Christian Science Board of Lectureship
In January 1898 The Christian Science Board of Directors adopted a “Church Rule” establishing a “Board of Lectureship.” Public lectures were to be sponsored by The Mother Church in Boston, or by branch Churches of Christ, Scientist. An 1899 notice in the Church’s monthly periodical, The Christian Science Journal, indicated that these were public events: “As a matter of experience, in some cases nine-tenths of the audience will be composed of those who are either strangers or inquirers….” (See “As to the Lectureship,”Journal, March 1899, 877-878). Church Manual By-Laws for the Board of Lectureship first appeared in the 8th edition in 1898, and are found today in the Manual’s Articles XXXI and XXXII. These By-Laws cover many details relating to lecture content and planning. The Board of Lectureship, working in conjunction with churches worldwide, continues these activities today, delivering talks in a number of languages, and in a variety of media.
Public lectures were highly popular modes for learning (and teaching) in the 19th century United States. (For more on this phenomenon, see Donald M. Scott, “The Popular Lecture and the Creation of a Public in Mid-Nineteenth-Century America,”The Journal of American History, Vol. 66, No. 4 (Mar., 1980), 791-809.) So it’s not surprising that Mary Baker Eddy decided in 1898 that Christian Science churches needed to present regular public lectures on Christian Science.
Eddy’s own work lecturing began years earlier, before her 1866 discovery of Christian Science. In December 1862, she gave her first public lecture in Portland, Maine, at City Hall, on the subject of spiritualism. Her lecturing on Christian Science began a little over a decade later, around the time of the publication of Science and Health in 1875. If one were to count all of her public speaking events, including her Sunday sermons, she probably spoke publicly close to three hundred times.
It was in January 1898 that The Christian Science Board of Directors adopted a “Church Rule” establishing a “Board of Lectureship,” with five “candidates” as lecturers, all men. Later that year, in July 1898, two women were appointed. Lectures were to be sponsored by The Mother Church in Boston, or by branch Churches of Christ, Scientist, and designed to introduce Christian Science to the general public. Church Manual By-Laws for the Board of Lectureship first appeared in the 8th edition in 1898, and are found today in the Manual’s Articles XXXI and XXXII. The Manual By-Laws cover details such as the the duties of lecturers, who can organize a lecture and who covers the costs.
An 1899 notice in the Church’s monthly periodical, The Christian Science Journal, indicates that lectures were definitely considered public events: “As a matter of experience, in some cases nine-tenths of the audience will be composed of those who are either strangers or inquirers….” (See “As to the Lectureship,”Journal,March 1899, 877-878)
After establishing the Board of Lectureship, Mary Baker Eddy wanted to ensure that her teaching was shared accurately and that Christian Science lectures were meeting audience needs. Irving Tomlinson gave the first lecture in New England at The Mother Church in Boston, on September 28, 1898. She wrote to him afterward: “The extracts from your lecture are adapted to the public, commend themselves to thinkers, satisfy the hungry, silence the critic.…” (L03644Click link to view L03644 document in new window).
The Board of Lectureship, working in conjunction with churches worldwide, continues these activities today. Christian Science churches around the world sponsor lectures in a number of languages, and in a variety of media.