggest. (Christian Science was discovered in 1866 by Mary Baker Eddy.) It received its number through the intervention of Senator Charles Percy of Illinois. In order to obtain this number, other Senate bills had to be renumbered. As a result, private bills S. 1865 and S. 1867, which both pertained to another individual's petition, were artificially separated from each other.

Hearings were held during which the manager of Christian Science Committees on Publication from Boston, a Christian Science Congressman, and other representatives of The Mother Church testified in favor of the bill. The C.O.P. manager stated, "Not a single member of our church has indicated any opposition to the passage of this bill..."117 This was, in fact, true because the members of the church knew nothing about the proposed copyright law.

The bill ran into difficulty in the Senate because of the concern expressed by Senators Jacob Javits of New York and Philip Hart of Michigan. Both expressed their conviction that the proposed copyright extension bill violated the establishment clause of the U.S. Constitution. Senator Javits succeeded in delaying the bill so that the constitutional question could be studied in greater detail. Because of this, on November 20, 1971, the Committee on Publication for New York, Arthur R. Davies, sent the word out to all assistant C.O.P.s telling them to urge New York Christian Scientists, including Sunday school students, to send telegrams to Senator Javits. Thousands of identical telegrams were sent saying, "Please release Bill S. 1866 protecting copyright of Science and Health, our pastor." Senator Javits relented and allowed the bill to come up for a vote before the full Senate. This action by the New York C.O.P. constituted the first inkling in the Christian Science field that any action was being taken.

As soon as the bill passed the Senate and the House of Representatives, it 117 H. R. Committee on the Judiciary, Oct. 27, 1971, p. 10




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went to President Nixon for signing. It contained a rider by Senator Javits warning that the bill was seriously flawed and might eventually be declared unconstitutional. John Ehrlichman and Robert Haldeman, both Christian Scientists, were on the President's staff. They got President Nixon to sign the bill on December 15, 1971, just in time to avoid a "pocket veto" which would have occurred had he failed to sign the bill after the adjournment of the U.S. Congress. The bill became Private Law 92-60. It was only after the introduction of the bill, the hearings, the debate in the Congress, and the signing of the bill into law, that the members of The Mother Church were told about the copyright extension. At the 1972 Annual Meeting, the manager of C.O.P.s stated: "From the beginning it was clear that S. 1866, as it was numbered, was under God's protection..." 118

The Christian Science Journal for 1972 included instructions from the Directors regarding individuals who might be called to address meetings in branch churches. The Directors told such people to accept no more than three such invitations per year and not to speak to the same branch more than once in any year. The Board in the same issue warned that branch churches should not support joint activities which are started by individual Christian Scientists, but only those projects which have their origin in a committee of a duly recognized branch church. The March issue apologized for subscription problems caused by computer problems. The May issue included more instructions about accepting invitations for guest speakers. June repeated the call for funds needed for the Church Center project. The same month it was announced that Director Clayton Bion Craig had visited Australia as part of a new project by the Board to extend contacts and cooperation with Christian Scientists around the world.

The July Journal announced the election of Otto Bertschi of Switzerland to replace the retiring Mr. Craig. The notice stated that Mr. Bertschi was the "first Christian Scientist from overseas to serve on the Board of Directors." No explanation was offered to readers about change in the Massachusetts law which made this choice of a non-citizen possible. The August issue announced that the Journal would soon have a new cover which "will change month by month as will the colors." The October issue described the new travel plans of the Directors in recently visiting Australia, New Zealand, and Hawaii the year before and the plans for Board member, David E. Sleeper, to visit Latin America.

In October, branches were advised: "Before joint activities are established, they should be cleared with the Christian Science Board of Directors or with the department of The Mother Church most directly concerned. A comprehensive report should explain how the committee will be organized and how it will function in relationship to participating branches. It is the policy of the Board

118. C.S. Journal, August 1972, p. 435



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to approve only those committees in which the branches themselves shape the direction and purpose of the specific activity. In other words it wouldn't be appropriate for an individual or a small independent group to mobilize branches behind a certain project. The joint committee's activity must be initiated, supported, and controlled by the participating branches themselves, and not merely endorsed or acquiesced in by branches and individuals within those branches." Christian Scientists who read this edict tried to reconcile it with another Board statement in the April 1963 Journal : "It must be understood, however, that The Mother Church cannot interfere with internal church affairs or with the conduct of the business of its branches."

The final days of the Carpenter Foundation came in 1973. Because all of its operating funds had been exhausted in legal action against Richard Oakes between 1965 and 1971, the trustees were now ready to tum over the Carpenters' collection to The Mother Church. Reginald Kerry of Santa Barbara, California, was instrumental in carrying out the negotiations. The agreement included that The Mother Church would promise to make the Carpenters' collection "ever accessible to qualified students throughout the world." Immediately after signing the agreement, trucks were sent from Boston to take the priceless collection to the Archives of The Mother Church. The property and furnishings at the Carpenter Foundation were sold. The Carpenters' large Victorian mansion, which the Gilbert Carpenter, Sr. had noted was built in 1866, was leveled very soon thereafter.

The Mother Church Archives refused to make the Carpenter material available to students of Christian Science as promised in the agreement. The reason given was that there were inaccuracies and discrepancies in some of the books. As those familiar with the situation were aware, the Carpenters sent a copy of every book to the Mother Church Archives at the time they were published. Therefore, the Directors and the Archivist knew what the books contained before signing the agreement. The excuse that the books contained inaccuracies or discrepancies was disingenuous and dishonest.

The Journals for 1973 contained a number of important items. In January, the Directors stated that the final construction phase had begun at the new Church Center which now was to include the addition of a portico to the St. Paul Street facade of the Extension: "This portico helps fulfill the original architectural concept of the church Extension. The portico is placed where the main entrance was originally meant to be, and it will provide easier and more gracious access to the church auditorium." The architect's model of the Extension at the time of its construction between 1904 and 1906 did not show any features which were not actually constructed. The model of the proposed Church Center pictured in the June 6, 1966, Christian Science Monitor shows a




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proposed arched entrance which was very different from the portico now contemplated. The February Journal included: "The Mother Church reviews by-laws of a potential church before recognizing it as a branch. Whenever these by-laws are revised substantially, the Branches Division welcomes the opportunity to review them again. Feel free to write for a copy of the newly revised "Guidelines for Bylaws." The April issue reported more visits by the Directors to the British Isles and Latin America. The same issue announces a new cover design for the Sentinel beginning on April 7th. The lady with the lamp would be removed from inside the front cover where it had been relegated. The notice admitted that Mrs. Eddy removed the cross and crown seal from the cover, but that did not mean that she meant that it should never be put there. The June issue stated that two of Mrs. Eddy's hymns had been included in the new U.S. Air Force Hymnal. The August issue stated, "For the first time in the history of our church, members of the Christian Science Board of Directors are making tours to all parts of the world where Christian Science is practiced... These trips are intended to strengthen the unity of the Field with The Mother Church, and to enable the visiting Directors to learn firsthand of the opportunities in distant parts of the world to vitalize the healing thrust of our movement."

The September issue announced that the Church Center building fund was officially closed on August 31, 1973, but that the financial needs of The Mother Church are "substantial and urgent." This same issue announced trips by the Directors to the British Isles and to seventeen cities in Europe. The October issue included a Board statement, "The Christian Science Standard of Sexual Morality" and commented about the Healing Goals Meetings: "A current or former member of the Christian Science Board of Directors, or other qualified representative, will be present at each meeting, giving both the opening keynote address and a shorter summary address at the final session and attending other sessions." The December Journal announced that Board member DeWitt John would be making an Asian tour.

The offerings in the 1974 Journals were fewer in number. The January issue announced that the Monitor would no longer be published on Saturdays because of the worldwide paper shortage. The March issue stated that Board member Arthur Wuth had good feelings about his trip to Europe. In May the Directors asked, "Did Mrs. Eddy Write It?" The notice stated that even if an item were authentic, the chances are it was garbled, was reproduced with a suspect motive, and could cast doubt on Mrs. Eddy's judgment. July reported that DeWitt John was traveling through Asia, and the September issue stated that Otto Bertschi's upcoming tour of Africa would end the Directors' series of trips abroad.




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CHAPTER 24 — MENE MENE TEKEL UPHARSIN

The year 1975 marked the centennial observance of the first publication of Science and Health by Mary Baker Eddy. The Christian Science Journals for that year made note of the fact in the January issue and inaugurated a yearlong series of articles about the Christian Science textbook. The March issue included a matter-of-fact announcement that the Pleasant View Home was being closed and that it had "served its purpose as an example to the Field." The same issue also announced a new fund to aid developing areas. April included a major statement from the Directors about the Fund for The Christian Science Monitor. It was admitted that the newspaper's deficit was a serious drain on the church treasury. The principle of the fund was not to be touched, and the interest would be used to help absorb the Monitor's financial losses. In the same issue, the Directors stated that Sunday schools could teach healing, and a report was given of Board member Otto Bertschi's ten week trip through Africa. The June issue announced that all the former residents of the Pleasant View Home were now "happily resituated." The Directors declared in the July issue that no other books should be used in the study of Christian Science except Science and Health. The Directors also announced that a non-profit corporation had been established for the Arden Wood Benevolent Home in California, but that the Chestnut Hill Sanatorium would still be operated by The Mother Church. Norman Beasley recorded: "At the close of April 30, 1955, the yearly operating expenses of the two sanatoriums was $1,319,160. Of this amount, $574,780 was paid by guests. The balance of $744,380 was provided by bequests and gifts from church

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members and by The Mother Church."119 It was understood that these costs to The Mother Church had risen to $1,500,000 by the time of the closing of Pleasant View and the incorporation of Arden Wood. The report of the Annual Meeting in the August issue included: "The building of the Christian Science Center did not produce the economic challenges we faced during the past year." The recession and inflation were cited as the culprits. However a later newspaper account stated that the original contractor's bid, on a cost-plus basis, was $28. 8 million, but the actual final cost was $82. 9 million. 120

The August Journal also contained an article entitled "Mrs. Eddy's Inseparable Relationship to Christian Science." Any article which deals with Mrs. Eddy's place in Bible prophecy is reviewed by the Directors prior to publication. The article stated, "It is sometimes believed that Christian Scientists consider Mrs. Eddy to be the second witness... But this is not so." This turned out to be the beginning of the public repudiation of "Mrs. Eddy's Place" by the Directors. This longstanding position of The Mother Church had been published in 1943 and was reprinted in the periodicals several times over the years. It had also been released in pamphlet form and was sold in Reading Rooms.

The full story of the closing of the Pleasant View Home was never widely reported. In the early 1970s, the decision had apparently been made to sell the facility: "On several occasions the administrator of the home made trips to various cities interviewing applicants [for residency]. He found practitioners who met the requirements in every detail. Their qualifications were verified, their papers processed and forwarded to the administration in Boston — never to be heard of again! .. A more definite indication occurred in the fall of 1975. Management of the home was told by Mother Church officials that appraisers from the city of Concord were coming to Pleasant View, and the staff were requested to extend every courtesy to them." Next one of the Directors came to Pleasant View to break the news to the residents: "The Church Center in Boston cost more than anticipated, and Pleasant View will have to be sold." After numerous delays, interviewers went to the home to interview the residents for resettlement. After the last residents left in January 1976, a decorator was hired to price and tag all of the furnishings and objects d'art. She was promised 10% of the sales. "The staff was appalled at the bargain-sale atmosphere that went on before the doors were opened. Towns-people and out-of-state professional dealers 'literally pushed, shoved and even fought for position.' Most of the staff couldn't bear to watch this animalistic circus and retired to the kitchen. There,

119. Beasley, The Continuing Spirit, p. 255
120. Boston Globe, March 12, 1978



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one of them told me, were two men who had worked at the Home for many years. Now they sat with tears pouring down their cheeks. One said aloud, to. no one in particular, 'I never thought I would sit here and witness the rape of Pleasant View.'... After Pleasant View was vacated, a local, impartial appraisement of the home and acreage was made. The appraisal was close to $10,000,000. For some unexplainable reason the Board of Directors of the Christian Science Church negotiated the sale of the property for $4,500,000! They also stipulated that the property would never be used as a medical facility. Suddenly, this stipulation was removed by the same Church Board and the entire property was sold for a little over $2,000,000! It is now a medical facility — a New Hampshire home of the insane." 121

This property was Mrs. Eddy's residence from 1891 until 1908 when she went to Boston for what was planned as a temporary relocation while her home was remodeled. The Pleasant View estate included the pond mentioned in her article, "Pond and Purpose" in Miscellaneous Writings and was, to Mrs. Eddy, "the dearest spot on earth..."122 Some years later, the property was sold to a developer who turned it back into a privately run retirement home. In the space of a few years it went from a Christian Science care facility to a state-run insane asylum to a private business with a festive atmosphere. The Manchester [N.H.]Union-Leader of March 23, 1993, ran a story headlined, "Pleasant View Residents Celebrate St. Pat's Day." The article highlighted the upcoming community concert series, information regarding the parish musical, "Immaculate Heart of Mary", a jazz concert, and a film about the Cocos Islands in the Indian Ocean.

In another case involving property, Mary Lincoln Beckwith died in Vermont in December 1975 leaving her entire estate to The Mother Church: "Officials of the Christian Science Church have told local officials they will not retain a 412 acre estate they received from a descendant of Abraham Lincoln. The estate known as Hildene, was built around the turn of the century by Robert Todd Lincoln, the son of the 16th president. Hildene was left to the church in the will of Mary Lincoln Beckwith, who died last year. She asked that the estate be left as a memorial to her mother and grandparents, Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln. Mrs. Beckwith also left the church $425,000. Church officials have given local residents 90 days to take steps to buy the estate before the church begins seeking other interested buyers. "The officials told a meeting of local residents they want to sell the entire estate, which has a local appraised value of $612,000. Church development

121. Young, M.B.E. — Her "Pleasant View" and Infinite Vision, pp. 6-8
122. Eddy, Science and Health, p. 58: 21-22



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consultant Carl Rechner said the property was given to the church by Mrs. Beckwith for the advancement of the Christian Science religion. He said it is the regular policy of the church to dispose of such property at market value and use the funds for the advancement of the religion. Local residents decided to form a committee to see how the property might be purchased."123 In all cases involving large bequests, the terms are usually agreed to by both parties well in advance of the individual's demise. Even if the designated recipient is not legally bound to follow all of the donor's wishes, it is usually expected that they will make every effort to do so. The disposition of the Lincoln estate, contrary to the wishes of Mrs. Beckwith, would certainly seem to be a clear breach of faith by the Board of Directors.

The financial difficulties and the cash flow problems would soon seem small. The Board of Directors had asked Reginald G. Kerry to conduct a security survey for the new Church Center in 1973 after he had successfully negotiated the settlement with the Carpenter Foundation and done some other projects on their behalf. Mr. Kerry was a former police and fire commission member from California who had come into Christian Science as the result of a dramatic healing when he was eighteen years old. After arriving in Boston to conduct the survey, he soon saw that security was a minor problem compared to what he witnessed all over the Church Center. The Directors were isolated and did not listen to anyone. There was no upward communication from the employees, and there was no rapport between them and the Board. Morale was very low. He was told about gross immorality, unethical conduct, and financial mismanagement. His concern grew, and he approached the Directors individually to discuss what he saw and to urge action. The more he pressed the point, the more cool the reception he received until he decided to issue an ultimatum to the Board: Either they start to clean up the mess, or he would send a letter to the Christian Science field laying out the problems with stark frankness. He met one last time with four of the Board members on Monday, December 8, 1975, in a final effort to convince them to do something about the rampant problems: "At one point in the meeting, when the chairman was speaking, Kerry said, 'Let me interrupt you at this point. The statement you have just made is not correct.' At this, another member flared up and said, 'Don't you ever interrupt the Chairman of the Board of Directors!' With that Kerry went across the Board table and hit the table in front of the man with his fist, telling that Director that if he opened his mouth again he would be in serious trouble. The Director turned pale and from then on did not speak... He told them that if they were planning to harm him, he had ways of retaliating. He had no fear of them. He would play the game anyway they wanted to play it. He informed them that he had notified the Attorney

123. Columbus [Ohio]Dispatch, August 22, 1976



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General in both Massachusetts and New Hampshire that, in the event of his unusual demise, not only would his death be subject to a Grand Jury investigation, but all of the finances of The Mother Church for the past ten years would be investigated. In addition to this, the hard evidence he had would go to the newspapers. On hearing this, one Board member said, 'It looks to me like we better pray to keep you alive."124 Never before had the Board faced this kind of tenacity and fearlessness. Mr. Kerry met with a Board representative the next day and announced that the letter would go out that Thursday if the Board did not act. The Directors gave no sign of moving, and 6000 copies of the letter were mailed on December 11, 1975.

The letter covered eight legal-size pages and was addressed to all Journal listed practitioners and the boards of every branch church. It began: "I am writing to you as a loyal Christian Scientist who feels a great concern for the future of our Cause. During the past three years I have worked in various capacities at the Church. Center in Boston, including being responsible for conducting a comprehensive security survey. This work has brought me in direct contact with the actual conditions of things, both here at Headquarters and throughout the Field... This deep concern is based on the many serious problems here at Headquarters that are hidden, for the most part, from the Field... The statistics showing the decline of our membership and the closing of branch churches are alarming... The decline in practitioners in the Field is such that we have less than half the number we had twenty years ago... While the detailed information on the financial dealings of the Church are not generally available to me, I am very familiar with the conditions in the Treasurer's office. Here there is nothing but gross mismanagement, inexperience and lack of Christian ethics... The prosperity of our Cause is dependent on the selfless devotion of our practitioners to this healing work. Yet, many of our most loyal practitioners, some of thirty and forty years experience, have received abusive and threatening letters from the head of the Practitioners Division... These problems, — the financial deterioration and gross mismanagement of funds, and the abuse of our practitioners, — are further complicated by the immorality found at all levels here. There has been a complete breakdown in the moral standards that the Field expects of those involved in the work here. Immorality has been so aggressive at the Benevolent Association that it can no longer be hidden... I have found that the Board of Directors seems unable to take decisive action on many important matters pertinent to the good of the Center and the Cause... The members of The Mother Church can fulfill their duty to the Church by bringing pressure to bear on the Board of Directors to see that these wrongs are corrected...Quotations, names, dates and places will be included in Letter No. 2..."

