Legal opinion: Walter A. Dane
Originally published in the 1942 pamphlet “Permanency of The Mother Church and its Manual”
Dane & Howe
Counsellors at Law
73 Tremont Street, Boston
Christian Science Board of Directors
107 Falmouth Street
Boston, Massachusetts
Dear Friends:
You have requested my opinion as to whether there is any foundation for the claim which has at times been made by certain persons not now members of the Christian Science Church to the effect that The Mother Church should be abandoned or dissolved because Mrs. Eddy's personal consent or approval cannot now be had in the execution of certain administrative functions, as to which, in obedience to certain Church By-laws, she was consulted during her life.
Although the By-laws in question providing for Mrs. Eddy's participation in the administration of church affairs impose duties primarily upon The Christian Science Board of Directors, the claim is that because Mrs. Eddy's personal approval thereof cannot now be had, these duties cannot legally be performed by the Board of Directors alone, and that, therefore, The Mother Church should cease to exist.
An examination of the Church Manual containing all of the By-laws and of other writings containing expressions of Mrs. Eddy's intention regarding The Mother Church shows clearly that such a claim is wholly untenable.
Mrs. Eddy was the author of the Church Manual and substantially all of its provisions were originated by her. This was recognized and confirmed as a fact by the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts in the case of Eustace v. Dickey, 240 Mass. 55, decided in 1921.
The Church Manual contains the body of laws promulgated for the government of The Mother Church. Hence, in accordance with the familiar rule of construction, each By-law must be read in its relation to every other By-law in the Manual and the intention of Mrs. Eddy with respect to each may be gathered by ascertaining her intention with respect to the whole. Such intention is shown by (a) documents and writings of Mrs. Eddy referring to The Mother Church, and (b) the Church Manual itself.
(a) On September 1, 1892, at the time the present church organization was instituted, Mrs. Eddy executed a Deed of Trust to The Christian Science Board of Directors conveying land for the church edifice, a copy of which Deed is set forth in the Manual at page 128 . This Deed clearly shows that the existence of the Church was not to be limited to the period of her life and to cease to function when her personal leadership could no longer be had. In this Deed she declares that the grantees, The Christian Science Board of Directors, “shall constitute a perpetual body or corporation” and conveys the property for the church edifice to the said Board of Directors and “to their legitimate successors in office forever” (Manual, pages 128 , 130 ).
The Church founded by Mrs. Eddy is referred to in the Court's Opinion in Eustace v. Dickey as “The ecclesiastical organization established by her for the teaching and dissemination of Christian Science.”
The Trust Deed of January 25, 1898 establishing The Christian Science Publishing Society was expressly declared by Mrs. Eddy, the grantor, to be upon “perpetual and irrevocable” trusts. The Court said, in Eustace v. Dickey
“The Deed of January 25, 1898, is itself evidence of a hope and expectation of growth of the church and of the sect.”
And,
“The dominating purpose of the instrument was to promote and propagate the interests of that religious sect.”
By the terms of this Deed the net profits of the Publishing Society are required to be paid over to the Treasurer of The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Massachusetts, every six months, and the money so paid to be disposed of in accordance with the rules and By-laws contained in the Manual of the Church. By this Deed, Mrs. Eddy made The Mother Church the financial beneficiary of her perpetual and irrevocable trust, thus plainly showing that she intended The Mother Church to have a perpetual existence.
In her last will and testament, speaking as of the last moment of her earthly existence, Mrs. Eddy expressly ratified and confirmed the Trust Deeds of September 1, 1892, and January 25, 1898. Moreover, in her will and codicils she made many bequests of a permanent character to The Mother Church. It is obvious that she then understood and intended that The Mother Church should continue without limit as to time its work in furthering the dominant purpose of her life, the promotion and extension of the religion of Christian Science, after her passing from the field of personal participation therein.
On February 27, 1903, in a letter addressed to The Christian Science Board of Directors, which she requested be placed upon the records of the Church, she said,
“Never abandon the By-laws nor the denominational government of the Mother Church. If I am not personally with you, the Word of God, and my instructions in the By-laws have led you hitherto and will remain to guide you safely on, and the teachings of St. Paul are as useful to-day as when they were first written. The present and future prosperity of the cause of Christian Science is largely due to the By-laws and government of ‘The First Church of Christ, Scientist’ in Boston.”
These documents of the most formal and solemn character contain clear proof of her intention that The Mother Church should have a permanent existence and are wholly irreconcilable with any claim that it should cease to exist as a church organization upon her decease.
