“Report to the Members of The Mother Church”

Committee on General Welfare, The. “Report to the Members of The Mother Church.” New York. 1920.

The Committee on General Welfare, created in 1919 by the Christian Science Board of Directors, addressed concerns of Christian Scientists during the ‘Great Litigation’ between the Christian Science Board of Directors and the Trustees of the Christian Science Publishing Society. The issue being litigated was whether the Christian Science Board of Directors had authority over the Trustees and Publishing Society activity. Related to this was the question of overall leadership of the church after Mary Baker Eddy’s death. Would her successor be “spiritualized man,” as she herself wrote, or would it be in the continuing form of bylaws in her Church Manual? The Report traces Eddy’s formation of a church organization, her Deed of Trust originally creating a Board of Trustees, and her Church Manual that further involved the Directors in church management. Seven committee members were selected by church officers from cities with the largest Christian Science activity. The Committee reviewed church administration functions, made recommendations for change, and answered questions from members. The Report offers opinions about race, The Mother Church salaries, church activities not authorized in the Manual, the ethics of teachers of Christian Science also being officers of the church, and the then-current litigation in Massachusetts courts. The Committee assumed continuing Christian Science Board of Directors control. A Minority Report by one Committee member saw no need for a Committee or a Report.

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