124. Beals, Crisis in the Christian Science Church, p. 12



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CHAPTER 25 — DAMAGE CONTROL

The Directors countered the Kerry letter with their own just four days later on December 15, 1975. The Directors sent their letter by first class mail with the hope that theirs would reach branch churches and practitioners before Kerry's letter which had been mailed at the slower bulk rate. The Board wrote, "From time to time Christian Scientists who may or may not be members of The Mother Church circularize practitioners and branch churches with letters setting forth their personal views, grievances, or prescriptions for our movement. Sometimes such individuals base their concern on mistakes in their facts or assumptions... We have received word that a lengthy letter is now being widely circulated to practitioners and branch executive boards. This letter is an unusually detailed attack on The Mother Church and the movement... This present-day attack comes in the guise of a helpful call to face dire and gloomy 'facts' ... It may be that you will receive inquiries about this situation. If you do, please quiet thought through loving reassurance and metaphysical work..."

Now that the Directors realized that Reginald Kerry meant to follow through on his intention to inform the Christian Science field, they agreed to meet with him on January 29, 1976, for the purpose of writing a joint letter to assure the field that problems at the Church Center were being corrected. They also agreed that neither Kerry nor the Directors would send out any more letters until after their meeting on January 29th.

Instead, the Directors sent out a detailed, fifteen-page letter on January 23rd denying every charge by Mr. Kerry and accusing him of dishonesty: "We are taking the unusual step of writing to you once again in the space of just a few




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weeks, partly because of the particular character of the recent attack on The Mother Church. As we mentioned in an earlier letter, this critical communication by a dissident individual signed R.G.K. came in the guise of airing for the first time errors that needed correction...In order to make very sure that there was no uncorrected situation which could embarrass The Mother Church, and even though no substantial evidence of wrongdoing was forthcoming from the critical letter writer, an investigative task force was immediately convened as soon as these vague charges were circulated in letter form to the Field. A preliminary report was given to our Board by this task force on January 15. In spite of intensive investigation no evidence of any widespread wrongdoing has thus far been uncovered..."

The second Kerry letter went out to the Christian Science field on March 24, 1976, to an even larger mailing list. He referred to the Directors letter of January 23rd as a Pearl Harbor sneak attack because they sent out their second letter after agreeing to wait until after their planned meeting of the 29th. This new seventy-page Kerry letter hit even harder than the first one: "Disappointingly, but not unpredictably, the Christian Science Board of Directors reacted to the statements in Letter No. 1 exactly as did former President Richard Nixon when confronted with charges of wrong-doing by himself and by members of his administration. He hid behind the dignity of his office, the great respect that Americans everywhere have for the office of President of the United States. He denied all wrong-doing. He attempted a 'cover-up' and a whitewash.' He attacked the motives and character of those who had raised the charges. He twisted the truth, told half-truths, and downright lies. Finally he resigned in disfavor... Please write or wire the Board of Directors immediately and demand a fair and impartial investigation by qualified experts of all of the statements in both of my letters ... And if 'Letter No. 3' is needed, it will pull no punches but will definitely include names, dates, and specific events and files. There definitely will be a Letter No. 3 if the Board of Directors reacts to this letter in the same vein as they reacted to Letter No. 1 — with evasions of the truth, lies, and defamation of my character." Among other things, the letter brought up the subject of the change in the Church Manual allowing a non-citizen to be a Director. The Kerry letter ended with a copy of a letter from the Board dated March 9th threatening him with excommunication if he persisted in sending out letters.

By now the exchange of letters had spilled over into the mainstream press.

Articles appeared in the March 15th issue of Time Magazine and in the June 21st issue of Newsweek as well as major newspapers. Previous crises in the Christian Science church had been low key affairs which were kept inside the church family. Now it made the national news much to the chagrin of some




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Christian Scientists who preferred a dignified and proper facade before critical public opinion. The Board of Directors countered Kerry Letter No. 2 with their own response dated April 30th: "We are writing at this time to comment briefly on the continuing letter campaign by Reginald G. Kerry (who has now been removed from membership in The Mother Church)... Your Board feels that no real purpose can be served by commenting in detail on this continuing stream of misrepresentations, half-truths, and untruths... Naturally, many Christian Scientists in the Field would not be in a position to know all the facts which could clear up each innuendo as it is brought forward." Then the Directors brought up their often used spectre which they employed against opponents: "Underlying the present appeal is the inescapable question: Shall there be a basic change in the form of government which Mary Baker Eddy, under Mind's directing, chose for her Church?" The Board also attempted to answer the charge that they, themselves, had changed the Church Manual by inserting the footnote on page 130 regarding the substitution of "resident" for "citizen" which allowed non-citizens to serve as a Director. No admission was made that they had initiated the change.

Just two weeks later on May 14, 1976, the Board released a letter signed by five teachers of the Normal class. The letter purported to be the results of an investigation which these teachers had conducted at the Church Center. The letter stated: "Nearly 100 years later, in May of 1971, the legal restriction of State citizenship in Massachusetts was voluntarily removed by the Legislature, and the Editor's Note of this fact was added on page 130 of the Church Manual, purely to acquaint the reader of the removal of this legal restriction." Again, there was no admission that the Directors, themselves, had sought the change in the law. The letter from the teachers continued: "We regard as utterly without basis the insinuations that have been printed about these faithful workers [the Directors]... Beyond this, we have reached the conclusion that a cruel, massive hoax has been imposed upon the Field by the irresponsible letters that have been circulated... In regard to the management of the various departments, we find no reason to do other than appreciate the service they perform day after day..."

Observers at the time noted that the average age of the teachers was 85 years. The thought that these respected individuals actually conducted a thorough investigation was well beyond credibility, but many Christian Scientists were eager or even desperate to dismiss the charges from thought. For a time, it appeared that the Directors had gained the upper hand, but then, Kerry Letter No. 3 was mailed on October 6, 1976. As he had promised in his previous letter, names were named. It began by branding the letter from the Normal class teachers as a cruel, massive hoax. It labeled the Annual Meeting as a sham because the Directors only answered questions submitted in advance in writing.




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It exposed the behind-the-scenes manipulation by the Directors to change the Massachusetts law permitting non-citizens onto the Board. Finally, it named individuals and their misconduct in detail. It told of a meeting Mr. Kerry had with James Coleman, a Christian Scientist and lawyer from New Orleans, who threatened him with litigation, excommunication, and jail if he persisted in sending out letters. It included letters from individuals in Boston and the field who confirmed what Kerry was saying. The letter urged church members to write to the Board of Directors and demand a real investigation of the charges he had made. Now that names had been given and misconduct specified, — and all of it sent through the United States mail, — people waited to see if libel charges would be filed against Reginald Kerry. None were ever received by any court and no subpoenas were ever issued. For the moment, Christian Scientists were left to sort out what they had read and decide for themselves what to believe.

The Christian Science Journal for 1976 was sedate compared to the swirling charges appearing in mailboxes and in the press. The January issue invited all Mother Church members to the Annual Meeting in June and also stated that advertising in the Monitor does not imply Mother Church endorsement. The February issue gave reasons why people should seek class instruction and gave a complete list of authorized teachers. An Indonesian edition of Science and Health was announced along with the soon-to-appear Japanese edition of the textbook. The May Journal notified the field of extensive renovations at the sanatoriums at Chestnut Hill and Arden Wood. In July the Japanese edition of the Quarter ly was announced. The October issue included the first acknowledgement of the Kerry letters by denying that the Church Manual had been changed but admitted, five years after the fact, that the Directors had initiated the change in the Massachusetts law regulating who may serve on the Board of Directors. The November issue explained why the publisher's notice on the title page of Mrs. Eddy's books had been changed from "Published by the Trustees under the Will of Mary Baker Eddy, Boston, U.S.A." to "Published by The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A."

Another controversy had been brewing in Plainfield, New Jersey. In 1975, a ·group of members of First Church, Plainfield, tried to gain control of this branch. They were pupils of recent Board member Arthur P. Wuth and New Jersey Committee on Publication, C. Earle Armstrong. The effort failed, and the disaffected members initiated a secret write-in campaign to get one of the church's listed practitioners, Doris Evans, removed from the Journal. �n fact, Mrs. Evans' listing of fourteen years was subsequently removed as a result of these efforts. This same group of local members continued their letter writing campaign to Boston and succeeded in getting Stephen Evans' Journal-listing taken out. When it was discovered that one of the individuals who initiated this




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campaign was on the local board of trustees, the other members of the board voted to remove him from his position in May of 1975. The expelled board member, a pupil of Arthur P. Wuth, stated that the church "would be taken care of by Boston." What followed was a long series of letters from the manager of the Department of Branches and Practitioners questioning this disciplinary action against the former board member. Local members felt that this intervention by a Mother Church officer in the affairs of a branch church was in direct violation of Article XI, Section 13 of the Church Manual. However, in an effort to satisfy the manager's objections, the Plainfield church held a meeting of the entire membership in October of 1975 to either ratify or overturn their local board's decision. After a thorough airing of both sides of the issue, the members voted 52 to 35 to sustain their board and remove the individual from his position. These results were forwarded to Boston, and the case was laid to rest.

When the first Kerry letter went out to the Christian Science field in December of 1975, First Church, Plainfield, sent a letter with a with a series of questions to the Board of Directors in Boston asking about the allegations made by Mr. Kerry. In response, the Board ignored the questions and wrote on January 27, 1976: "For more than a year, this Board has received reports of a very troubling nature concerning the conduct of the affairs of First Church, Plainfield. Through our Department of Branches and Practitioners, we have been in touch with you about certain inadequacies of your by-laws and their application, with the hope that you would bring the government of your branch into closer harmony with the spirit and the letter of Christian Science."

After a series of letters, a meeting was arranged between representatives of the Christian Science Board of Directors and members of the Plainfield church. In a letter on April 27, 1976, the Directors insisted that the discussions not include the removal of Doris and Stephen Evans from the Journal or any of the allegations in the Kerry letters. In spite of the meeting held on May 27th, relations continued to simmer.

Unknown to the Directors at the time, Kerry Letters No. 2 and 3 had been printed in Plainfield by a member of the local church. There was a keen sense of indignation in the local branch because of the highhanded treatment the church had received from the Directors in Boston. The bulk rate mailing permit for the second Kerry letter came from Woodbridge, New Jersey, and the mailing permit for the third letter clearly showed Plainfield in the permit information on the envelope.

When these facts were finally confirmed in Boston, a letter dated April 25, 1977, demanded that a general membership meeting be called at which the members were instructed to pledge their loyalty to the Board of Directors, remove the local board of trustees, and elect new ones who would pledge loyalty




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to the Directors. A meeting of the members was held on May 17th, and the vote was 67 to zero to keep the current trustees. In a letter dated June 16, 1977, the Christian Science Board of Directors announced their decision to withdraw recognition of First Church of Christ, Scientist, Plainfield, New Jersey, and remove their card from the Journal. No doubt remembering their success in shutting down Third Church in Akron, Ohio, in 1955, they also warned that they could no longer refer to themselves as a "Christian Science church." The Internal Revenue Service, the tax departments of the State of New Jersey, and the City of Plainfield were advised by The Mother Church legal department that they should consider withdrawing Plainfield's tax exempt status. In addition, Boston refused to sell any books or literature to the Plainfield church. The church refused to shut down, and individual members went to Reading Rooms throughout New Jersey to buy Quarterlies for their church services.

After the first two Kerry letters were sent out, a new ad hoc organization was formed called "United Christian Scientists, Inc." Their first bulletin, carrying a New York City post office box address, stated: "Because of the very serious nature of the situation in Boston, Christian Scientists have formed a committee called 'United Christian Scientists, Inc.' This committee will act as a communication center through which concerned Christian Scientists can be kept informed of the latest developments taking place at the Christian Science Center and through the Field. In this way, we can share all you are doing to save Mrs. Eddy's Movement."




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CHAPTER 26 — RENDING THE TEMPLE VEIL

The Christian Science Journal for 1977 is noteworthy because of the need which the Directors felt to explain things to the field. The January issue included a detailed explanation of Mrs. Eddy's trust under her will and how it is managed. The same issue also included questions and answers by the Clerk regarding the relationship between Boston and the branch churches. The advice seemed schizophrenic to many who contemplated the sixty-seven year Board policy of micromanaging the branches and the ongoing discipline of the Plainfield church: "The relation of The Mother Church to the branches is close and dear. The avenues of communication in both directions ought to be kept open and made use of liberally, freely. However we do recognize the hazard of too much dependence on The Mother Church, and too little effort on the part of the branch — perhaps we should say too little confidence — to feel and follow the guidance of divine Mind... [Mother Church] policies and precedents are being gradually reduced in number in our confidence that branch churches are best left free to grow and develop in response to their own reflected wisdom... "

The February issue announced the results of the 1976 Normal class with Arthur P. Wuth as teacher. A complete list of teachers was included along with the traditional urging that Christian Scientists consider taking class instruction.

The March Journal gave reasons why the full text edition was unwise. It was said that such a move would separate the sermon from the pastor and separate the student from his textbooks, the Bible and Science and Health. The May issue answered complaints about the new Quarterly format. June described




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the history of the Archives and stated that over 20,000 letters written by Mrs. Eddy were now on file. It was also announced that it was all right to photocopy articles from the Christian Science periodicals. This was a break with the past when pencil and paper were not even permitted in a Reading Room for fear that someone would miscopy something. The July issue announced perimeter development around the new Church Center which involved the selling of some land. The August Journal was noteworthy because, for the first time, the Directors admitted publicly at the Annual Meeting that not all was well. The influence of the Kerry letters was evident: "We've taken a look today at the operations of The Mother Church. We've considered the state of the Christian Science movement itself. Our speakers have been candid. They've also told us of problems and unresolved challenges. They've certainly made us aware there's work to do: the gradual decline in church membership and Sunday School attendance, sliding subscriptions to our periodicals, the fact that as a religious movement we're not having nearly the impact on public thought we ought to have..."

The September issue announced the retirement of Otto Bertschi, the lone non-citizen on the Board. His departure after five years seemed in the minds of many tied to the controversy over the Board initiated change in the Massachusetts law and the subsequent alteration of the Church Manual on page 130. Harvey Wood took Mr. Bertschi's place on the Board. The November issue reprinted a March 1929 statement concerning the alleged use of anesthetics by Mrs. Eddy. This same issue flatly stated that Mrs. Eddy "saw and gave her handwritten approval to the proof sheets of the 89th edition contain this [addition of 'and branch churches' to pages 120 and 127] and several other small changes..." The discrepancies involved in its issuance were not discussed nor were copies of the proof sheets with her handwritten approval illustrated in the article. The December issue announced the publication of the final volume of a three part biography by Robert Peel entitled, Mary Baker Eddy: The Years of Authority. This new volume was remarkable because of the demeaning and condescending attitude toward Mrs. Eddy and other early workers. The sanctioning of this book constituted another public step in the gradual repudiation of "Mrs. Eddy's Place" adopted by the Board in 1943. This same month branch church officers were reminded that they were not duty bound nor was it necessary to share "dissident letters" with the membership, and, it was implied that they should not do so. The same issue suggested that the use of teaching aids in Sunday school be done with caution.

During the early to mid- l 970s, representatives of The Mother Church visited major Reading Rooms around the country advising the librarians about how they could make them more inviting to strangers. One unvarying recommendation




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was that Mrs. Eddy's portrait be removed and replaced with a photograph of the new Church Center.

This just completed construction project was proving to be a major source of embarrassment to the Directors. Reginald Kerry's third letter included: "I am not the only one who has questioned the cost of the new Center. A very successful lawyer and devoted Christian Scientist came to Boston after the Center was built and was concerned about many unusual things he saw going on. He visited the nearby Prudential Center and learned the name of the contractor who had built it. His wife went to this contractor and asked why he had not bid on the Christian Science Center. The contractor said he wanted to bid on the Christian Science Center and had looked at the plans, but was told that he couldn't bid because the Church was going to do the subcontracting themselves... "The contractor for the Prudential Center told the Church that he would give the Church a firm bid not to. exceed thirty million dollars. He had built the Prudential Center for twenty-five million and fulfilled his contract; this included a 52 .story office building, underground parking, and a large complex of stores. The building of the Church Center with its 26 story Administration Building, parking for five hundred cars, portico, Sunday School building, and Colonnade cost over eighty million. Why? "Since it is our money that built the Center, we are entitled to a thorough. investigation as to why the cost of the Center was so out of line."

Reginald Kerry sent out his fourth letter on September 10, 1977. This letter was noteworthy because it included letters from people who had worked at the Church Center and could confirm much of the information he was sending out to the Christian Science field. One from a retired admiral stated: "It has become increasingly evident to me that Mr. Kerry's accusations are approximately 95% accurate, the remaining 5% inaccuracies are of minor significance. I have been in touch with top professional men in the Field who are loyal class taught members of TMC. From their observations of the C.S.B.D., C.O.P., and the Monitor, the real truth is beginning to shine through the gross cover-up; just as it did in our Nation's capitol in 1974 [with the Watergate investigation]..."

After Mr. Kerry sent out his third letter, he went to Switzerland where he met with the Committee on Publication of that country which is known for its international banking and anonymous, numbered accounts. The C.O.P. hand.ed Mr. Kerry a blank check and told him he could fill in any amount he wanted if he would cease and desist sending any more letters. He told Mr. Kerry that money was no problem. "They" had lots of money. Moreover he would not have to sign any agreement as the church knew he was a man of his word. If he




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accepted their offer, they were certain he would abide by the agreement. He could name his price. Mr. Kerry handed back the blank check and told the C.O.P. that he was not interested in money and that he was not sending the letters for personal gain. He only wanted to see Mrs. Eddy's Christian Science to go forward, and the church could not buy him at any price.

Rosalind and Maurice Pickett, two Christian Scientists from Indianapolis, Indiana, had written a paper entitled "The Boston Situation" which was offered in Kerry Letter No. 4. The Directors hoped to nip this new outbreak of independent expression by inviting the Picketts to Boston. In the course of their meeting, one of the Directors blurted out that the only reason medical supplies were stored in the basement of The Mother Church was because the building had been designated by the government as a fallout shelter in case of nuclear attack. The Picketts were nonplused because they knew nothing about it. The meeting did not stop their activity.

The Journals for 1978 reflected the pressure of the Kerry letters. Word was getting out about the Carpenter Foundation's collection and the promise that it would be made available to qualified students. In January an article, "The Archives and Mrs. Eddy's Purpose," stated that it is not proper to use reminiscences and memoirs as teaching tools and that many of them reflect faulty memory or a limited perspective. Readers were told that the material in the Archives was never meant to be used as a resource for "advanced" metaphysical study.

