DOCUMENTS AVAILABLE – To Mother Church members

Over the years, the documents listed below have been shared with Mother Church members in order to support healing, restore unity within our movement, and bring about a realignment of Church activities with our Manual By-Laws. Printed copies of the Matters of Conscience complaint and supporting documentation continue to be available to members of The Mother Church because of their enduring importance for healing within our Church.  

• Matters of Conscience: A complaint brought to the Christian Science Board of Directors in fulfillment of a member’s duty as outlined in Article I, Section 9, of the Manual of The Mother Church  (166 pages) and related Documentation (432 pages). These were delivered to the Board of Directors by Elaine Natale Davidson, C.S.B., on January 4, 2002. 

• Correspondence relating to Matters of Conscience 2002 –2003 (112 pages). Includes the “working together”  letter — a letter expressing strong support for Matters of Conscience, signed by over 100 Christian Science teachers, practitioners, and nurses throughout the field.  This letter was sent to branches, societies, and college organizations on September 20, 2002. The Correspondence also includes copies of letters written individually to the Christian Science Board of Directors by many of the signers of “working together”  in further support of the Matters of Conscience complaint. 

• "What Can I Do?” A booklet which contains the Keeping the Promise Pledge. The Keeping the Promise Pledge was sent to the Clerk of The Mother Church on January 28, 2005, with the names of  over 1200 Mother Church members throughout the field pledging to prayerfully defend “The Mother Church and our branches against influences, policies, and activities that are in conflict with Mrs. Eddy’s teachings and with Manual directives.” Signers of the pledge took “an open stand in support of the corrections called for by Matters of Conscience.” This pledge acknowledges Church members’ need to commit themselves “to a more devoted study and a more consistent healing practice of Christian Science” and to faithfully keep the sacred promise affirmed in the Sixth Tenet (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, by Mary Baker Eddy, p. 497).   

•  An Open Letter to all members of The Mother Church — April 2009 (28 pages) and the companion Documentation (124 pages). The Open Letter includes an update to Mother Church members, reporting claims regarding Church governance made by the Christian Science Board of Directors which contradict the Manual of The Mother Church and the genuine teachings of Christian Science. These include the baseless claim that Mary Baker Eddy founded The Mother Church as a hierarchy; the claim that members should obey Board orders “right or wrong”;  the claim that the steps of the Matthew Code (Matt. 18:15-17) do not apply to the Board; and the claim that the Board is the sole judge of whether its actions violate the Manual. The Documentation includes the complete correspondence between the Board of Directors and Elaine Natale Davidson from the time of the filing of the Matters of Conscience complaint in January 2002 until the sharing of An Open Letter and its Documentation in April 2009. The Documentation records the punitive actions taken, without cause or due process, against Mrs. Davidson and her Christian Science students’ association following her sharing of the complaint with the Church membership.