2nd Declaration Of Independence

Letter From The Board Of Trustees To The Board Of Directors – Sept. 30, 1918.

The Christian Science Board of Directors,
“Falmouth and St. Paul Streets,
“Boston, Massachusetts.

“Dear Friends:

“Referring to our meeting with you on Wednesday, Sept. 11, and your request later that the Board of Trustees listen to the reading of the minutes of the Board of Directors recording their interpretation of that meeting, after most careful and earnest consideration, the Board of Trustees has decided that this would not be a wise course of action for the trustees to take.

“In view of this request of the directors and of the meeting of Sept. 11, and more especially in view of the reference to a certain “memorandum” prepared by the Board of Directors and presented to the Board of Trustees for their acceptance at certain joint conferences held by the two boards in the month of February, 1916, and again brought up by the Board of Directors for discussion with the Board of Trustees in recent conferences, which, though having been rejected by the trustees as a contravention of the Deed of Trust and the Church Manual, may still be in the director’s file, it is our desire to set forth clearly in writing the position of the Board of Trustees as stated at the meeting of Sept. 11.

“At that meeting the trustees stated to the Board of Directors exactly how they viewed the Deed of Trust and the Manual in their relation to the trustees and their work. The trustees affirmed definitely that, to them, as loyal Christian Scientists, their trust was not only a most sacred and honored trust given to them by our Leader as a ‘perpetual and irrevocable trust and confidence’ (Deed of Trust), but that it was an absolutely legal trust governed and perpetuated by the laws of Massachusetts and the United States, and that in order to be true to this trust there was no other course possible to them than to abide absolutely by the Deed of Trust and the Manual, both in the letter and the spirit, and that from that day they proposed to do so; that the trustees felt that it was incumbent upon them to interpret the Deed of Trust through their own metaphysical understanding of what our Leader has written, since they were the ones called upon to fulfill the trust, and that that interpretation could not be done by somebody else for them.

“The directors stated at the close of the meeting that the trustees had made their position quite clear, and in view of that statement, this letter might seem superfluous, but as we have already stated, it seems just to state our position in writing, and provide a copy of this letter for each member of your board so that every statement therein may be verified with the Manual and the Deed of Trust.

“At the meeting on Sept. 11, some members of your board indicated that the statement of the trustees was an entirely new position for the trustees to take, and that it was a complete surprise to the directors. Since that meeting the trustees have gone back over old correspondence with the directors, and they find that their position in substance is in exact accord with the record of the trustees for a number of years, and so far as they can learn, it is the position that the Board of Trustees has felt was the only correct position from the beginning of the trusteeship. Therefore the surprise could only have been occasioned by the directors never having grasped the viewpoint of the trustees as to the purport of the Deed of Trust and the Manual in their relation to the Board of Trustees.

“In order to make the question perfectly clear, we wish to state, in our Leader’s words, that the Deed of Trust, under which the trustees legally operate, was prepared by our Leader and given as ‘A Gift to The Mother Church, and a Grant of Trusteeship’ (letter conveying the Deed of Trust), and it was to be a ‘perpetual and irrevocable trust and confidence’ (Deed of Trust), and that ‘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’ (Sec. 14). This Deed of Trust, according to Sec. 1 of Art. XXV of the Church Manual, is inferentially incorporated as part and parcel of the Church Manual. Therefore its conditions are obligatory upon the trustees, not only as an integral part of the Church By-Laws, but also according to the laws of the land.

“Simply stated, the trustees consider their trust is for the one purpose, as stated in the Deed of Trust, ‘of more effectually promoting and extending the religion of Christian Science as taught by Mrs. Eddy, and not for the purpose of making money, although all ‘net profits’-and the Deed of Trust defines what is meant by the term ‘net profits’-are to be paid over each six months to the treasurer of The Mother Church.

“The trustees understand that they are absolutely responsible for the entire business of The Christian Science Publishing Society, being the owner and manager in trust of said business and constituting in their trusteeship The Christian Science Publishing Society, under which name they are required to do business. The Deed of Trust demands that the ‘trustees shall energetically and judiciously manage the business of the Publishing Society on a strictly Christian basis, and upon their own responsibility’ (Sec. 3), and shall further ’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’ (Sec. 6). This requirement, relating to employing and discharging, the trustees hold to include every man, woman and child working for the Publishing Society, in whatever capacity. The Board of Directors elect the editor and associate editors of our monthly and weekly periodicals, the editor of our daily newspaper, and the business manager, but the trustees employ these officers, and determine their salary; hence they are employees of The Christian Science Publishing Society-in other words, of the Board of Trustees and not of the Board of Directors. This is clearly pointed out by our Leader in the letter conveying the Deed of Trust, wherein she says, ‘I now recommend that these Trustees continue at present the efficient service of Mr. Joseph Armstrong as the business manager of the publishing house.’ Mr. Armstrong was at the time of this recommendation not only the business manager of the publishing house, but was also publisher of our Leader’s works and a member of the Board of Directors of The Mother Church. Such term of office, according to the Manual, is ‘one year each, dating from the time of election’ (Art. XXV, Sec. 4), and is not subject to termination before the expiration of one year except in the event of discharge by the trustees for cause. The trustees hold that the directors have no direct control over the editors or the business manager, and can therefore make no business arrangements with them which in any way concern the Publishing Society.