In the same January issue appeared, "New directory format postponed indefinitely." A letter sent to branches and practitioners in July of 1977, announced the plan to group church and practitioner listings geographically by town or city. When the project got underway, it became clear that this new grouping would reveal just how decimated the Christian Science field really was. Large numbers of branches would not have a single practitioner identified with them. The plan was dropped with these words, "...because of escalating costs and to avoid a possible increase in rates for a few advertisers, this merging of functions is not being completed at this time. However, you will notice within a few months, a fresh, more readable appearance to the Directory." The new format turned out to be greatly enlarged type with more spaces between listings to disguise the dramatic drop in the number of practitioners and churches listed.

The February issue included direct comment on the latest Kerry letter in a notice entitled "Chemicalization and Progress in Our Church" which declared that dissident letters were "clamoring for unprincipled change." In this same issue branches were invited to send for guidelines for their church by-laws. These were noteworthy in the requirement that disbanding branches agree to send all of their remaining cash assets to Boston.




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March included included a question and answer: "May a nation's flag be displayed in a branch church or society? The individual branch church is in the best position to decide whether a national flag is appropriate. It is suggested that if a flag is displayed, it be kept in a foyer or a similar area rather than on the platform or in the main auditorium. The Mother Church does not display a national flag in its own edifice or in the Sunday School because The Mother Church is a worldwide organization serving all peoples and nations." The July 1942 Journal approved the display of the American flag in church auditoriums or at entrances to rooms in which services are held.

The April issue announced that future Journals would have saddle binding with staples rather than the traditional library binding which could be used for grouping each year's periodicals in bound volumes. The Mangels Fund for assistance to small branch churches was announced. This had been specifically mentioned in the Kerry letters and was little known in the field until he wrote about it. The May 1978 issue of the Journal included "Truth-telling About Current Lies." This was an effort to deny that The Mother Church was going bankrupt, that the church was being kept alive by income from bequests and legacies. It was also denied that branch churches were severing their ties with Boston and that the church was disintegrating into opposing factions. The August issue announced a new First Reader for The Mother Church. The former First Reader who was retiring in the middle of her term had proved controversial by correcting the Second Reader loudly in the middle of the church service. September urged people to contribute to the Fund for The Christian Science Monitor. October announced the Normal class for 1979 and offered advice for First Readers in branch churches with "How do you choose topics for a Wednesday meeting?"




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CHAPTER 27 — MORE UNRAVELING

Kerry Letter No. 5 came out in November of 1978. It began with a list of Mother Church officers and top employees charged with misdeeds who had resigned or been phased out since his first letter had been published in December of 1975. This new letter continued with exposure of corruption in the organization but also went on to present to the Christian Science field the broader issues which underlay the surface problems. The first of these issues was that the Board of Directors is not Mrs. Eddy's successor and should not have assumed a sense of infallibility and total control over the Christian Science field. The second, dealt with the Board's attempt to destroy Mrs. Eddy's place as Discoverer, Founder, and Leader. A review of Robert Peel's new book, Mary Baker Eddy: The Years ofAuthority, detailed its demeaning references to Mrs. Eddy. The third issue was the illegal change in the Church Manual permitting non-citizens to serve on the Board of Directors. The fourth issue discussed fiscal irresponsibility. The fifth challenged the creation of "authorized literature" and the Archives and the fact that Mrs. Eddy's never approved either. Finally the last issue discussed the immorality and the demand in the field that the mess be cleaned up. Individuals in the field, who were writing about specific problems in the church and their solutions, were listed with their addresses. One of those named was Alan Young who, besides his acting career, had been a Journal-listed practitioner and lecturer. He had been interviewed by Marcy Babbitt, a practitioner from New York City, for a book she was writing entitled, Living Christian Science: Fifteen Lives. After Mr. Young resigned as Manager of the Film and Broadcasting Departmen� and had fallen into disfavor with the




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Directors, Mrs. Babbitt was advised by them to delete his biography from her 1975 book. So the title was changed to Living Christian Science: Fourteen Lives to reflect Alan Young's new status as a non-person in Boston.

The Christian Science Journal notices for 1979 ceased to answer specific charges from Reginald Kerry or others. The January issue answered the question,"Has the tabloid size affected the Monitor's prestige?" The answer was "no", but the fact that no other major newspaper ever joined in this move was not discussed. The February issue stated the value of class instruction and gave a list of all authorized teachers. The March issue complained that there were too many special meetings in branch churches. The April issue continued the discussion and said that churches should be dedicated to essentials. The fear that special meetings might encourage members to discuss problems in the Christian Science movement was not stated, but it was an obvious concern in Boston. The May issue included a major statement from the Directors which argued against large scale broadcasting as a church activity, but left the door open for "specific broadcast opportunities as seem spiritually right..." July included guidelines for practitioner charges and noted the availability of Field Assistants who could be invited to speak to branch churches about challenges they might be facing. The notice failed to include that these Mother Church representatives wrote a complete report to Boston telling of the conditions they found and naming individuals whose attitudes might be of concern to the Directors. The Mother Church kept files on such members. The August issue included the report of the Annual Meeting with a further clarification about broadcasting: "Our decision leaves the door open to use of the broadcast media to serve our Cause, but not as a means to 'save' the Cause of Truth!" The October issue announced the establishment of a trusteeship for the Chestnut Hill Benevolent Association. This was a financial move to stop the continual drain on the church treasury, but also constituted a way to distance the Directors from the corruption charges directed at the B.A. through the Kerry letters. November included a Board statement on the importance of Christian Science nursing, and December stated that college students wishing to start an organization should submit their by-laws for approval.

The Christian Science Monitor for December 7, 1979, ran an editorial entitled "Parents and Christian Science." It was a specific answer to the Phil Donahue Show on national television the previous week. The program had hosted former-Christian Scientists, Rita and Douglas Swan, whose infant son had died in Michigan in 1977 while under Christian Science treatment. The couple blamed the religion, The Mother Church, and the practitioners. They also charged that they had been coerced into not seeking medical treatment for their son and, so, they were suing The Mother Church and the practitioners




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involved. Mrs. Swan failed to note on the program that she had sought medical treatment and undergone surgery for herself while a Christian Scientist and had remained in good standing in the church. The Monitor accurately labeled the emotional TV program "trial-by-talk-show" and noted that during the same year that the Swans' child had died, over 700 other children under the age of four had died of the same disease while under medical treatment. Besides the anguish felt for the loss of the child and the impending court action, this case disturbed many Christian Scientists because of the recent media focus resulting from the Kerry letters.

The year 1979 marked the publication of Mary Baker Eddy, The Prophetic and Historical Perspective by Paul R. Smillie of Dallas, Texas. In the Preface to this privately printed and distributed book, the author states, "This book is written for and dedicated to those who love the Cause of Christian Science and who have a deep and abiding gratitude for their Leader. However, the recognition of her proper place and position in relation to the Christian Science Movement has been almost lost. Is it not interesting therefore that the Christian Science Movement, paralleling this loss, is fast approaching the point of extinction?... "The current tendency of liberal theologians of all denominations, is to 'demyth,' the word they use, the virgin birth, the demonstrations and healing work of our Lord, the resurrection and ascension, tbe parting of the Red Sea, the works of Elijah and Elisha and more, and attempt to give human explanations for those events or call them mythical, hence the need to 'demyth.' Collectively, they resolve to minimize the examples of great men and women of God, so unlike themselves. They work to diminish the importance of these men and women and their great redemptive work for the race." 125

The year 1980 was notable for court action initiated by The Mother Church on July 21st against First Church in Plainfield, New Jersey. When this branch did not wither away and disband after it was delisted in 1977, the Directors decided to prevent it from using the words "Christian Science" to identify itself. This action was thought to have a secondary purpose of destroying the financial base of the church through costly legal expenses. On July 24th, over two hundred registered letters (return receipt requested) were sent out to Mother Church members whom Boston suspected might also be members of the Plainfield church. The letters demanded that these individuals decide by September 15th to which church they wished to belong. Many recipients of the notice were not Plainfield members at all and were disturbed by the implications of the letter. The court proceedings were to drag on for several years.

The Journals for 1980 demonstrated that the Directors had regained their self confidence after the recurring waves of the Kerry letters. The February issue

125. Smillie, Mary Baker Eddy, The Prophetic and Historical Perspective, p. iii 149

included the usual notice about the preceding December's Normal class and urged Mother Church members to consider class instruction. The March issue ran a major statement from the Directors, "Science and Health: Its Pure and Complete Teaching," which stated, "Those self-appointed teachers and writers who have repudiated church organization but claim to present a more 'advanced' interpretation of Science and Health have sadly failed to grasp the significance of Mrs. Eddy's leadership and of her own plain words..." The article then quotes Mrs. Eddy's answer as to whether Science and Health is a complete textbook of Christian Science on page 50 of Miscellaneous Writings. Many of the writers referred to did not claim to teach a more advanced interpretation, but rather claimed the freedom to write without prior approval of the Directors. The April issue included another major statement, "The Christianly Scientific System of Ethics" for practitioners which stressed confidentiality of communications, no personal advice, no medicine, and no diagnosis of disease.

The June issue contained another Board sanctioned attack on Mrs. Eddy's place in Bible prophecy entitled, "Mary Baker Eddy: fulfiller of prophecy." Interestingly, the title contradicts the substance of the article which included: "The simple fact is, no one before Mrs. Eddy's time discovered the Christ Science — and no one after her had to. Presumably, if another could have, that person would have."126 Clearly the Directors no longer believed that Mrs. Eddy was "God-appointed and God-annointed".

The report of the Annual Meeting in the August issue refers to libelous, dissident gossip letters and notes "the argument of a tiny but noisy group" which has recently said that Mrs. Eddy meant the Church Manual to become obsolete and The Mother Church dissolved when she passed on. The services of the Field Assistants for talks at struggling branch churches was announced again. The September issue noted that the King James Bible was the only one to be used for services or in the Sunday schools. The October issue urged branch churches to keep joint activities in perspective and laid down guidelines.

Also in 1980, the Directors copyrighted all unpublished material of Mrs. Eddy including letters to church members and officers. The Registration Number was TX-U54202 and constituted total control over every aspect of Mrs. Eddy's life work.

The Monitor and its hidden agenda surfaced again in 1980. Even though Erwin Canham had retired from the editorship in 1964, the tilt toward one world government continued on the newspaper's staff. The 1980 U.S. presidential election touched on sensitive subjects when Republican candidate, Ronald Reagan, brought up the behind-the-scenes influence of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Trilateral Commission on government policy. The C.F.R.

126. Christian Science Journal, June 1980, p. 291



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concerned itself with the political solutions which would pave the way to internationalism while the Trilateral Commission focused on the banking and financial aspects of a unified, global economy. David Rockefeller was prominent in both organizations, and he had founded the Trilateral Commission. The Monitor ran an editorial defending the Trilateral Commission in the March 12th issue and an opinion piece by David Rockefeller in the March 20th issue. The next month, on April 17th, the Monitor ran two full pages on David Rockefeller's Trilateral Commission. Interestingly a 1978 book, Trilaterals Over Washington, by Professor Antony Sutton, a former research fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution, states, "...the Christian Science Monitor appears to act as an unofficial Trilateralist mouthpiece. Editorial policy is dismal globalism and domestic socialism." 127

Reginald Kerry had not issued a letter in 1979, and some hoped that he had run out of steam. But the year 1980 saw the mass mailing of Letter No. 6. By now the Board of Directors was taking these blows in stride. The Christian Science field was, nevertheless, stirred to its depths. Some branch church Clerks dutifully destroyed the Kerry letters without opening them, while other Christian Scientists agonized over the tyranny and corruption they saw. Many felt they were witnessing the demise of Christian Science.

In May of 1980, Ann Beals started The Bookmark in Pasadena, California. This new mail order company stated in its first catalog, "The purpose of The Bookmark is to bring you classic and contemporary writings on Christian Science — presently in circulation among practitioners, but unknown to the majority of dedicated Christian Scientists who are demanding higher demonstrations and better healing... A large treasury of Christian Science material — books, essays, pamphlets, and papers, — have been accumulating over the past hundred years... These writings give the earnest student a deeper spiritual insight into Christian Science. The awakening of genuine students to the fact that Mrs. Eddy never approved of the practice of 'authorized literature' is infusing new life into our Cause." This first catalog offered rare writings by Adam Dickey, Gilbert Carpenter, Sr. and Jr., Bicknell Young, and Judge Hanna, among others.

Ann Beals is the daughter of Harry Smith, a noted Christian Science lecturer. In 1967 she had become a Journal-listed practitioner in Massachusetts, but she witnessed with dismay the decline in the movement. Mrs. Beals had written a penetrating article in 1974 on the subject of animal magnetism. She had researched the article meticulously, but it was rejected for publication by the Journal and Sentinel editors. When she made plans to have it printed herself, she was warned that her practitioner card would be removed from the Journal.

127. Sutton & Wood, Trilaterals Over Washington, p. 173



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She resisted the coercion and published the article in February 1974. She was then pressured by her teacher to withdraw the pamphlet. Other articles she had submitted to the periodicals were summarily rejected. When it became clear that her practitioner card would be removed, she acted first and withdrew her name from the Journal in September of 1976. Ann Beals had been instrumental in the writing and mailing of the first four Kerry letters. After the fourth one went into the mail, she left for California. Her banned articles were being widely requested, and this, in part, inspired her to start The Bookmark two and a half years later.

The 1981 Journals demonstrated a renewed, hard-line policy by the Board. In January they presented "Learning how to learn" which stated in part: "There is still a tendency among some Christian Scientists, however, to yield to the false attraction of talks, courses, seminars, pamphlets, study outlines, tapes, books, and reprints of all sorts that claim to 'teach' Christian Science in a more exciting or profound way than our Leader provided through the system of education she established." The March issue announced "Progress report on Sanatorium at Chestnut Hill". It revealed a "transfer of complete responsibility for ownership and operation...from The Mother Church to a Board of Trustees representing the Northeastern Field." The June issue stated that the Board of Directors wanted to conduct a complete review of joint activities engaged in by branch churches including: the scope of the activities, their inception, a list of participating branches, copies of by-laws, and fruitage. The October Journal printed "Copyright of Science and Health — Mrs. Eddy's intent". Besides discussing the 1971 copyright extension for the textbook, the article noted that the Cross and Crown had been registered as a trademark in 1916 followed by Mrs. Eddy's signature in 1943. Unlike copyrights, trademarks never expire. The December issue announced "A Bible Exhibit For All" which could be viewed at the Church Center.




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CHAPTER 28 — COURT INITIATIVES

The Christian Science Journal for 1982 began the year with a final reminder of the Normal class to be held in December. The February issue included "Handling Attacks on the Church" which discussed challenges from within and without. April included an interview with Monitor staff writer, Elizabeth Pond. Beginning in June, the first in a series of four articles by Robert Peel entitled, "A Church Designed to Last" was initiated. These were calculated to answer many of the issues raised in the Kerry letters. The first one stated that the series "provides factual answers to distortions and misrepresentations currently circulating, which would work to destroy The Mother Church and frustrate its Founder's divinely inspired purpose." The July issue ran Mr. Peel's second installment in the series and also included a statement from the Committee on Publication about the pending Michigan child care case. The August Journal included Robert Peel's third article, and the September issue ran his final one in the series. One statement in his last installment was, "During the course of the litigation the fact emerged that she [Mrs. Eddy] had not wanted to set up a separate trust to conduct the Church's publishing activities but had been forced to do so by the then existing statutory limitations on the earnings of a church. This fact in itself disposes of the claims of latter-day dissidents that she intended the Board of Trustees to be a counterbalance to the authority of the Board of Directors."128 This statement is contradicted by several facts. The March 1892 Journal included as the frontispiece a photogravure of a proposed church and

128. The Christian Science Journal, September 1982, p. 530



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publishing house combined in one building. In a letter to William B. Johnson on September 3, 1892, Mrs. Eddy stated, "Don't omit to state in your letter to the contributors [to the church fund] that in the first deed of Mrs. Eddy's land in Boston it was stated the lot was given on which to erect a Church edifice, and no mention was made in it of having publishing rooms on this lot. And she has never consented to having a church and publishing rooms built on it, and did not know that a circular letter was sent out requesting contributions to both, until her lawyer showed it to her about two weeks ago." In the October 1892 Journal, Mrs. Eddy wrote, "I am confident that all loyal Christian Scientists will gladly consecrate our church to a more dignified end, than an exchange, or a place for business bickerings, bag and baggage!"129 She insisted that the money previously collected be returned to the donors because of the misrepresentation of the building plans.

In 1898 Mrs. Eddy kept the Deed of Trust of the Publishing Society a secret from the Board of Directors until it was completed and signed. (See page 30) The Church Manual does give to the Directors the power to appoint the editors of the periodicals and also gives them the power to declare a vacancy among the Trustees, but not to appoint a Trustee. The Deed of Trust states, "Said trustees shall energetically and judiciously manage the business of the Publishing Society on a strictly Christian basis, and upon their own responsibility, and without consulting me [Mrs. Eddy] about details, subject only to my supervision, if I shall at any time elect to advise or direct them... Once in every six months the trustees shall account for and pay over to the treasurer of 'The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston Mass.,' the entire net profits of said business." Mrs. Eddy's plan reveals separation of powers combined with prudent checks and balances reminiscent of the U.S. Constitution.

Kerry Letter No. 8 went into the mail in March of 1983. This particular letter contained the controversial depositions of Mother Church officials given in the Michigan child care case. Letter No. 8 also included a letter from John L. Morgan from England who had been writing independently of Boston for many years. In his letter Mr. Morgan wrote: "...while the Manual sets limits round the formation of a branch church as we know it today, it sets no restraint at all around the formation of a society. Any group of Christian Scientists, loyal to Science and Health and the Bible, who wish to form themselves into some sort of corporate body, may form a Christian Science society free from all external restrictions... There is an illuminating passage in Science and Health that helps to confirm this suggestion. On page 137 the textbook is referring to Jesus' great question, 'Whom do men say that I, the Son of man, am?' Peter eventually voices the

129. Oakes, M.B.E. 's Six Days of Revelation, pp. 433, 434, 440



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God-inspired answer that 'Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God!' and Jesus commends him; 'but now the Master gave him a spiritual name in these words: "And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter; and upon this rock ... I will build my church;.." In other words, Jesus purposed founding his society, not on the personal Peter as a mortal, but on the God-power which lay behind Peter's confession of the true Messiah.'

