Article August 1, 1994 Issue

Notices

... are good places to explore Christian Science more deeply, to become more familiar with the Bible, to read Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures and other writings by Mary Baker Eddy, to learn how to study the weekly Bible Lesson in the Christian Science Quarterly. You can also take advantage of the free lending library, and the staff will be happy to answer your questions about Christian Science.

From time to time we endeavor to update readers on legal matters affecting the Christian Science movement. A court hearing is scheduled for August 4, 1994, in an important legal case. As reported in the February 14 issue of the Sentinel, two Church members and a small, newly created corporation, Members for the Manual, Inc., brought a lawsuit in Boston in December 1993 against all the then sitting members of The Christian Science Board of Directors, all the then Trustees of The Christian Science Publishing Society, selected former Board members and former Trustees, and certain other former Church officers.

Court documents reveal that the plaintiffs continue to seek judicial interpretation of the Manual of The Mother Church, written by Mary Baker Eddy, in a way that would impose an oversight committee concerning the Directors' transaction of Church business. While the defendants (the Directors and others listed in the previous paragraph) are confident that the Court would eventually rule against the complaint on its merits, they have in the meantime requested the Court to dismiss the complaint on two significant procedural grounds: (1) that under United States law these plaintiffs do not have any legally recognizable standing to bring these particular allegations before the Court, and (2) that the U.S. Constitution and other laws prohibit any Court from becoming entangled in the religious issues that would necessarily arise in ruling on these particular allegations. We will continue to keep readers informed about developments in this case.

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