“The Manual, in Sec. 14 of Art. VIII, under the chapter ‘Discipline,’ declares, ‘It shall be the privilege and duty of every member, who can afford it, to subscribe for the periodicals which are the organs of this Church,’ and at the close of the paragraph it is stated, ‘and it shall be the duty of the Directors to see that these periodicals are ably edited and kept abreast of the times.’ This is clearly a disciplinary function and not an executive function; therefore, the trustees hold that as discipline it is the duty of the Board of Directors to call attention at once to any failure on the part of the trustees to have periodicals well edited and kept abreast of the times. But the trustees hold it is not the province of the directors to edit the periodicals, any more than it is the province of the directors to conduct the business of The Christian Science Publishing Society. The directors elect the editors and the business manager, but their employment and adjustment to office is the responsibility of the trustees, and if these officers do not do their work rightly, then the trustees are to blame, for they have the authority, as already quoted from the Deed of Trust, to discharge any employee for non-fulfillment of duty. The trustees feel, however, that the editors have a natural right to talk over with the Board of Directors any matter concerning the editorial work at any time they desire to do so, and request the benefit of their experience and enlightenment.

“Mrs. Eddy, in establishing the Deed of Trust, evidently took pains to define the character of thought that should constitute the Board of Trustees-business, metaphysics (a doctor), and scholarship-and, furthermore, she stated, ‘I have asked for a small Board of Trustees, and as I believe a strong board’ (letter conveying the Deed of Trust). Following this, she defined clearly and unmistakably what the duties of the Board of Trustees should be, stating specifically, and thus showing why she had defined the mental qualities constituting the Board of Trustees (Sec. 2), ‘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 interest of the Cause.’

“Mrs. Eddy also covered, in Sec. 6 of Art. XXV of the Church Manual, the rules and orders that should govern any further publications issued by The Christian Science Publishing Society. In Sec. 8 of Art. XXV she declares, ‘Only the Publishing Society of The Mother Church selects, approves, and publishes the books and literature it sends forth,’ and concludes the section with the statement, ‘A book or an article of which Mrs. Eddy is the author shall not be published nor republished by this Society without her knowledge or written consent.’ In connection with this last sentence in Sec. 8, the trustees wish here to state positively their interpretation of this By-Law, and it is that this society can issue no book or article of which our Leader is the author that is not already in her published works, unless the provisions of this By-Law can be established.

“We should like at this point to bear record, with a great deal of appreciation, that at the time of the publication of the article entitled ‘Life,’ by our Leader, which appeared in the Sentinel of Feb. 2, and in the April Journal, which at that time we heartily approved, that when the trustees desired to republish this article in pamphlet form, the directors advised otherwise, and very wisely, for now we see clearly that this By-Law prohibits the publishing or republishing of any such articles. Inasmuch as the article originally was not referred to the trustees by the directors, as we now hold it should have been before being presented to the editors for their consideration for publication, the directors were primarily responsible for its first publication, but the field had a right to hold the Publishing Society, under the Church Manual, responsible for not upholding this By-Law. This mistake shows the great necessity of working in exact accord with the Deed of Trust and the Manual. We accept our full responsibility for this departure in regard to publishing the article ‘Life,’ as we should have been fully alive to our trusteeship.

“We have notified the editor of the Journal and Sentinel, and the editor of the Monitor, that we hold them responsible for everything that is published in the periodicals, and that we look to them to be true to their responsibility, just as we hold the business manager responsible for the business. The trustees are fully aware that there is only one way in which to govern the business of The Christian Science Publishing Society, ‘on a strictly Christian basis’ (Sec. 3 of the Deed of Trust)-by holding every man and woman in the Publishing House responsible for his own individual work, for we can conceive of no government by Principle except by trusting each employee to his own individual demonstration of Principle, and then, if the demonstration is not satisfactory, to point out the mistake. The future vastness of the Publishing Society’s business is so great that to contemplate any other way of conducting the business is impossible. Therefore, each individual must be held responsible for his own demonstration, for this inevitably brings out the very best that is in the individual, and makes him responsible to God for his office and for his continuance in that office, instead of looking to person or persons, and this applies to all employees, from those who seem to have unimportant work to those who fill the most important offices.

“The members of the Board of Trustees naturally feel a deep sense of responsibility in the handling of this sacred and tremendous trust committed to their care, and they are resolved to faithfully live up to the Deed of Trust and the Manual both in the letter and in the spirit. They wish neither to shirk any responsibility nor to assume any responsibility that is not properly theirs, but God will not allow them to avoid in the slightest degree fulfilling the full requirements of the Deed of Trust and the Manual, and the trustees hold that this responsibility includes the complete and entire management of The Christian Science Publishing Society in every detail, ‘upon their own responsibility’ and energetically and judiciously.’

“In defining our position we have spoken frankly and directly, and our one desire has been to do God’s will and to be obedient to the teachings of Mrs. Eddy, as embodied by her in the Deed of Trust and the Manual. The trustees wish to reiterate the high personal regard they entertain for the individual members of the Board of Directors and, above all, they want the declare the love and honor they have for the office of the Christian Science Board of Directors, and in turn rightly expect the same love and honor on the part of the directors for the office of the Board of Trustees. These two boards, designated and constituted by our Leader, each having its own well defined work, one being the governing board of the Church and its activity and the other the governing board of the Publishing Society and all its publications, must inevitably cooperate at every point. This cooperation, however, can only be accomplished by a right mutual respect for each other’s boards and their respective work. Yet when all is said and done, in spite of the tremendous importance of the letter, still how small is the letter compared to that Spirit that must inspire everything bequeathed to us by our Leader in the service of God. It is in the unity of this Spirit that this letter is written, signed, and sent.

Very sincerely yours,

“Herbert W. Eustace,

“David B. Ogden,

“Lamont Rowlands,

“Board of Trustees.”

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