"Notice, in the Bible text, it is 'I will build my church.' In Science and Health, which gives the spiritual interpretation, it is, 'Jesus purposed founding his society.' Biblical church becomes scientific society."

On June 17, 1983, the Superior Court in Elizabeth, New Jersey, ruled that Independent Christian Science Church of Plainfield must stop identifying itself by that name and must not use the terms "Christian Science" or "Church of Christ, Scientist" to identify itself. The Monitor of June 27th stated, "Legal action had been initiated on July 21, 1980, on behalf of The Mother Church, The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Mass., to halt confusing misuse of Christian Science trademarks and titles." As a result of this decision, the Plainfield church temporarily changed its name to "Plainfield Community Church" and appealed the decision to the New Jersey Supreme Court.

On September 8, 1983, the Circuit Court of Wayne County, Michigan, issued a summary judgment dismissing all charges against two practitioners and The Mother Church in the Swan child care case. Even though the Swans would appeal this decision, it would ultimately be upheld on the basis of First Amendment guarantees of freedom of religion.

On November 18, 1983, United Christian Scientists of San Jose, California, brought a civil action to overturn the copyright extension for Science and Health created by Private Law 92-60, enacted by the U.S. Congress in 1971. United Christian Scientists had been formed on the east coast at the time of the early Kerry letters, but was later moved to California. The civil suit contended that Mrs. Eddy intended her book to eventually enter the public domain because the last edition of the textbook to be copyrighted was in 1906. Fourteen editions with substantial revisions had been published by its author after 1906. In addition, the suit contended that the copyright extension until the year 2046 severely restricted the free exercise of religion, violated the establishment of religion clause in the Bill of Rights, and circumvented Article 1, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution which limits copyrights to a reasonable period of time. It would be two years before a decision was handed down on this case.

In 1983, Alan Mansfield of California established Aequus Institute, a private foundation for the promotion of Christian Science and other related causes. He conceived the idea of distributing free copies of Science and Health to each branch church so that they would have the textbook for giving to newcomers




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who expressed an interest in Christian Science. He ordered a large quantity of the books from The Mother Church. After this unusually large printing was completed, the Directors had second thoughts about the project and impounded the books. Inconclusive legal action followed. Many branch churches which received copies of the textbook in the early stages of this project refused to distribute the books, and in some cases, destroyed them because the project was not sanctioned by the Directors.

The Christian Science Journal for 1983 gave the results of the previous December's Normal class in the February issue. Branch churches were urged to hold meetings on the same day as the Annual Meeting in Boston to be held in June. The May issue included an important article by Jewel Spangler Smaus on the previously unknown details of the young George Glover and the guardianship plot which separated him from his mother, Mary Baker Eddy, in the 1850s. The July issue ran a statement from the Directors regarding "Legal Challenges to Christian Science Healing" and dealt with the Michigan case. The September issue recounted the New Jersey court decision forbidding the Plainfield church from using Christian Science in its name. In November a notice from the Directors and the Trustees of the Publishing Society discussed "The Christian Science Monitor: Its Purpose, Plans, and New Format." In December the Directors issued "An Important Decision and a Continuing Need" which once again discussed the results of the Michigan case.

The Christian Science Monitor's secret agenda started under Erwin D. Canham resurfaced in 1984. The Monitor of March 9th ran an article by long time staff writer (who also wrote for the socialist New Republic) Richard L. Strout titled "Rethinking the Constitution" His article which advocated scrapping the Constitution in favor of a parliamentary system stated, "It takes courage to hint that the Constitution needs changes — that is, major changes...Who are the men who have the audacity to want to change it, and what would they do? It's not a crackpot group. It is about 200 people called the Committee on the Constitutional System." On April 26th, the Monitor ran an editorial stating, "The bicentennial [of the U.S. Constitution] gives an opportunity for a rededication to the principles of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, and for some careful thought about the wisdom of constitutional revision." A member of the Committee on the Constitutional System was James MacGregor Burns of Williams College. In his 1984 book The Power to Lead, he wrote, "Let us face reality. The framers [of the U.S. Constitution] have simply been too shrewd for us. They have outwitted us. They designed separated institutions that cannot be unified by mechanical linkages, frail bridges, tinkering. If we are to 'turn the founders upside down' — to put together what they put asunder — we must directly confront the constitutional structure




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they erected." 130

The Monitor disregarded once again Mrs. Eddy's clearly stated position, "I believe strictly in the Monroe doctrine, in our Constitution, and in the laws of God." 131

In November of 1984, The Gethsemane Foundation was founded in Dallas, Texas, and formally incorporated in January of the following year. Its twofold purpose was: "1. To preserve and extend the influence of genuine Christianity and to support Christ Jesus, his words and works, and reject personalities and denominationalism. 2. To promote and extend the teachings of Christian Science and to give the public a clear and correct concept of its Discoverer, Mary Baker Eddy." One of the three trustees was Paul R. Smillie who had written Mary Baker Eddy, The Prophetic and Historical Perspective in 1979.

In a letter to the Christian Science field, the trustees wrote: "During the Medieval period, the church held sway over the bodies and minds of men. Autocratic and secretive methods produced a church that rejected the life example of its professed Leader, a church without healing, a centralized authority refusing to be fallible. Each level of authority struggled to become more important, to get higher, therefore the refusal to admit mistakes. These errors were building upon the fear and adulation of authority. Each level of authority expected those under them to treat them as if they were all-knowing, a pretense to piety. There was a fear of being disciplined on every hand, fear of what others might say, a loss of esteem, fear of excommunication and the ultimate fear, death at the stake. The terrorism that destroyed free thought and inspiration had its own list of authorized books and papers and only those could be read. "Aren't we all grateful for the remnant who spoke up, that helped destroy this control. Those intrepid reformers, dauntless men and women of moral courage, led the way to a new era and, eventually, the Constitution of the United States — nothing after this document would ever be the same... "You may find this hard to believe, but at this late date, five and six hundred years after the great reformers, and two hundred years after our Constitution and Declaration of Independence, there are still citizens of this Republic who want to be told what to read, and shamefully, to voluntarily comply with this silent edict, even telling on their fellows who do not comply... "Divine Love alone can touch hearts frozen with fear, release their affections, and help them to regain their first love. We cannot allow the scattered and tattered clouds of evil to gather again — to hide the light of Truth from the elect. "The most freedom loving woman who ever walked this planet is a daughter of the Republic. Will we all follow faithfully?" Over the next several years,

130. Burns, The Power To Lead, p. 189
131. Eddy, The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 282



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The Gethsemane Foundation would conduct research and distribute monographs dealing primarily with Mrs. Eddy's place in Bible prophecy and the failure of her own Church to acknowledge her place."

In December 1984 an international televised videoconference given the title of "To Live for All Mankind" was anchored in Boston with remote sites for viewing by Mother Church members at selected locations all over the world. It represented an attempt to reenergize a movement which was shrinking at an alarming rate. It was announced at the 1951 Annual Meeting that there were 10,503 practitioners worldwide. By July 1982, there were but 4,025 according to the Journal. This was a loss of 6,478 in thirty years. In 1951 there were 3049 churches worldwide. In July of 1982, there were 2,845 or a loss over the period of 204.

The Journal for 1984 repeated the Directors disapproval of computer printouts of the Bible and Science and Health for the weekly Bible lessons. They stated that the lessons were intended to encourage study of the books themselves. Also the end of the Monitor Support Teams was announced because they had fulfilled their purpose. The February issue announced that the Manager of the Publishing Society, John H. Hoagland, Jr., would take on a more central role with less day-to-day oversight by the Trustees. At the same time, all three of the Trustees were replaced at the same time, something which had not been done since the end of the litigation in 1922. The March issue printed the "Position of The Christian Science Church", an article dealing with the use of prayer and healing, which appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine. The April issue announced the 1985 Normal class. There was also a long article from John H. Hoagland, Jr., "The Christian Science Monitor: Its Mission For the Rest of the Century." The appearance of this article, the newly enhanced role of the Manager of the Publishing Society, and the simultaneous replacement of all three Trustees marked the beginning of a radical redirection at the Church Center. The May Journal carried a statement from the Directors regarding the joining of secular organizations. This was a reprint from November 1976 which discouraged such memberships, but said that the final decision was for each individual to decide. An article about how individuals and churches could support the Monitor also appeared in May. The August issue carried a message from the Directors about the "burden" of too much committee work. The December issue touched on the decline of churches: "It has not been the practice of The Mother Church to change a branch church's status if the branch finds itself temporarily without a practitioner who advertises in the Journal."




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CHAPTER 29 — COURT RESULTS

Kerry Letter No. 9 went into the mail in February of 1985. It began with the story of Christian Science teacher and former editor of the periodicals, Carl Welz. He had sought medical treatment for an unyielding physical condition and had asked the Board to stand by him while he worked out his problem. They refused. Mr. Welz was put on probation, refused permission to publish his own writings, and was threatened with having his association dissolved if he published. He resigned from The Mother Church, published two books and wrote a newsletter, The Warm Line, until his passing in 1992. The Kerry letter recounted the hypocrisy of the Board's stand on Carl Welz's predicament in view of other Mother Church officers' unreported experiences with medical treatment. Letter No. 9 also printed articles detailing the long history of the Monitor's subservience to the political aims of one world government. The plight of practitioners in the field was told: "'You don't know you are breaking a rule until you have broken it, and some little old biddy tattles on you. You know nothing of the ruling,' he said, 'until the Board writes you and admonishes you.' He informed us that there are hundreds of unwritten laws that are becoming tighter and tighter...until they are 'snuffing' or 'smothering' out the progressive, thinking, alert, ambitious, enthusiastic workers in Truth."

On March 1, 1985, the 1983 decision of the Superior Court in Elizabeth, New Jersey, forbidding the delisted Plainfield church from using the words "Christian Science" was overturned in the Appellate Division. The Mother Church immediately appealed the reversal to the New Jersey Supreme Court. The Appellate Division stated that The Mother Church has "no right to a monopoly in the name of a religion." It would be two more years before a final




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ruling would be handed down on this case.

On April 17, 1985, the Monitor continued its campaign against the U.S. Constitution with an opinion piece titled, "No danger in a constitutional convention". On May 3rd, the Monitor ran a full page advertisement for the Council on Foreign Relations' journal, Foreign Affairs.

In 1985, the Longyear Historical Society removed Mary Baker Eddy's name from the museum dedicated to preserving an accurate historical picture of her life. It is now called "Longyear Historical Society & Museum."

On August 14, 1985 the decision in the case brought by United Christian Scientists against the special copyright extension of Science and Health was announced in Washington, D.C. The Monitor of August 22nd reported, "A

U.S. district judge has ruled unconstitutional the extended copyright on Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by the founder of Christian Science... Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson wrote that the 75-year copyright extension granted by Congress in 1971 was in violation of the US Constitution, which states: 'Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion...' The Church has indicated that it will appeal the ruling."

When the lawyers handling the copyright case for U.C.S. ran out of money, independent author of books on Christian Science, Helen Wright, asked Alan Mansfield of the Aequus Institute for financial help. In view of his bitter experience ordering large quantities of the textbook, paying for them, and then being denied delivery of them, he complied with Mrs. Wright's appeal and paid the lawyers. Today the Aequus Institute publishes Science and Health and distributes it.

In November of 1985, a longtime Christian Scientist, Benjamin N. Covington of Decatur, Georgia, published a 53-page paper entitled, "A Clarion Call" which had a wide distribution. It called for complete obedience to the Church Manual and Mrs. Eddy's two Deeds of Trust governing the Church and the Publishing Society. In addition it called for members to recognize Mrs. Eddy' place in Bible prophecy and questioned the three biographies of her by Robert Peel. The paper condemned the trends towards centralization and human control in the Church and called upon Christian Scientists to challenge the Directors to obey the Manual or resign their offices. Mr. Covington wrote: "Disobedience to Mrs. Eddy's Manual and her two Deeds of Trust has brought on the myriad of problems now facing our Church organization. Obedience to these instruments will turn our Church organization around and correct this disobedience."

The Christian Science Journal for 1985 announced in the February issue through an article entitled "Glad Sounds Ringing" that a new set of bells were being installed in the bell tower of the original Mother Church and that the old




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tubular chimes had been "removed years ago." Those original tubular chimes had been donated by Mrs. Eldora Gragg and her students in 1894 during the church's construction. Mrs. Gragg was the original Second Reader in The Mother Church and served without missing a single service for the seven years of her term. The same Journal article stated that the bells in cupola of the dome of the Extension were dissonant and not tunable. Those bells would remain in place, but would no longer be used. The March issue presented the text of the December 8, 1984, videoconference. The June issue announced price increases for literature sold in the Reading Rooms.

On April 26, 1986, the Publishing Society sponsored its own video conference on the subject of "The Role of the Broadcast Media in Reporting Major World Issues." Also in 1986 The Mother Church purchased Boston TV station, WQTV. This action along with the replacement of all three Publishing Society Trustees in 1984 and the enhanced powers of Manager John H. Hoagland, Jr., marked new directions for The Mother Church. A cover letter from the Directors dated August 11, 1986, accompanied a report from the Trustees and Manager of the Publishing Society. These were addressed to members of The Mother Church. The Directors said, "This report from the Trustees and Manager gives us a hint of the richness of the Monitor's purpose and the horizons that are now opening for its broader service to humanity." The report from the Publishing Society stated, "None of us would attempt to describe the exact physical appearance, or delivery methods, of the Monitor in the next century."

In 1986, the Monitor ran a series of profiles and interviews of prominent opinion makers. On October 22nd, Sissela Bok, daughter of Swedish socialist, Gunner Myrdal, stated, "I feel that we have to be...much more supportive of international organizations and of what some people call interdependence... We need to play an important role in the United Nations." On October 28th, Douglas Fraser urged that the U.S. Constitution be scrapped and replaced by a parliamentary form of government. On November 1 2th, Norman Cousins stated, "The division of the human species into national tribes has outlived its usefulness... But the real difficulty in his view, lies in the very presence of national governments themselves — and in the failure of nations to adopt a form of world government." Nine of the thirteen people interviewed promoted world government, and the majority were members of the Council on Foreign Relations. These profiles and interviews were collected and put into book form and sold through the Publishing Society.

The Journals for 1986 were very quiet as far as notices from the Directors were concerned. The March issue announced the routine results of the triennial Normal Class the previous December. The August issue announced that the




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section of the Journal called "Church in Action" would be discontinued.

Paul R. Smillie of The Gethsemane Foundation was excommunicated from The Mother Church on January 29, 1987. His offense was the writing of Mary Baker Eddy, The Prophetic and Historical Perspective which had undergone its third printing by 1982. The Foundation continued to research and publish monographs which contained information which the Directors were trying to remove from the view and consideration of Christian Scientists in the field.

On February 23, 1987, the New Jersey Supreme Court upheld the right of the Plainfield church to use the words, "Christian Science", by declaring that these words constituted a generic term and could not be copyrighted. The Mother Church then took the case to a state appeals court over legal technicalities.

Kerry Letter No. 10 came out in June of 1987. It covered a wide range of subjects. By now, the Kerry letters had become a clearing house for Christian Scientists in the field to tell their experiences and the results of their own study and research. This letter reproduced the correspondence between the Manager of Practitioners and Nursing Activities and a successful practitioner which resulted in this longtime worker's removal from the Journal. It was also reported that the Methodist Episcopal Church of Springhill, Louisiana had adopted the Christian Science textbook as its own. The church's resolution stated: "Therefore it is authorized in this Wesleyan Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church that Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy be taught and explained throughout our Zion for the Health of our people called Methodist."

On August 17, 1987, a secret, all-day videotaped meeting was held during which the decision was made to discontinue the Monitor as a newspaper and transform it into an electronic medium. Katherine Fanning, editor of the Monitor, was neither present nor was she told of the decisions announced in this meeting.

On September 22nd, The Mother Church lost its appeal in the copyright extension case for Science and Health, and the special act of Congress became null and void.

On September 24th, a videoconference for Mother Church members was held. It was called the "Global Lecture Preparatory Meeting." At this meeting,- once again anchored in Boston with remote viewing sites around the world, — it was decided to "close the door" on past ways and means of presenting Christian Science to the public. The new approach would use variety of audio-visual techniques for lectures. Reading Rooms would, according to this plan, incorporate television, satellite dishes, and videotape in their previously print oriented operations. A guest in the videoconference was the Rev. William Fore, a representative of the radical National Council of Churches. In 1942, that




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organization's convention called for: "Ultimately, a world government of delegated powers. Complete abandonment of U.S. isolationism. Strong immediate limitations on national sovereignty... Individual nations must give up their armed forces except for preservation of domestic order and allow the world to be policed by an international army and navy."

On September 26th, a group of workers at The Mother Church sent out an anonymous letter to the Christian Science field expressing dismay at the wholesale adoption of the electronic media, wild spending, and the increasing reliance upon electronics as a substitute for demonstration in Christian Science.

In October of 1987, Monitor editor Katherine Fanning saw for the first time the video tape of the August meeting at which it was decided that the newspaper would be discontinued in the spring of 1989. 132

A newspaper article in the Statesman-Journal of Salem, Oregon, of December 14, 1987 entitled "Plants grow to appreciate prayer" reported the experiments of father and son Christian Scientists, Bruce and John Klingbeil: "He and his son John said they have been conducting scientific research in the power of positive silent prayer for a dozen years... We now have done a battery of tests that we are totally able to stand behind. The theory and methodology are in place, and we are ready to stand behind what we have done... You have to bother the scientific community enough to get them to take you seriously. We want them to take us seriously. We don't want to argue with them; we just want them to run the tests... Bruce Klingbeil said their research has cost him his accreditation as a Christian Science practitioner after 26 years in practice... Bruce and John Klingbeil said the church's rejection of their work has led them to be shunned by other church members..." The research project to prove the effectiveness of prayer using the scientific method rather than anecdotal testimony is supported by a foundation named Spindrift, Inc., headquartered in Golden, Colorado.

In a front page story on December 23rd, the Monitor ran an interview with Rev. Patricia McClurg, the new head of the National Council of Churches.

The Journals for 1987 announced in March that the Quarterly would soon have a new format which would emphasize the words "Bible Lessons". In April, John Hoagland announced that subscriptions to the periodicals would no longer be handled by church employees, but would be farmed out to Communication Data Services of Des Moines, Iowa. It was later learned that this company handled the accounts for Playboy and Penthouse magazines. That same month, the Finnish translation of Science and Health was announced. The May issue discussed how new covers are designed for the periodicals. The September issue announced the Global Lecture Preparatory Meeting for later that month. In

132. Elizabeth Pond Letter to C.S. Bd. of Directors, February 15,1989



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November John Hoagland gave a report on the shortwave broadcasting and the recently purchased Boston TV station, WQTV. The December issue announced a new larger size and design for the Journal which would begin with the January 1988 issue.

