Church Dispute

Except for the tone set by the headline “Church Beats California Institutions to Bequest” (Oct. 2), I found Russell Chandler’s article fairly balanced. Yes, there is a fuss over a book. The church is publishing a number of biographies on Mary Baker Eddy. Critics suggest that one biography, “Destiny of the Mother Church” by Bliss Knapp, is now being released merely to satisfy terms of a will of which the church is beneficiary.

It is becoming apparent that the real issue is not money. The real issue behind the furor may prove to be a bold move taken a century ago by church founder Mary Baker Eddy, a move that is still causing some Christian Scientists problems. She shifted the mother church from a consensus approach to government, and placed the decision-making process in the hands of a board of directors responsible for carrying out business. (She left the consensus approach to church government intact, however, for all local churches worldwide.)

This move is consistent with her discovery and practice of spiritual healing. The article mentioned that Mrs. Eddy founded the church after she became “convinced that bodily ills as well as moral ills could be cured by prayer and spiritual understanding rather than through medical treatment.” She also expected prayer and spiritual understanding to be the means for healing the organizational body of the church.

For years a scattering of mother church members have circulated letters on various issues in an effort to marshal support for their particular point of view. Some letters have been fairly thoughtful; some have been downright malicious. The thrust of these letters, however, has been to sway members of the mother church, as well as the public, toward a viewpoint that challenges decisions by the directors.

Christian Scientists are coming face to face with whether they trust the wisdom of Mrs. Eddy’s decision to place authority for conducting church business in the hands of a board of directors--whether she was asking too much of today’s members to trust the effectiveness of prayer to solve church problems, just as they do to solve individual problems.

ROBERT C. GILBERT

Christian Science Committee on

Publication for Southern California

Garden Grove