(b) Mrs. Eddy's intention as disclosed by the By-laws in the Church Manual is no less clear. Applying the rule of construction requiring due consideration of the whole body of By-laws in ascertaining the true meaning of any single By-law incorporated therein, the conclusion is irresistible that the system of government established by Mrs. Eddy is for a church organization of unlimited duration.
The true meaning of those By-laws providing for Mrs. Eddy's approval or consent in the execution of the duties imposed upon the Board of Directors, in my opinion, is that her approval or consent should be obtained so far as it is humanly possible to do so. The law does not require the impossible. It is a legal maxim, recognized by our Courts, that “the law itself and the administration of it…must yield to that to which everything must bend, to necessity; the law, in its most positive and peremptory injunctions is understood to disclaim…all intention of compelling to impossibilities, and the administration of laws must adopt that general exception in the consideration of all particular cases.”
This legal maxim has been expressed in different language by Courts of the highest authority in the land to the effect that all laws should receive a sensible construction, and that the reason of the law should prevail over its letter.
Another pertinent rule of construction is that the results of any proposed interpretation of a law may properly be considered in ascertaining the probable intent of its framers. This principle was expressed in a well considered case by a Court of Last Resort in the following language:
“In seeking for a correct solution of any legal question, especially the question of the proper construction of a statute or a constitution, the result which may follow from one construction or another is always a potent factor and is sometimes in and of itself conclusive.”
The alternative interpretations to be placed on the By-laws in question are either (a) that they mean that Mrs. Eddy's approval or consent must be obtained so far as is humanly possible, and that now that such approval or consent cannot be obtained, the intent will be sufficiently observed if the Board or officer named in the By-law performs the duties imposed upon them without such approval or consent; or, (b) that because it is now impossible to obtain such approval or consent, the By-laws in question become nullities, the duties imposed thereby for the government of the Church are abrogated and the Church itself cannot further function.
The latter interpretation results in nullifying the entire body of By-laws and destroying The Mother Church. Such a result could not have been intended.
The intention of the author of the By-laws as the controlling factor in determining their meaning may well be based upon the principle of law recognized by the Courts and expressed in the following terms:
“A thing which is within the intention of the makers of a law is as much within the law as if it were within the letter; and a thing which is within the letter of the law is not within the law unless it be within the intention of the makers.”
Can it be supposed that Mrs. Eddy intended her passing on to result in the destruction of her Church? That Church whose Board of Directors she described in her Deed of 1892 as a “perpetual body or corporation;” that Church which she made the financial beneficiary of her “perpetual and irrevocable” Trust of 1898; that Church as to which she said “never abandon the By-laws nor the denominational government of the Mother Church. . . . The present and future prosperity of the cause of Christian Science is largely due to the By-laws and government of ‘The First Church of Christ, Scientist’ in Boston.”
The By-laws themselves imply permanence for The Mother Church organization. The intention indicated is for a church unique and perpetual. One interpretation results in frustrating the object of the founder's life work; the other in promoting that object. These By-laws were written by Mrs. Eddy for the government of her Church, to the building up of which she devoted her life. It is inconceivable that she should have intended that Church to be dissolved when she passed on.
The further claim which has been made that Article XXIII, Section 6, on page 72 of the Manual contains language indicating that branch churches should be continued while The Mother Church should be dissolved upon Mrs. Eddy's passing, is in my opinion equally untenable. That part of the By-law which is referred to provides in substance that if Mrs. Eddy should relinquish her place as the head or leader of “The Mother Church of Christ, Scientist, each branch church shall continue its present form of government in consonance with The Mother Church Manual.” It seems clear that this means that upon the happening of the contingency therein mentioned, The Mother Church must continue in order that the branch churches may continue their work “in consonance with The Mother Church Manual.” Mrs. Eddy's plan is such that The Mother Church and its branches are structurally, although not governmentally, so co-related that the existence of branches without The Mother Church would be impossible. This is shown by Section 7 of the same Article of the By-laws whereby it is provided that no branch church can be organized unless four of its members are also members of The Mother Church.
The true intent of the provision in question is that the permanent existence of The Mother Church was assumed as a fact about which nothing need be said, and that the object sought was to make it certain that there should be no deviation on the part of branch churches from the established form of government if and when Mrs. Eddy “should relinquish her place as the head or leader of The Mother Church of Christ, Scientist.”
For the foregoing reasons, I am of the opinion that the impossibility of obtaining Mrs. Eddy's approval or consent in connection with action by The Christian Science Board of Directors or other church officers prescribed by the By- laws, does not prevent the exercise of the administrative functions enjoined upon the Board or the church officers for carrying on the work of the Church in accordance with the Manual, and that The Mother Church organization was intended to be and is an organization of perpetual duration.
Respectfully yours,
Walter A. Dane