16:1-






CHAPTER 30 — THE ELECTRONIC CHURCH

The Christian Science Journal for 1988 included in its new large format an editorial titled "At the threshold of history" which once attacked Mrs. Eddy's place in Bible prophecy and repeated the now well ingrained belief in Boston that God cannot know the human: "A few, ignoring her own specific written explanations on the subject, have been pulled dangerously close to the edge of mythology, insisting in effect that God knowingly chose a mortal to become a nearly divine messenger."133 The March issue called on members to do metaphysical work in the face of continuing court challenges regarding the health care of children. April included a statement "The Pathfinding Mission of The Christian Science Monitor" which announced the Church's television plans. The May issue carried "An Important Statement on Christian Science Nursing." In June a complete turnover among the Trustees of the Publishing Society was announced. This made the second time in only four years that all three Trustees were replaced simultaneously and only the third time since 1922. The September Journal gave the report of the Annual Meeting with its emphasis on media projects.

In January of 1988, a letter from a second group of Mother Church employees was sent out anonymously with a list of concerns about the direction of Mother Church projects and the mistreatment of longtime employees. They wrote: "This is not the same group who wrote to you a couple of months ago. We do not know who they are, but can attest to the truth of what they said... You may know that an extensive investigation was made here in Boston to discover who wrote that earlier letter. One of us was directly involved in that

133. Christian Science Journal, January 1988, p. 30



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investigation, so whatever you may be told to the contrary, it did take place. So you can understand that it is not easy or safe for us to undertake writing to you." The January 1988 issue of Reading Room News included a notice that past issues of the Journal and Sentinel are available on microfiche, a form of microfilm which allows the storage of large quantities of data in a small space. The article warns, "The availability of past volumes on fiche should not be interpreted as a sudden encouragement to acquire and delve into old issues of the periodicals." Readers were urged to read current literature with the statement, "Recognizing the freshness and vigor of such a fountain, we're naturally less interested in a drink from last year's bucket of water!"

The February 1988 issue of Reading Room News included: "It's a time for reaching out. We're learning some stretching lessons about that — some very moving ones from you, and others we'd love to share with you. "Perhaps in The Christian Science Monitor in December you saw the interview with the incoming president of the National Council of Churches, Rev. Ms. Patricia McClurg. In many of her thoughtful comments you might have thought she was addressing a group of Reading Room Librarians! Among other things, she was quoted as saying, 'As we are learning the lesson that the whole world is our neighbor we also need to remember that our next-door neighbor is our neighbor, too.'"

After losing in the New Jersey Supreme Court in its effort to stop the Plainfield church from using the term, "Christian Science", The Mother Church lost again in a New Jersey appeals court on April 28, 1988. Boston declined to appeal the case to the U.S. Supreme Court. This left individuals and churches free to identify themselves as Christian Scientists without gaining permission from the Board of Directors. The legal bills for the Plainfield church were $257,000. During the period of the court case, the membership which had dipped to eighty members after the initial break with Boston had risen to 240 during the period. By this time, "Plainfield Christian Science Church, Independent" was publishing its own quarterly Bible lessons and a bimonthly publication, Healing Thoughts.

The Monitor of June 24, 1988, announced that a Director of The Mother Church would sign the Williamsburg Charter the next day: "More than 100 United States church, business, and media leaders will gather in Williamsburg, Va., this weekend to sign a unique document dedicated to religious liberty... In response to ongoing controversy and sometimes bitter confrontation between conservative fundamentalists and religious liberals, the charter calls for a fresh consideration of religious liberty in our time and of the place of the First Amendment religious liberty clauses in our national life." A press release from the National Council of Churches dated May 20, 1988, stated: "The 1(56

Williamsburg Charter, a major new document on the place of religion in public life, 'expresses my own deep concern for religious liberty,' said the Rev. Arie R. Brouwer, general secretary of the National Council of Churches... Brouwer, as a member of the Board of Trustees [of the N.C.C.], has played an important role in the development of the Williamsburg Charter, as has the Rev. Dean M. Kelley, NCC director of religious liberty and a member of the seven-person group that wrote the statement."

In a memo to all Mother Church employees dated July 26, 1988, the Directors outline a number of disagreements they have with Robert Peel regarding statements he made in the last chapter of his recently published book, Health and Medicine in the Christian Science Tradition. The Directors wrote: "We took this occasion to thank Bob for not taking the route of anonymity as other have done in the recent past and reminded him that no serious effort was ever made by the Board of Directors to identify or punish employees who may have written anonymous communications." As originally written, Mr. Peel's last chapter concluded as follows: "Will Christian Scientists put their whole heart and soul into strengthening the church's healing mission through deeper individual spirituality and commitment? Or will the organization pour its faith, funds, and energy into extending electronically a watered-down version of the original message of Christian Science in order to woo liberal Christians and reach out to the ends of the earth with one more soothing promise of good to come?" This original ending was replaced with: "The original impetus of the movement took the church down the road 'less traveled by.' The question now is whether it can reach its destination more rapidly and easily by turning on to the six-lane speedway where the main stream of twentieth-century traffic so confidently flows."

In September of 1988, World Monitor, a half-hour television news program, debuted on the Discovery Channel. The cost to The Mother Church was estimated to be $20 to 22 million per year to produce this program. World Monitor magazine appeared one month later in October. Financial data obtained by Federal Judge Thomas P. Griesa indicated that the magazine would cost $2 million in 1988 and $7 million the next year.

A decision to reduce the Monitor to a sixteen page paper with color and no advertising was the spark which led to the mass resignation of the newspaper's editor, Katherine Fanning, and many other top writers and assistants. When the plan to eliminate the newspaper entirely was discovered, the Directors backed away from that plan in favor of the scaled down Monitor. In her letter of November 14, 1988, Mrs. Fanning stated: "The working atmosphere in the Publishing Society, and the relationships with the leadership of the church are totally unlike anything I have encountered in secular organizations and utterly

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incomprehensible in a church... Unfortunately, today we have an atmosphere of secrecy, lack of communication, antagonism, suspicion, instability, and general chaos... And when the Manager's group presented its plan for the future of the Monitor the paper's own editor was not even invited to hear it. Decisions were made with no input whatever from the editor — just as the entire presentation of the August 1987 meeting was kept entirely secret from the editor until two months after it occurred. No responsible editor could remain under such conditions..."

In reaction to the resignations, the Board of Directors called a meeting of all Christian Science teachers for November 22nd to explain their position and ask for support. The response from the teachers was not what they expected. A group statement was read expressing concern over the "movement away from the spiritual means and methods and toward an increased reliance on the secular." The Boston Globe of the same day quoted an unnamed teacher who said: "The feeling out there is that we're out here for a snow job, to rubber-stamp what the directors have done, to get down on our knees and say, 'yea, verily.'"

The night before the meeting, a teacher reserved a conference room at a local Boston hotel to give people a chance to discuss the crisis. At the last minute, the Directors scheduled a showing of a a new video about Mrs. Eddy's life, A Heart in Protest, and the unauthorized meeting was canceled. The teacher sent a young woman to cancel the reservation but pay the hotel for late cancellation. Beulah Roegge, President of the Board of Education, was waiting in the hotel manager's office, and when the woman appeared with the money, Mrs. Roegge told her that she could be arrested for fraudulently claiming to represent The Mother Church unless she named the teacher who reserved the room. 134

In a letter to all Christian Science teachers dated November 30, 1988, Beulah Roegge warned them of disciplinary action if they were found "working against the Cause" of Christian Science.

Notices in The Christian Science Journal for 1989 emphasized the new media projects. In January the Directors talk of reaching a wider audience through the new daily TV news program, the new magazine, and the shortwave transmitters under construction. In March the positive responses to the World Monitor TV program were printed. Results of the December 1988 Normal class were recounted. In May, a three part series from the Directors on the importance of obeying the Church Manual was initiated. The first one was called "A Rule for Motives and Acts." The June issue ran the second installment, "Daily Prayer", and the July issue printed "Alertness to Duty."The September Journal announced the visit by the Directors and the Clerk to Africa, South America, and Europe. While traveling, these traveling officials held a church service in an

134. Elizabeth Pond Letter to C.S. Bd. of Directors, February 15, 1989



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undisclosed eastern European city for the first time in 38 years. The December Journal closed the year with "A Christmas Message to Humanity from the Christian Science Board of Directors."

January 1989 marked the first appearance of the new scaled down Monitor which was printed on heavier paper with color and fewer pages. It contained no advertising. Because of the lead time necessary to put out this new product, the paper was dubbed "U.S.A. Yesterday" because of its outward similarity to U.S.A. Today but its inability to print breaking news. The Publishing Society had to pay large penalties to their former printers because they broke contracts when moving to a printer who could print the paper in color.

An article in the February 20, 1989 Los Angeles Times revealed the costs for all the media operations of The Mother Church. The burden for fiscal year 1988 was $51. 6 million, and for 1989 was $65. 1 million.

On May 1, 1989, the Treasurer of The Mother Church wrote letters to all those receiving pensions that $15 million had been removed from the pension fund and moved to the general fund.

The Boston Herald of August 3, 1989, reported: "The Christian Science Church is preparing to sell off nearly an acre of prime Back Bay property, putting several buildings and vacant lots along Massachusetts Avenue on the bidding block... The sale of the parcels located between the church's main headquarters and the John B. Hynes Veterans Memorial Convention Center, comes at a time when the Christian Science Church is spending tens of millions of dollars revamping its communications empire. According to published reports, the 110-year-old church has used up nearly two-thirds of its liquid assets over the past three years,much of it launching its television and radio broadcasting operations."

In June of 1989, First Church of Christ, Scientist, Surfside, Florida, ceased its association with The Mother Church. The members changed the name of their church to: "Church of Christ Jesus and Mary Baker Eddy, Christian Science." Their new name indicated a recognition of the two witnesses referred to in the Bible and Mrs. Eddy's writings. They began to publish a quarterly publication, The Christian Science Standard. This publication focuses upon the history of the Christian church, Bible prophecy, and the role of Christian Science at the close of the Twentieth Century. In addition, the church studies and publishes the distinctions between the Boston school and the Chicago school of Christian Science with the former school judged to be the only authentic teaching.

At about this same time, two longtime Christian Scientists, Allan and Helen Taini, started "The Eighty-Ninth Edition, Inc." whose purpose is to restore true obedience to the Church Manual, force The Mother Church to reveal its finances




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to the membership, and to restore the Monitor to its former status as a world class newspaper. They hired experts to probe the secret finances and force an accounting to the members.

A report in the November 6, 1989 U.S. News & World Report stated that membership in The Mother Church has dropped from 270,000 just prior to World War II to fewer than 170,000. The same article stated that 500 branch churches had closed in the last two decades leaving 1,886 at the time of publication.

Having lost the copyright battle, the Sentinel of November 20th falsely stated: "Today several 'doctored' or revised editions [of Science and Health] are being offered for free or in bookstores." The independent editions differ from the Boston version because the testimonies removed from "Fruitage" after 1910 have been restored. In December 1989, Monitor Month, a newsletter promoting the electronic media projects, was sent to Mother Church members for the first time.




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CHAPTER 31 — CORREAU UNDER GLASS

The Christian Science Journal for 1990 contained only a small number of notices and directives. The April issue announced the forthcoming 1991 Normal class. The September issue announced that Netty Douglass was being named Manager of the Publishing Society, but that she would also keep her position as Chief Executive Officer of The Christian Science Monitor Syndicate. This issue also included from the Directors "Christian Science: A Report for the 90s. Looking Ahead to the 21st Century." The October issue published "The Precious Volume — Its Power and Vitality" from the Directors. In November, the Journal published, "Announcing a Full Text Edition of the Christian Science Bible Lessons." This constituted a total reversal of previous Board positions. The January 1984 Journal specifically condemned full text printouts as have other Board statements. The December issue included a report from the Clerk, "The Mother Church lectures: unfoldment of an idea" which discussed the concept of televised lectures in place of the traditional stand-up lecture.

The Monitor began the year, 1990, with more statements favoring world government. On January 2nd, Norman Cousins was given a full page to denounce the "bugaboo" of national sovereignty. An editorial followed on January 5th with "The great challenge for the international community will be to evolve noncoercive structures and mechanisms..." The January 25th issue ran an opinion piece advocating "new forms of international governance." The February 2nd paper printed a letter praising the January 5th editorial and suggested that "the United Nations should be transformed into a federal world government." The February 8th issue ran an advertisement for the "World Federalist Association". The advertisement concludes with a statement, "This message was paid for by members of the World Federalist Association in honor




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of their president, Norman Cousins. The February 20th issue included another opinion piece by Mr. Cousins who wrote that the "U.N. will have to be truly institutionalized. The U.N. is not only the best candidate for enduring peace, it is the only candidate we have."

On quite a different subject, the February 12th Sentinel included a statement from the Directors, "I never wrote this..." which attacks the Carpenter books which the same Directors promised to make available to Christian Scientists.

On March 1, 1990, Stephen Gottschalk, protege of Robert Peel and a longtime figure in Boston, wrote an open letter in which he stated, "...nothing in the Manual or in Mrs. Eddy's continuing leadership requires, justifies, or permits repressing responsible expression of divergent viewpoints on church directions..." The next day Mr. Gottschalk went on indefinite leave from The Mother Church. The March 5th Boston Globe reported, "In a memorandum to 18 top Christian Science officials, the church's board of directors demands that members close ranks during the current time of troubles — and remarks that employees who disagree with the church's policies should 'have the integrity to seek employment elsewhere.'"

Another drama was playing in the press and would soon be in the Massachusetts courts during 1990. The death of a child under Christian Science treatment was to prosecuted, and The Mother Church employed a public relations firm to handle the publicity. This generated criticism within and outside the Church. Part of the strategy were full-page advertisements in Boston newspapers which strongly implied persecution of the religion. The case involved the young son of Christian Science parents, Ginger and David Twitchell. The anticipated trial played in the newspapers for months before the trial and received heavy coverage in the local and national media during the proceedings. After an agonizing eight weeks, the Twitchells were found guilty of manslaughter on July 4, 1990. Jurors who were interviewed afterwards complained that they were not given proper instructions by the judge. These same jurors stated that they would not have voted to convict had they received proper instructions.

A subject among Christian Scientists was the dwindling number and quality of healings over the years and the loss of cases which would have been healed in former days. Early in the history of Christian Science, healings were dramatic and widely known. Testimony meetings were filled with gratitude for significant demonstrations of Christian Science. By the 1990s, testimony meetings often consisted of recollections of healings experienced years before, or the finding of lost items such as car keys. Those who remembered the former times, could not help but see the vast gulf between the pioneer days and now.

On April 16, 1990, ABC television carried a story about The Mother Church which touched briefly on the Twitchell case and focused on the controversial

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media projects and possible bankruptcy because of the enormous costs involved. The report stated that the TV station owned by the Church, WQTV, cost $50 million, and was losing money. The World Monitor TV show was losing $20 million per year, the new downsized Monitor was losing $19 million. The Directors reacted with a letter to ABC News on April 20th stating, "It is ludicrous for anybody to assume that our Church would ever place itself in a situation where it couldn't pay its bills."

Kerry Letter No. 11 came out in May of 1990 with behind-the-scenes information about the electronic media projects, the financial irregularities, and the effect of all of it on the Christian Science movement.

On June 24, 1990, Nelson Mandela of the African National Congress visited The Mother Church and was presented with a copy of Science and Health by Monitor editor, Richard Cattani with the inscription, "To Nelson Mandela, With best wishes for your continued spiritual mission to bless mankind." Mr. Mandela has beeome an international media celebrity. Many of his statements go unreported: "I salute the South African Communist Party for its steady contribution to the struggle for democracy." He has also expressed admiration for Colonel Ghadafi of Libya and Fidel Castro of Cuba. His wife, Winnie Mandela, has been convicted of complicity in the political torture and murder of a teenage boy in their home.

The September 17, 1990 Forbes magazine published an article titled, "Netty Douglass' impossible task". The subtitle stated, "The Christian Science Monitor, not quite 100 years old, and the church's other media assets are in deep financial trouble." The article stated that the media operations had lost $57 million the previous year with revenues of just $30 million. Losses for 1990 were expected to be $50 million. The church's working fund dropped from $270 million in 1987 to $145 million in 1990 with only $70 million in unrestricted funds available to shore up troubled media projects. The new color Monitor with fewer pages and less hard news had fallen from 167,000 subscribers in January 1989 to just 115,000 in 1990.

Television ventures lost $20 million in 1989, and the church's Boston TV station lost $10 million more. Television programming for 1990 would lose $30 million with only $10 million in revenues. Ratings for the World Monitor TV show were 0. 9 for both its daily broadcasts or 0. 9% of the 51 million potential viewers of the Discovery Channel. Production costs for this program alone, were $30 million with only $4 million in revenues.

World Monitor magazine claimed 250,000 subscribers. Plans were to send out 18 million pieces of mail soliciting subscriptions in 1990 with the hope of breaking even financially. The Publishing Society had announced plans for a satellite cable network for May of 1991. The transponder and earth station,




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alone, would cost $14 million. The article ended by asking, "How long can a nonprofit institution with a public service philosophy afford to ignore the unforgiving laws of the marketplace?"

A separate spotlight article in the same issue of Forbes magazine featured "Christian Science board chairman Harvey Wood." Asked about the staggering financial losses and declining church membership, Mr. Wood stated, "I'm not beleaguered. I'm so excited about where we are I can't stand it... You ought to think through the Gideon story [Judges 7: 17]. He's faced with an enemy army with large numbers, and he pared down his army instead of trying to add numbers... To measure our strength in terms of numbers I think would be gross folly."

In a letter to Forbes magazine dated September 7, 1990, the manager of the Publishing Society, Netty Douglass, answered the business magazine's article. Her letter stated, "One of us is wrong, and we're pretty sure it's you!

...[H]hundreds of people inside and outside our organization, who have worked for several years to establish our current programs, believe we're in a very strong position to face the 1990s." She then invited the Forbes correspondent and editors to have lunch: ...the menu will be corbeau [crow] under glass. There's no need to write down the date. We'll send you a reminder!"

The September 20, 1990, Rea ding Room News backed away from a statement given in the November 20, 1989, Sentinel which claimed that independently published editions of Science and Health were "doctored or revised." This new statement issued for Reading Room librarians said: "The current edition [of Science and Health] published by The First Church of Christ, Scientist, the authorized edition, is the final edition as Mrs. Eddy left it, with two exceptions. These exceptions concern two testimonies in 'Fruitage'..." The article stated that the testifiers "had ceased their study of Christian Science and were not leading lives representative of Christian Science. One testimony was replaced and the other was simply removed. We are bringing these historical facts to your attention now because two other publishers [The Bookmark and Mary Baker Eddy Foundation — Aequus Institute] have recently begun to publish Science and Health. One of the books includes a frontispiece with a picture of Mrs. Eddy as well as two minor grammatical changes [in conformity with the original 1910 edition]; the other includes the two original testimonies."

The Directors originally tried to explain the changes they made in Science

and Health and some of Mrs. Eddy's other writings in the February 1955 Journal in an article titled "An Important Statement". Concerning the two deleted testimonies, the statement that they "had ceased their study of Christian Science and were not leading lives representative of Christian Science" might mean that they had fallen into disfavor in Boston. Concerning the removal of Mrs. Eddy's




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picture from the frontispiece of Science and Health, no documentation has ever been produced to prove that she ordered its removal over her own signature.

A letter from the Treasurer of The Mother Church to church members dated October 1990 appealed for an additional $3 7 million in donations to help pay for the electronic media projects. In the letter, the Treasurer refers .to "our responsibility as Christian Scientists — to ourselves, to our Church and to mankind." Those receiving the letter noted the similarity and the deletions from Mrs. Eddy's statement which requires that a member of The Mother Church "not be made to forget nor to neglect his duty to God, to his Leader, and to mankind." 135

On December 3, 1990, First Church of Christ, Scientist, Bremen, Germany, sent a twelve-page letter to the Chairman of the Christian Science Board of Directors, Harvey Wood, with ninety-five questions purposely reminiscent of Martin Luther's Ninety-five Theses nailed to the Castle church door:

Question 61 asked, "Do you think it correct when the Clerk of the Mother Church addresses 'the members' of our church recommending them to watch two — removed [from the Journal] — practitioners and [still] members of our church, and if occasion arises, take adequate steps against them? If yes, do you know articles XXIII section 10 of the Church Manual by which every influence on branches of the church is prohibited?" Question 62: "Do you think it correct that practitioners who have got the displeasure of the Board of Directors are forced to read article XI section 1 of the Manual aloud? If yes, do you consider that this kind of challenge could be valued as a threat?" Question 63: "Does this precedence belong to the typical attitudes which are used by the church officials like e.g. the Clerk, towards disagreeable [disagreeing] practitioners?" Question 67: "How can you explain the statement of the manager of the Member and Practitioner Services Department on the occasion of a very good attended service in our church that the parish is forced by will power manipulation and hypnotism to visit the church?" Question 68: "Do you think it is possible that the power of attraction of the divine love is unknown to this official?" Question 95: "Do you know the German reformer Martin Luther? If yes, do you think there are parallels between the attitude of Rome of that time and of Boston today?"

In a separate letter to the Christian Science field also dated December 3rd, the Bremen church states, "These few members who have mainly separated themselves have defamed in a very unpleasant manner two of our practitioners, but the manager of the Member and Practitioner Services Department had an open ear for them. She still gave ear to the untrue accusations even after the board of directors of our church, the readers and a large number of other members

135. Eddy, Church Manual, p. 42



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made definite statements about the integrity and Christianity of these two practitioners. This official of The Mother Church had talked with the concerned practitioners in a manner, which was far away from the demands for a Christian mode of procedure of Matthew 18: 15-17 and article XI section 2 of the Manual. Is it Christian to listen to defamations, to accept them as true without listening to the other parts? Is it honest to lead a talk with the concerned practitioners still at the same time leaving no doubt that judgment had been passed already? Is it fair to compare a true, devoted worker in God's vineyard with the 'Propagandaminister' of the Third Reich, Goebbels? Is it unbiased to believe in a few so-called Christian Scientists who are partly not even members of our church but have personal connections to Boston, and, as a consequence, offend against article VIII section 1 of the Manual? Is it kind to describe the whole parish as dependent, manipulated and hypnotized? Is it adequate for a Berlin teacher of Christian Science to describe in this connection the people of the northern part of Germany as susceptible to superstition?... When the only answer of the Board of Directors of The Mother Church to constructive criticism has been expressed, so far, in threats, menace, prohibition of publishing letters like this we know that God's truth will succeed."




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CHAPTER 32 — MISCALCULATIONS

A letter from the Board of Directors to authorized teachers of Christian Science dated January 1991 stated: "From time to time you may have been asked about the leaflet 'Mrs. Eddy's Place' and whether there are any plans to reprint it. While this statement prepared many years ago may have served a useful purpose at that time, it has not been reprinted for several decades, even though the subject has been thoughtfully weighed and considered by succeeding Boards of Directors. It has become increasingly clear that items such as this leaflet could be seen to represent an 'official' statement, or dogma, or even tend to supplant our Leader's own writings as a guide to her place and position."

Teachers were reminded to use "Mrs. Eddy's Place" in their classes as late as 1972, a time frame somewhat less than the several decades suggested by the Board's letter. The work of the committee of editors from 1938 to 1943 had compiled 57 typewritten pages of Mrs. Eddy's own published and unpublished statements about her place in Bible prophecy. This 1991 Board statement represented the complete repudiation of what Christian Scientists since the pioneer days of the movement had understood to be Mrs. Eddy's unique position in the Bible and Christian history. The gradual erosion of this understanding appeared over the years through Journal articles (August 1975, June 1980, January 1988) which had been cleared by the Directors. This new policy statement was sent only to teachers and was never given to the membership.

On March 6, 1991, a memorandum from the Manager of the Publishing Society, Netty Douglass, to employees stated: "...The Christian Science Monitor and its ancillary radio and television news broadcasts were established and are conducted with one purpose: public service. There is no second purpose or hidden agenda... Monitor broadcasts are not a means to propagate Christian




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Science. They have no missionary or proselytizing role. Nor do they serve a public relations function for the Church."

On the weekend of March 23 and 24, 1991, a party was held in Washington, D.C. to honor longtime Monitor correspondent, Godfrey "Budge" Sperling, Jr. In attendance were four of the five members of the Christian Science Board of Directors, Olga Chaffee, John Lewis Selover, Harvey Wood, and Virginia Harris, as well as their spouses. Altogether about twenty-four key members of the Christian Science hierarchy attended including Treasurer Donald Bowersock, Monitor Editor Richard Cattani, World Monitor TV editor David Cook, and manager of the Publishing Society, Netty Douglass. The party was estimated to have cost between $20,000 and $30,000. The Directors presented Mr. Sperling with a Steuben-style crystal eagle and an all-expense-paid vacation trip for him and his wife to Caneel Bay Plantation in the Virgin Islands. The eagle is estimated to have cost between $1000 and $2200, and the vacation between $3000 and $4000. All officials were flown down from Boston to Washington and housed in the Capital Hilton at the church's expense. Also in attendance were President George Bush, Vice President Dan Quayle, the Justices of the Supreme Court, the Secretaries of State and Defense, cabinet members, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The Boston Globe of March 24, 1991, in an article titled "The Christian Science Monitor's Big Cable Gamble". The article stated: "Top church officials have been barnstorming the country nearly every weekend, urging members to double their contributions... Although [John] Hoagland [chairman of Monitor Television, Inc.] responds to skeptics by citing the venture's sound business plan, he won't disclose it — even to church members being asked to fund the operation... And Monitor Television is seeking outside investors, a move that dissident members say runs counter to church founder Mary Baker Eddy's mandate that the Monitor's aim be essentially — if indirectly — religious... One group of dissident church members [The 89th Edition, Inc.] is planning to sue the church to learn how funds are being spent. [Netty] Douglass sharply states that under church doctrine, 'members are out of order if they ask for more information' — an interpretation contested by dissidents."

In a letter dated April 22, 1991, the Treasurer of The Mother Church wrote to retirees regarding their pension fund: "Because of the Fund's strong position, we are able to transfer $25 million from the Retirement Fund to the General Fund during April of 1991." This new transfer together with the $15 million transferred in April of 1989 added up to a total of $40 million removed from this fund to support the Church's electronic media projects.

The 24-hour Monitor Channel debuted on May 1, 1991. USA Today of April 18, 1991, reported that the channel would "launch in about 2 million




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homes. It's making it easy for cable systems to join up, charging no subscriber fees the first year." The Christian Science Journals for April and May stated: 'In light of the Treasurer's letters [requesting money to pay for the electronic media projects], members may want to forgo a trip to Boston [for Annual Meeting] this year in order to contribute more to Mother Church activities at this time."

The Washington Post of April 4, 1991, stated: "Media losses, according to published figures undisputed by the church, have totaled more than $100 million over the last two years... At the same time that the church's media operations have grown, employees who deal with Sunday schools, colleges and branch churches have been laid off... A recurring theme among disaffected church members is what they describe as an atmosphere of intimidation directed against those who criticize actions of the board of trustees, a self-perpetuating body that appoints its successors. Several members said their public criticism had cost them church-connected jobs or brought warnings about possible excommunication."

On May 15, 1991, Allan H. Taini, President of the 89th Edition, Inc., which is dedicated to forcing the Board of Directors to reveal its financial records to the members, was excommunicated from The Mother Church.

At the Annual Meeting in June, it was quietly announced that The Destiny of The Mother Church by Bliss Knapp would be published by the Publishing Society as part of the "Twentieth-Century Biographers Series". Not mentioned was the fact that the Church would collect $93 million in accordance with the wills of Eloise Mabury Knapp and her sister. Their wills specified that The Mother Church would receive the money if the Directors' 1948 repudiation of Bliss Knapp's book were not repeated; if the book were released as authorized literature; and if the Destiny book was sold in substantially. all Reading Rooms. The Archivist of The Mother Church, Lee Z. Johnson, had been fired shortly before this decision was made. Informed speculation stated that he was removed because of his strong opposition to the views expressed in the Destiny book. The hope was that by removing him, he could not interfere with the Directors' decision. Many considered the new policy of the Board to be hypocritical because these same Directors had repudiated "Mrs. Eddy's Place" — which is in complete accord with Bliss Knapp's book — only six months before in their letter to Christian Science teachers. The apparent plan of the Directors was to release several biographies of Mrs. Eddy in a short period of time and thereby dilute the impact of The Destiny of The Mother Church for which they expressed contempt in private.

Two more teachers were in trouble with the Directors — Betty Ann Ridley of Oklahoma City and Nancy Evans Houston of Champaign, Illinois. After the last meeting of teachers on November 22, 1988, at which a large number of




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teachers indicated their misgivings about Church policies and directions, the Board decided not to have any more group meetings. On October 3, 1990, the Directors informed all teachers that they would be visited individually by a Board member to discuss issues facing the Christian Science movement. The meetings turned out to be efforts to determine the loyalty of teachers to the Board. In some cases, the Directors would make outlandish statements (such as Harvey Wood is Mrs. Eddy's successor) in an effort to see how the "grapevine" among the teachers operated. By tracing the origin and route of the repeated statements, the Board could pass judgment on loyalty. In other cases, people were sent to suspect teachers feigning interest in class instruction. Their questions during the interviews with the teachers were calculated to determine attitudes toward the Directors.

Mrs. Ridley's meeting with the Board member became a personal attack against her. Subsequently she tried to answer the Directors' concerns to no avail. Because she held her association meeting against the Board's orders, she was suspended from teaching for three years as ordered in a letter dated June 14, 1991. In her reply to the Directors, Mrs. Ridley rejected the attempted discipline and refused to consent to the "improper and illegal decision" of the Board. She announced her intention to continue teaching and maintaining her association. Her pupils did not desert the association or their teacher as had often happened in similar cases in the past.

In an unrelated case, Nancy Evans Houston presented a 38-page paper to members of her association on June 28, 1991, in which she detailed a similar situation. Miss Houston had been informed of a "complaint" against her for "verbally and in writing" passing along "untruths about The Mother Church". Her designation of teacher was removed from her Journal listing in October 1990. Miss Houston submitted an affidavit denying the charges, and members of her association sent letters of support. The Directors were not swayed by her efforts to clear up the situation. Because of this, Miss Houston announced to her association that she intended to teach and hold her association in accordance with the Church Manual even if her name were removed from the Journal. As in the case of Mrs. Ridley, Miss Houston's association stood by her.

On July 3, 1991, First Church, Bremen, Germany, severed its ties with The Mother Church. In a letter to the author, the members of this branch stated: "As you may know our letters to the Board of Directors as well as to the Treasurer of the Mother Church have not been answered. The reaction came in an indirect way — by calumny, defamation and imputation... Time has come to confront the fact that there is no future in Boston... Full of thank we can report that God gave us a new church... Its foundation is Christ, unchangeable in eternity. Here, our Master will find the place due to him in the hearts of men... We certainly know




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that high appreciation is due to Mrs. Eddy, and be sure: this principle also is unchangeable in our Church of Christ. Of course, it is bitter to learn that Boston is not better than Rome!"

On September 6, 1991, former Archivist of The Mother Church, Lee Z. Johnson, sent a letter to all branch church boards and librarians of Reading Rooms declaring that Bliss Knapp's book, The Destiny of The Mother Church, was incorrect literature and that it had been rejected by the Board in 1948. The letter suggested that branch churches refuse to carry the book in their Reading Rooms. This letter constituted the first notice to the field that the Destiny book had been published and constituted the opening salvo in a war which was to extend over the next two years and beyond.

On October 2, 1991, the videotaping of the inaugural program of "Mort Sahl Live!" for The Monitor Channel took place at the gambling capital of the East, Atlantic City, New Jersey, at Merv Griffin's Resorts Hotel. The card given to invited guests stated, "Monitor Buses depart every ten minutes from Bally's Grand, Tropworld Resort, Trump Regency Hotel, Caesars, [and] Bally's Park Place. Return transportation will be provided."

An article by Stephen Gottschalk appeared in the November 6, 1991, issue of Christian Century entitled "Honesty, Blasphemy and The Destiny of the Mother Church". The article attacked Bliss Knapp's book and the decision of the Board of Directors to publish it. Since the circulation of this magazine among Christian Scientists is nil, the purpose of the article was seen as an effort to embarrass the Directors and put the maximum amount of pressure on them. The article's appearance also indicated strong political maneuvering behind the scenes. Mr. Gottschalk also appeared on Cable News Network on October 3rd and 4th attacking the Destiny book and the Board's decision to print it.

The Johnson letter and the Gottschalk article sent shock waves in the field as branch churches debated what they should do. On November 22nd, five employees at The Mother Church were fired because they spoke against the Knapp book in their branch churches.

On November 18, 1991, USA Today reported that "Anchor John Hart [of World Monitor] quit amid concern the [Christian Science Publishing] Society's religion influenced the newscast... Discovery [Channel] may drop the show because it's also concerned about Society influence on programming."

Also in November, an undated, special issue of the Sentinel was mailed out to Church members. In an article entitled "Learning to Trust Our Leader" stated: "She [Mrs. Eddy] made it clear that the Board of Directors set the course of action in conducting the Church's business. And she expected all of us to learn how to unify in prayerful participation as faithful members of The Mother Church."

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In December 1991, the Reading Room News announced that the videotape, Mary Baker Eddy: A Heart in Protest was being discontinued. This production was less than three years old and was produced at great expense. The speculation was that it had been withdrawn because of the prominent part played in it by Messrs. Peel, Johnson, and Gottschalk. In August 1990, The Gethsemane Foundation had made a study of the strange differences between the broadcast version and the home video version of this production as well as numerous instances which portray Mrs. Eddy in a negative or ambivalent way.

The Normal Class was held in December 1991. These classes are held once every three years and only thirty students are eligible to attend. Its members are supposed to be selected on the basis of spiritual understanding and fitness to teach as well as equitable geographic distribution. This class included the wife and cousin of John Hoagland, President of Monitor Television, as well as one of his former business associates. Beginning with the Normal Class of 1988, each student has been required to sign a pledge agreeing to relinquish his teaching certificate immediately and without question should the Board of Directors request it. This unprecedented requirement was seen as proof of the Directors' fear and distrust of the teachers in the field and clear evidence of their determination to dampen all dissent.




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CHAPTER 33 — VALUABLE EXPERIENCE

The Christian Science Monitor maintained its persistent antagonism to national sovereignty. The December 4, 1991, issue praised the U.N.-sanctioned military action against Iraq because it helped "break the old barriers of sovereignty." An editorial on December 20th stated: "Jingoism, false pride, exclusion, and division have been fruits of nationalism." On January 21, 1992, the newspaper printed: "Challenge notions of sovereignty as inadequate..."

The big news in the Church was the resignation of the editor and associate editors of the religious periodicals on February 25, 1992. The letter from Allison W. Phinney, Michael D. Rissler, Ann Kenrick, and Elaine Natale stated, "In good conscience we are unable to continue serving as Editors under present Board policies." Their resignations were followed by many others with copies of their letters going out to the field. The Directors had printed the special, undated issue of the Sentinel in November 1991 without consulting its editor. The Board had ordered Elaine Natale to write an editorial supporting their decision to print the Knapp book. She refused and was put on probation. The mass resignations followed. All four editors and those who resigned in sympathy with them denounced the Destiny book with its elaboration of Mrs. Eddy's place in Bible prophecy as incorrect literature.

Also on February 25th, other plans were going awry. The Knapp wills stated that if The Mother Church failed to live up to specified requirements, the money would go to Stanford University and Museum Associates of California. According to a brief filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, the university and museum had been rebuffed by The Mother Church when they had asked for proof that the terms of the will were being complied with. As a result, they requested, and the judge granted, a ninety day extension to find out the answers. This




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action delayed the first installment of $25 million which was to be turned over to The Mother Church. This delay resulted in the borrowing of large amounts of money from the already abused employees pension fund, the endowment fund for the Monitor, and the trust established by Mrs. Eddy's will.

The resignations and the delay in the Knapp money triggered more events in Boston on March 9th. Harvey Wood, member of the Board of Directors since 1977, resigned. In the Monitor of March 10th, the Board stated, "Our longtime colleague and friend, Harvey Wood, has provided important direction for this church. The board is deeply grateful for his service and loyalty. He has been closely involved in all of the church's efforts to find renewed relevance in today's world, to strengthen its healing practice, and to promote international peace." Other changes included the Board decision to resume the administrative form used prior to 1918 when each Director assumed a second duty such as Clerk, Treasurer, etc. On closer examination, it was noted that the people most responsible for the controversial electronic media decisions remained behind the scenes. Netty Douglass resigned as Manager of the Publishing Society, but remained as executive producer and editor of radio and telev_ision programming and as president of Monitor Television. John Hoagland resigned as Trustee of the Publishing Society, but remained as chairman of Monitor Television. Donald Bowersock resigned as Treasurer, but stayed on as managing Treasurer. Harvey Wood did not leave town and return to Illinois, but stayed in Boston where he became known as "the sixth Director".

Kurt Stark, President of The Mother Church in 1991, was subsequently appointed to the Bible lesson committee. He was seen bidding farewell to Mr. Phinney at the time of the latter's resignation and was fired within ten minutes.

The other big news was the decision to sell The Monitor Channel or shut it down by June 15th if a buyer were not found. Church members breathed a sigh of relief because it seemed that runaway spending would stop and save the Church from bankruptcy. Cable World of March 23rd stated in an article entitled "How did Monitor spend all that money?", "Although it's unclear how much of that money [$250 million Mother Church investment in the electronic media] was poured directly into The Monitor Channel, that eye-popping figure has cable insiders scratching their heads, in amazement... 'It's probably up there with some of the biggest financial failures ever seen in cable," said Kirsten Beck, author of the book Cultivating the Wasteland which traced cable's history."

The Monitor of April 24th ran an article headlined, "Christian Science Church Threatened With Lawsuit". Besides announcing that demands from a group of church members that the entire Board resign had been received via a Philadelphia law firm, the article stated: "On March 4, a group of three Christian Science teachers wrote to the directors protesting recent church policies and




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urging the resignation of director Harvey Wood, Christian Science Publishing Society trustee Hal Friesen, trustee and Monitor Television, Inc., chairman John Hoagland Jr., Monitor Television president and Publishing Society manager Netty Douglass, and church treasurer Donald Bowersock." All except Hal Friesen had resigned only to remain on the scene in other positions. Hal Friesen returned to California. The letter from the three teachers, Margaret M. Rennie, Nola A. Cook, and Roy J. Linnig, was sent out and included over 100 pages of supplemental material to back up their requests for the resignations. Besides exhaustive attention to the massive spending and questionable ethics exhibited in Boston, the teachers attacked The Destiny of The Mother Church by Bliss Knapp as incorrect literature and called for its immediate withdrawal. In essence, the letters urged a return to the way the church had been run before the electronic media projects had been initiated.

Over the months, thirty-four other teachers would join the original three in their call for resignations, fiscal reform, and the withdrawal of the Destiny book. The March 1992 Journal listed 250 teachers approved by Boston worldwide. The protesting teachers represented, therefore, about 15% of the total. These teachers and some important members in the field established The Mailing Fund which accepted donations and sent out periodic letters reiterating their position. Longtime reformers in the Christian Science field noted that this group never gave credit nor even acknowledged the existence of the "Paul Revere" letters, The Gethsemane Foundation, The 89th Edition, Inc., Benjamin N. Covington, Reginald G. Kerry, or any others who had written to the field detailing policies which were leading to the decline of the Cause of Christian Science. This group even refused to place one of these individuals on its mailing list and returned his donation sent to help defray their expenses.

The Directors' biggest hurdle was the forthcoming Annual Meeting when they would have to face the general membership and explain what went wrong. On June 8th, the meeting convened. The Directors elected Nathan Talbot as the new President of The Mother Church who would conduct the meeting. In previous years as Committee on Publication, he had always received the most sustained applause from those in attendance, and no doubt he was chosen to run the 1992 meeting in order to help put the best possible face on a delicate and explosive situation. With pickets outside with signs, and booing and shouted questions inside, Mr. Talbot had his hands full.

Because the financial situation was impossible to explain in any rational way, a seventeen-page document from the Treasurer's office was handed out to all in attendance as they left. While this constituted the most extensive report ever given to members, many felt that it did not answer their questions in any comprehensible way. Its size and complexity nevertheless initially satisfied




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enough people that some effort was being made to tell the facts.

Director-Treasurer John Lewis Selover stated: "Through these past several years, valuable experience has been won, at a price... A time of deliberate, unselfish, and prayer-filled reassessment can bring to light the needed fresh paths in the fullness of the service of this Church to mankind. Moses had to go back a second time to bring the Ten Commandments to his people. So, if we have to go back to some other summit, some other Horeb, we will find a way to do it - together." In the middle of the meeting, a torrential downpour began outside, and great crashes of thunder reverberated through the Extension. In the midst of the cloudburst, the Annual Meeting was concluded, and the Directors had survived the most intense scrutiny by fellow church members since the Board had been constituted in 1892.

A week before the meeting, a group of retired Mother Church employees requested via a law firm that the Directors agree not to spend any more money from the pension fund which had already been reduced from $130 million three years before to just $25 million on June 1st when their letter was written. The Directors declined to make any assurances. During the same period, the trust fund established under Mrs. Eddy's will was reduced from $13 million to $3 million. In the July 20th Boston Globe, manager of Committees on Publication, M. Victor Westberg stated, "That the lights of television are going dark and the church's network, the Monitor channel, is up for sale is a fiscal move by the church in demanding economic times. The inspired concept of the channel will gain fruition at another time, in another situation."

On September 16, 1992, three prominent members of The Mother Church prepared "Report of Group Making Inquiry into Finances of The Mother Church". Issued by Richard P. Bond, Thomas P. Griesa, and James L. Halferty, the report arranged the information in the Treasurer's report to make the figures clearer. Church funds used to pay for the following activities were as follows:

The Christian Science Monitor 1985-1992: $138 million; World Monitor

magazine 1988-1992: $36. 9 million; Monitor Radio and Shortwave 1984-1992:

$105. 3 million; television projects including 1985-1988 monthly and weekly programs: $23. 5 million; the daily World Monitor program on the Discovery Channel 1988-1992: $84. 7 million; the Monitor Channel 1991-1992: $89. 1 million; WQTV/Channel 68 in Boston 1986-1992: $61. 7 million; TV close down costs: $65. 9 million. Total television costs: $324. 9 million.

The report continued by drawing attention to "Note B — Going Concern" which appeared in the audit done by Ernst & Young. According to the Boston Globe of September 24, 1992: "Asked about the presence of a 'going concern' note in an auditor's report, John A. Schatzel, assistant professor of accounting at Northeastern University, said such a note generally indicates 'substantial doubt




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about the entity's ability to continue as a going concern.'"

Court hearings resumed in California over the controversy of the Knapp wills and money on September 17th. The proceedings were adjourned until January 1993 with no money going to Boston yet.

There was belt tightening in Boston as the Reading Room Update of July announced that Reading Rooms wishing to receive sample copies of new items offered by the Publishing Society would be assessed an annual $75 surcharge. Also every order placed by a Reading Room librarian would be assessed a $5 service charge. It was stated that this would result in a savings of $300,000 per year.

The Directors had survived the Annual Meeting, and the effort of the three teachers urging them to resign had failed. With every passing day the likelihood that the Board would voluntarily vacate their offices became more remote. The original three teachers opposing the Board were joined by others, and a steady stream of letters and papers were sent out to the field in an effort to keep the issue alive.

More and more, the mailings focused their attention on Bliss Knapp, his wife, and sister-in-law. Every effort was made to blacken their reputations, question their motives, and raise doubts about their honesty and integrity. Statements were made that searches of the Archives had not uncovered any evidence that Mrs. Eddy regarded parts of the Bible as referring specifically to herself and her mission even though the committee of editors had collected 57 typewritten pages of evidence between 1938 and 1943.

An article in the October 8, 1992, Boston Globe stated, "The directors of The First Church of Christ, Scientist, have stepped in to bar the reappointment of four regional church spokesmen apparently because they refused to promote a controversial book about church founder Mary Baker Eddy... All four — who work in New Hampshire, Colorado, the Netherlands and Australia — had objected to the directors' decision to publish 'The Destiny of the Mother Church' by the late Bliss Knapp... James H. Meyer, the committee on publication in Colorado, said in his final report to members that although he has had 'serious reservations' about the book since it was published last October, he has kept the reservations to himself, with the exception of a few comments made at a workshop for church members last spring."

In a letter dated November 23, 1992, Stephen Gottschalk stated that he had agreed to act as an consultant for Stanford University and against the Directors in their efforts to claim the money in the Knapp estate. He wrote the letter because rumors were spreading that he was being paid to represent Stanford University.




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CHAPTER 34 — THE PRESENT AND FUTURE

The Directors were beginning to express cautious opt1m1sm after successfully weathering the 1992 Annual Meeting. An Associated Press article which appeared in late January 1993 stated: "A rift in the Christian Science Church was fueled by a handful of dissidents who mocked church tradition, the organization president said... [Nathan] Talbot said there actually were few critics and that their influence was exaggerated by a flair for media manipulation. He said most members drawn into the controversy were 'confused' but that much lost unity has been restored... Talbot said the church remains committed to its daily Christian Science Monitor newspaper but that it had not abandoned television journalism."

In their strategy to mend fences, the Directors sent letters to the field on the subject of Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures. The letters stated, "Come and explore some topics about this book..." Teachers loyal to the Board fanned out through the country in pairs with a rehearsed dialogue which, in most locales, seemed successful in restoring warm feelings and redirecting thought away from the recent crises.

The Directors also changed their strategy in their efforts to get the Knapp estate. Its value had kept increasing until it had reached $100 million in early 1993. With the prospect of court hearings stretching out into an uncertain future, the Board began private negotiations with Stanford University and Museum Associates in an effort to work out an agreement whereby the three parties would split the money. A group of sixteen Christian Scientists quickly announced its intention to go to court to prevent The Mother Church from collecting any of the money. There were still some other problems to overcome, but they seemed manageable. The Boston Globe of March 3, 1993,




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reported: "The US Postal Service is investigating the use of nonprofit mailing rates by the Church of Christ, Scientist, according to a report on the finances of the troubled church by an ad hoc group of former Christian Science officials and business people... Because of the mixing of exempt with for-profit activities, the church also failed at times to pay Massachusetts sales tax on items such as books and umbrellas the report charges."

An effort by The 89th Edition, Inc. to convince the Attorney General of Massachusetts and the U.S. Attorney to investigate financial irregularities in The Mother Church was not successful. They declined on the basis of church-state issues which prevent the government from probing into the affairs of a church organization, according to the May 19, 1993, Boston Globe.

Christian Science teacher, Nancy Evans Houston, of Champaign, Illinois, was still listed in the Journal even though her designation of teacher had been removed in October 1990. Her practitioner card was removed entirely from the Journal in February 1993. In a letter to the Board of Directors dated January 30, 1993, Miss Houston stated: "I was in the process of drafting a letter in response to yours of December 10...when I learned from the Field that my advertisement had been removed from the February 1993 Christian Science Journal. It seems apparent that you had already taken this step prior to my receipt of your last letter. "Contrary to your assertions of the Board's patience, it is I and not the Board who has exercised patience while under continued persecution. In the beginning, you apparently did not like my sharing with someone, at her request, a copy of a letter which was already being circulated throughout the Field (much of which has proven to be true). So I apologized if I offended you, and that should have been the end of it. Instead you then questioned my right to teach and attempted to stop me from teaching. You removed my 'teacher' designation from The Christian Science Journal without my agreement. "Now you are trying to say that others outside the movement are interfering with my work. Nothing could be further from the truth... A face-to-face meeting would not make them more or less true, but would waste time, energy, and resources... "The only thing I have not done, and again am not required to do under the Church Manual, which is my authority, is to come before you and allow you to grill me on my personal thoughts and my observations about your conduct of the Church's business. I will not and cannot as a practicing Christian Scientist submit to such attempts at thought control, manipulation, and intimidation. "I request that you stop this travesty and restore my advertisement in The Christian Science Journal, including 'teacher'. I will continue my activities in service to our Cause and look forward to the time when an enlightened Board of




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Directors will correct past mistakes."

Bruce and John Klingbeil, the father and son practitioners who had moved from Chicago to Salem, Oregon, to continue research to prove the power of prayer were in the news one last time. They had achieved their goal of proving prayer's effectiveness according to the standard scientific method recognized by the secular scientific and academic communities. Incontrovertible evidence of Christian Science healing could be proven to skeptics,and their work was finally gaining credibility in scientific circles.

According to the Boston Globe of May 16, 1993, the father and son went out in the woods and took their own lives because they were "apparently despondent that their attempt to scientifically prove the value of prayer was not embraced by the First Church of Christ, Scientist and others... Bruce Klingbeil had been removed as a practitioner of spiritual healing in the First Church of Christ, Scientist in 1983... [T]he church had begun excommunication proceedings against the elder Klingbeil in 1990." The Statesman-Journal of Salem, Oregon, quoted The Mother Church C.O.P. as saying, "That sort of approach is not the kind of thing our church is involved in... We are more involved in the regeneration of individual. lives." (December 14, 1987)

The Sentinel of April 26, 1993, included an editorial entitled "Loyal Christian Scientists". An ex-lawyer's comments were approvingly quoted: "There is no such thing as 'loyal opposition'..."

The Mother Church announced the shut down of World Monitor magazine in May because it showed no prospect of making a profit or breaking even. Its deficit for 1992-93 was $3. 2 million. The Church's TV station, WQTV was sold to Boston University on June 24th for $3. 8 million. The Church had invested $60 million in the station since its purchase in 1986.

The Annual Meeting, as reported in the August 1993 Journal, was held on June 7th. Board member, Richard C. Bergenheim, read a special message from the Directors: "For about ten years now, some members have devoted themselves to compiling a record of what they perceive to be the errors of employees and church officers... We have no choice but to say: In most cases these reports are composed of half-truths and personal interpretations of events... Still, we could never claim that no mistakes have been made... And like anyone else, we regret them, we regret them deeply... The picture that has sometimes been portrayed of a Church lacking in compassion, ethics, or healing is not a true picture... There is, of course plenty of room for progress. And this Board needs your help. The Old Testament tells us that even Moses could not do everything required of him on his own. The children of Israel engaged Aaron and Hur to help hold up his arms. Will you hold up the arms of your fellow church workers as we go forward together?" According to the Boston Globe of June




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8th, "A statement read by board member Richard Bergenheim at the outset of the church's annual meeting was greeted with 45 seconds of applause and a standing ovation from the majority of the 4,000 to 5,000 people in the huge extension of the Mother Church in the Back Bay."

Reports given at the Annual Meeting stated that contributions were down 8% over the year. Because of the reduced income, the Church arranged for a $5 million line of credit at the Bank of Boston. Total income for the year ending was $76 million which was $6 million more than had been projected. Expenses for the year had been $70 million. The Church lost $23 million on publishing and broadcasting during the year.

Information which does not find its way into the Annual Meeting reports is the dramatic decrease in the number of Christian Science practitioners and churches. The Annual Meeting for 1951 reported 10,503 practitioners worldwide. A count made in the August 1993 Journal revealed 2,575 practitioners worldwide, — a loss of 7,928 or a 75% decrease.

The 1951 report claimed 3,049 churches/societies worldwide. The Annual Meeting of 1961 announced 3,273 branches worldwide, as an all time high. The August 1993 Journal revealed 2,467 branches worldwide, — a loss of 806 churches or a 25% decrease since 1961. The churches remaining are, for the most part, practically empty.

The year 1993 finds Christian Science at a crossroads and an impasse. Eighty-two years have passed since Mrs. Eddy departed the human scene. It is safe to say that neither the spirit nor the letter of her Church Manual has been obeyed since December 1910.

The current Board position, — shared even by the teachers who oppose the present Directors, — is that God did not know Christ Jesus or Mary Baker Eddy, and by extension, He couldn't know any of us. Mary Baker Eddy and her place in Bible prophecy have been repudiated by the Directors of her Church and some other authorized teachers of Christian Science. Without a recognition of her unique place, Christian Scientists lose their anchor in the Bible and the authority to Heal the Sick, Raise the Dead, Cleanse the Lepers, and Cast out Demons.

One is reminded of Adam Dickey's words at the conclusion of the litigation over the Publishing Society. He wrote in the April 1922 Journal: "The business of The Mother Church shall be transacted by its Christian Science Board of Directors. This does not mean that the Directors are at liberty to inflict their will or their desire upon the Christian Science movement."

Every Christian Scientist must ask himself if that statement has been reflected in reality since those words were written.




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APPENDIXES






APPENDIX A

Last Will and Testament of Mary Baker Eddy

Be It Known that I, Mary Baker G. Eddy, of Concord, New Hampshire, being of sound and disposing mind and memory, do make, publish and declare this to be my last will and testament in manner and form following, that is to say;

1. I hereby nominate and appoint Honorable Henry M. Baker, of Bow, New Hampshire, sole executor of this my last will and testament; and, having ample confidence in his ability and integrity, I desire that he shall not be required to furnish sureties on his official bond.

2. Having already transferred and given to my son, George W. Glover, of Lead City, South Dakota, four certain mortgage deeds bought of the Farmers Loan and Trust Company, of the state of Kansas, and having already given him a house and lot located in Lead City, South Dakota, and monies at various times, I hereby confirm and ratify said transfers and gifts, and, in addition thereto, I give and bequeath to my said son, George W. Glover, the sum of ten thousand dollars.
3. I give and bequeath to George H. Moore, of Concord, New Hampshire, the sum of one thousand dollars; to each of the five children of my son, George

W. Glover, the sum of ten thousand dollars; to Mrs. Mary A. Baker, of Boston, Massachusetts, widow of my late brother, the sum of five thousand dollars; to Frances A. Baker, of Concord, New Hampshire, the sum of three thousand dollars; to Henrietta E. Chanfrau, of Philadelphia, Penn., the sum of one thousand dollars; to Fred N. Ladd, of Concord, New Hampshire, the sum of three




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thousand dollars; to my adopted son, Benjamin J. Foster, M.D., the sum of five thousand dollars; to Calvin A. Frye, of Concord, New Hampshire, the sum of ten thousand dollars; provided he continues in my service to the date of my decease; to Pauline Mann, of Concord, New Hampshire, the sum of one thousand dollars, provided she continues in my service to the date of my decease; to Joseph G. Mann, of Concord, New Hampshire, three thousand dollars, provided he continues in my service to the date of my decease; to Laura E. Sargent, of Concord, New Hampshire, three thousand dollars, provided she continues in my service to the date of my decease.

4. I give and bequeath to The Mother Church — First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Massachusetts, the sum of fifty thousand dollars.
5. I give and devise to Calvin A. Frye and Joseph G. Mann, above named, provided they shall respectively remain in my service to the date of my decease, the right, during the term of their respective natural lives, to occupy and use my homestead and grounds called "Pleasant View," in Concord, New Hampshire, as their residence and home, but the rights hereby conditionally granted to said Frye and Mann shall not be assignable to any other person. Said homestead and grounds connected therewith shall not be leased to, or occupied by, any persons, except as herein provided. No part of said homestead, or lands connected therewith, shall be devoted to any other uses or purposes than those of a home for said Frye and Mann during their respective lives (provided they respectively remain in my service to the date of my decease) and a home for my grandchildren according to the terms of this will and, after the termination of the rights of said Frye and Mann and my grandchildren as herein provided, as a place for the reception, entertainment, and care of Christian Science visitors and their friends, and to such other purposes looking to the general advancement of the Christian Science religion as may be deemed best by the residuary legatee. All the personal property, except my jewelry, in and about said homestead and lands shall be kept and carefully used on said premises.

In my contract with Edward A. Kimball, of Chicago, dated October 9, 1899, provision is made for the creation of a trust fund for the purpose of procuring an annual revenue or income which shall be used for maintaining in a perpetual state of repair my said homestead. A further provision is also made for that purpose in said contract. If for any reason, sufficient funds for such purposes shall not be provided from the sources named in said contract, then I direct that my residuary legatee shall provide and expend such sums, from time to time, as may be necessary for the purpose of maintaining said homestead and grounds in a perpetual state of repair and cultivation.

I hereby give and devise to my grandson, George W. Glover, Jr., the right and privilege of living and having a home at Pleasant View and of being




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supported therein in a reasonable manner at the expense of my estate while he is obtaining his education preparatory to admission to Dartmouth College, providing he shall select and choose to obtain his education at that institution. I also direct my executor to pay all of said George W. Glover, Jr.'s, reasonable expenses while at said College, giving him, in the meantime, the privilege of a home at Pleasant View.

I also give and devise to my granddaughters the right and privilege of living and having a home at Pleasant View, and of being supported therein in a reasonable manner at the expense of my estate, while they, or either of them, are . obtaining a high school education, provided they, or either of them, desire the advantages of such course.

6. I give and bequeath to the Christian Science Board of Directors of The Mother Church — The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Massachusetts — and their successors in office, the sum of one hundred thousand dollars, but, nevertheless, in trust for the following purposes, namely; said trustees shall hold invest, and reinvest the principal of said fund and conservatively manage the same and shall use the income and such portion of the principal, from time to time, as they may deem best, for purpose of providing free instruction for indigent, well-educated, worthy Christian Scientists at the Massachusetts Metaphysical College and to aid them thereafter until they can maintain themselves in some department of Christian Science.

I desire that the instruction for which provision is hereby made shall be at the said College, but my said trustees are hereby authorized to provide said instruction elsewhere, if, in the unanimous judgment of all said trustees for the time being, such course shall seem best. The judgment and discretion of said trustees with reference to the person to be aided as herein provided and the amount of aid furnished to each of said persons shall be final and conclusive.

7. I hereby ratify and confirm the following trust agreements and declarations, viz.
1. The deed of trust dated September 1, 1892, conveying land for church edifice in Boston and on which the building of the First Church of Christ, Scientist, now stands.
2. The trust agreement dated January 25, 1898, conveying to Edward P. Bates, James A. Neal, and William P. McKenzie, and their successors, the property conveyed to me by the Christian Science Publishing Society, by bill of sale dated January 21, 1898, the said trust being created for the purpose of more effectually promoting and extending the religion of Christian Science as taught by me.
3. The trust agreement dated February 12, 1898, specifying the objects, purposes, terms, and conditions on which the First Church of Christ, Scientist,



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in Boston, Massachusetts, shall hold the real estate situated at #385 Commonwealth Avenue, in Boston, Massachusetts, which was conveyed by me to said church on said February 12, 1898.

4. The trust agreement dated January 31, 1898, whereby certain real estate was conveyed to George H. Moore, Calvin A. Frye, and Ezra M. Buswell, and their successors, and in addition thereto, the sum of one hundred thousand dollars, for the purpose of a Christian Science church to be erected on said real estate.
5. The trust agreement dated May 20, 1898, under which the sum of four thousand dollars was transferred to The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, for the benefit of the children contributors of the Mother's room in said church.
6. The deed of trust dated December 21, 1895, transferring five hundred dollars to the trustees of Park Cemetery Association, of Tilton, New Hampshire.
8. I give, bequeath and devise all the rest, residue and remainder of my estate, of every kind and description to the Mother Church — The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Massachusetts, in trust for the following general purposes; I desire that such portion of the income of my residuary estate as may be necessary shall be used for the purpose of keeping in repair the church building and my former house at # 385 Commonwealth Avenue in said Boston, which has been transferred to said Mother Church, and any building or substituted therefor; and so far as may be necessary, to maintain my said homestead and grounds ("Pleasant View" in Concord, New Hampshire) in a perpetual state of repair and cultivation for the use and purposes heretofore in this will expressed; and I desire that the balance of said income, and such portion of the principal as may be deemed wise, shall be devoted and used by said residuary legatee for the purpose of more effectually promoting and extending the religion of Christian Science as taught by me.

Witness my hand and seal this thirteenth day of September, A.D. 1901.

Mary B.G. Eddy (LS)

Signed, sealed and declared by the above named Mary Baker G. Eddy as and for her last will and testament, in the presence of us, who, at her request, in her presence, and in the presence of each other, have subscribed our names as witnesses hereto.

Mary E. Tomlinson Irving C. Tomlinson Myron J. Pratt Alvin B. Cross




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Be It Known that I, Mary Baker G. Eddy, of Concord, New Hampshire, do hereby make, publish and declare a codicil to my last will and testament, originally dated September 13, 1901, a duplicate of said will having been this day re-executed by me upon the discovery of the loss of the original dated September 13, 1901, as aforesaid, in manner following namely;

1. I hereby revoke the bequest in paragraph numbered 5 of my said will, to Joseph G. Mann, of the right to occupy with Calvin A. Frye my homestead premises known as "Pleasant View," during the lifetime of the said Mann, and I hereby bequeath unto Irving C. Tomlinson, of Concord, New Hampshire and to his sister Mary E. Tomlinson the right during the term of their respective lives to occupy and use as a home said premises known as "Pleasant View," said occupancy and use by them to be personal to them and not assignable to any other person by them or either of them and shall be exercised with due regard to the rights of other persons named in said will, excepting said Mann, to occupy and enjoy said premises.
2. I give and bequeath to Laura E. Sargent the sum of Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000), this legacy to be in lieu of the legacy provided for her in paragraph numbered 3 of my said will, and to be unconditional.
3. I give, devise and bequeath to the Second Church of Christ, Scientist, in New York City, a sum not exceeding One Hundred and Seventy-five Thousand Dollars ($175,000.) sufficient to pay the indebtedness which may exist at the time of my decease upon the church edifice of said Second Church of Christ, Scientist, and direct that said sum of One Hundred and Seventy-five Thousand Dollars ($175,000.), or so much thereof as may be necessary for the purpose shall be applied as soon as may be after my decease to or towards the extinguishment of said indebtedness; if the amount required for this purpose shall not be as much as "One Hundred and Seventy-five Thousand Dollars ($175,000.), then this legacy shall be limited to the amount actually required.
4. I give and bequeath to Mrs. Pamelia J. Leonard, of Brooklyn, New York, the sum of Three Thousand Dollars ($3,000.); to Mrs. Augusta E. Stetson, of New York City, my "crown of diamonds" breastpin; to Mrs. Laura Lathrop, of New York City, my diamond cross; to Mrs. Ro'se Kent, of Jamestown, New York, my gold watch and chain; and to Henry M. Baker, of Bow, New Hampshire, my portrait set in diamonds.
5. Mrs. Mary A. Baker, to whom I have bequeathed Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000), by my will having deceased since the original execution of said will on September 13, 1901, I hereby revoke the legacy therein provided for her.
6. The bequest in my will to Calvin A. Frye is hereby increased to twenty thousand dollars, but subject to the same condition as therein provided.

I hereby ratify and reaffirm my will as originally executed on September 13, 1%

1901, and as again executed this day, in all respects except as herein modified.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal at Concord, New Hampshire, this seventh day of November, A.D. 1903

Mary Baker G. Eddy (LS)

Signed, sealed, published and declared by the above named Mary Baker G. Eddy to be a codicil to her last will and testament in presence of us, who at her request, subscribed our names as witnesses hereto.

Myron J. Pratt Alvin B. Cross Calvin C. Hill

34 St. Stephen St., Boston.

Be It Known That I, Mary Baker G. Eddy, of Concord, New Hampshire, do hereby make, publish, and declare this second codicil to my last will and testament originally dated September 15, 1901, a duplicate of said will having been re-executed by me on November 7, 1903, in manner following, namely;

1. I hereby direct and require that the executor of my will shall sell, within three months after his appointment, at public auction or if he sees fit, at private sale, for such price as he may determine upon and to such purchaser as he may see fit, my real estate in said Concord known as "Pleasant View," consisting of my homestead and the grounds occupied in connection therewith, and I hereby direct that the proceeds of such sale shall be forthwith paid over to the Directors of the First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Massachusetts, to be used for such purposes in connection with said Church as said Directors may determine. Nothing contained in my will or codicil thereto shall be considered inconsistent with said Church purchasing said real estate, if the Directors may consider if desirable so to do.

I hereby revoke the provisions of my will and first codicil providing for the occupancy of said real estate by various persons, the preservation and maintenance thereof at the expense of my estate, and all other provisions of my will and codicil inconsistent with the foregoing direction to my executor to sell said real estate.

2. I hereby give and bequeath to The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Massachusetts, all the contents of my said homestead and of the other buildings at "Pleasant View," — except so far as any of the same may be specifically bequeathed in my will and codicils thereto, which specific bequests I do not modify by this provision, — the same to be kept or disposed of as may be determined by the Directors of said Church; but I direct that Calvin A. Frye shall have the privilege of selecting from said articles such keepsakes or mementos,



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not exceeding in intrinsic value the sum of five hundred dollars, as he may desire and I give and bequeath the same to him when so selected.

3. I hereby direct that said Calvin A. Frye shall be provided with a suitable home in my house at No. 385 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, if he so desires, he to have the exclusive occupancy of two furnished rooms therein, to be designated by my executor, and to have his board, suitable heat, light, and all other things necessary for his comfortable occupancy of said premises during his natural life, the expense thereof to be provided out of the income from the residue of my estate which I have left to said The First Church of Christ Scientist, in Boston, Massachusetts.
4. I give and bequeath to Lydia B. Hall, of Brockton, Massachusetts, the sum of one thousand dollars.
5. I give and bequeath to Irving C. Tomlinson, of said Concord, the note which I hold signed by him, it being my intention hereby to release him from said indebtedness.

In all other respects except as herein specified, I hereby ratify and reaffirm my will and codicil above mentioned.

In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal at Concord, New Hampshire, this fourteenth day of May, A.D. 1904.

Mary Baker G. Eddy (LS)

Signed, sealed, published and declared by the above named Mary Baker G. Eddy to be a codicil to her last will and testament, in presence of us, who, at her request, in her presence, and in the presence of each other, have subscribed our names as witnesses hereto.

Suffolk S.S., Dec. 6, 1928 Probate Court.

A true copy, attest

John R. Nichols, Asst. Register.




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Josiah E. Fernald Mary E. Thompson Calvin C. Hill






APPENDIX B

Deed of Trust of The Christian Science Publishing Society

Be it Known That I, Mary Baker G. Eddy of Concord, New Hampshire, in consideration of one dollar to me paid by Edward P. Bates, James A. Neal, and William P. McKenzie, all of Boston, Massachusetts, and in consideration of their agreement to faithfully observe and perform all the conditions hereinafter specified to be by them observed and performed, and for the purpose of more effectually promoting and extending the religion of Christian Science as taught by me, do hereby sell and convey to them, the said Bates, Neal, and McKenzie, and their successors in the Trust hereinafter established all and singular the personal property, goods, and chattels which were sold and conveyed to me by the Christian Science Publishing Society by its bill of sale dated January 21, 1898, said property being located in the premises numbered 95 and 97 Falmouth Street in said Boston, including the publication called The Christian Science Journal (not including the copyrights thereof), the linotype, all pamphlets, tracts, and other literature conveyed to me by said bill of sale, the Hymnal, the subscription lists of The Christian Science Journal and of The Christian Science Quarterly, all stationary fixtures, stock on hand manufactured or otherwise, machinery, tools, mailing lists, book accounts, notes, drafts, checks, and bills, whether in process of collection or not, five United States bonds of one thousand dollars each, all cash and bank accounts and all personal property of whatsoever kind or nature which belonged to said Society and which were conveyed to me as aforesaid, excepting only such of said property as may have been used and disposed of since the date of said sale to me, upon the following perpetual and irrevocable trust and confidence, namely:




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1. Said Trustees shall hold and manage said property and property rights exclusively for the purposes of carrying on the business, which has been heretofore conducted by the said Christian Science Publishing Society, in promoting the interests of Christian Science; and the principal place of business shall be in said Boston.
2. The business shall be done by said Trustees under the unincorporated name of "The Christian Science Publishing Society."
3. Said Trustees shall energetically and judiciously manage the business of the Publishing Society on a strictly Christian basis, and upon their own responsibility, and without consulting me about d,etails, subject only to my supervision, if I shall at any a time elect to advise or direct them.
4. Said Trustees shall keep accurate books of account of all the business done by them, and shall deposit in a responsible and reliable Bank or Trust Company all bonds, mortgages, deeds, and other documents or writings obligatory of every kind and nature for safe keeping; also all surplus funds over and above the sum necessary to defray the running expenses of the business, until the same shall be paid over to the Church Treasurer, as herein provided. No papers or monies shall be taken from said Bank or Trust Company excepting by and in the presence of a majority of said Trustees. Once in every six months the Trustees shall account for an pay over to the treasurer of "The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Massachusetts," the entire net profits of said business. The "net profits" shall be understood to mean the balance remaining at the end of each six months after paying the usual and legitimate expenses incurred in conducting the business. No authority is intended to be conferred upon the Trustees to expend the money of the Trust for property not necessary for the immediate successful prosecution of the business, or to invest the same for purpose of speculation, or to incur liabilities beyond their ability to liquidate promptly from the current income of the business. Said treasurer shall hold the money so paid over to him subject to the order of "The First Members" of said Church, who are authorized to order its disposition only in accordance with the rules and by-laws contained in the Manual of said Church.
5. The business manager shall present to the Trustees, at the end of each month, a full and correct statement of the receipts and expenditures of the month.
6. Said Trustees shall employ all the help necessary to the proper conduct of said business, and shall discharge the same in their discretion or according to the needs of the business, excepting that the business manager may call in at times of necessity such temporary help as will facilitate the business.
7. The Trustees shall employ such number of persons as they may deem necessary to prepare Bible Lessons or Lesson Sermons to be read in the Christian Science churches, the same to be published quarterly as has heretofore



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been done by and in the name of The Christian Science Quarterly; and they may, in their discretion, change the name or style of such Quarterly publication as occasion may demand. They shall also fix the compensation of the persons so selected.

8. Said Trustees shall have direction and supervision of the publication of said Quarterly, and also of all pamphlets, tracts, and other literature pertaining to said business, using their best judgment as to the means of preparing and issuing the same, so as to promote the best interests of the Cause, reserving the right to make such changes as I may think important.
9. Said Trustees and their successors in Trust shall not be eligible to said trusteeship or to continue in the same, unless they are loyal, faithful, and consistent believers and advocates of the principles of Christian Science as taught by me in my book "Science and Health, with Key to the Scriptures."
10. Whenever a vacancy shall occur in said trusteeship for any cause, I reserve the right to fill the same by appointment, if I shall so desire, so long as I may live; but if I do not elect to exercise this right, the remaining Trustees shall fill said vacancy. The First Members together with the Directors of said Church shall have the power to declare vacancies in said trusteeship for such reasons as to them may seem expedient.
11. I also reserve the right to withdraw from said Trust, if I shall so desire, the publication of The Christian Science Journal, but if I do not exercise this reserved option, then said Journal shall remain a part of the Trust property forever.
12. Upon my decease, in consideration aforesaid, I sell and convey to said Trustees my copyright of The Christian Science Journal, to be held by them as the other property of said Trust.
13. Said Trustees shall each receive annually one thousand dollars for their services in that capacity, payable semi-annually in payments of five hundred dollars, or such salary as the said Church may determine from time to time.
14. The delivery of this instrument to, and its acceptance by, said Trustees shall be regarded as the full establishment of the Trust and as the agreement by the Trustees to honestly and faithfully do and perform all things to be done and performed by them within the terms, objects, and purposes, of this instrument.

Witness my hand and seal at Concord, New Hampshire, this twenty-fifth day of January, 1898.

[Signed] Mary Baker G. Eddy. [Seal.]




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APPENDIX C

The Christian Science Board of Directors








Acknowledgments

Many people contributed to this book with firsthand accounts and recollections. Most of them cannot be named because of their present or past connections with the Christian Science church organization. Many thanks are due to them. Others who can be named and to whom thanks are due include:

Ann Beals for extensive access to The Bookmark Archives, as well as for photographs, and technical advice and support.

Dona Bentley and Robert Bentley for researching miles of microfilm of early newspapers and documents.

Christian Science Foundation in Cambridge, England, for research into little known policies and decisions of the Christian Science Board of Directors.

Terry Flynn for information and advice regarding the work and writings of Alice Orgain.

Jerry Lupo of Rare Book Company, Freehold, New Jersey, for his efforts in tracking down hard-to-find information.

Gail Weatherbe and George Weatherbe for rare newspaper accounts, documents, and photographs.




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About the Author

Andrew W. Hartsook comes from a family with deep roots in Christian Science. Nancy E. Hartsooke was admitted to membership in The Mother Church on December 29, 1894. Mr. Hartsook is a class taught student of Christian Science and has been First Reader, Second Reader, board member, Sunday school teacher, assistant Reading Room librarian, usher, and assistant Committee on Publication in his branch church. He received a B.A. degree from the University of the Americas in Mexico City, a B.S. from The Ohio State University, and a Master's degree from The Ohio University. He is also a U.S. Army veteran of Vietnam. Since 1987 he has edited The Banner, a newsletter for Christian Scientists. Mr. Hartsook is a public school teacher in the state of Ohio.