The questions are sometimes asked, Should duties and offices in a branch church be entrusted to those members only who have had class instruction in Christian Science? Need Sunday school teachers, without exception, be class-taught? May a pupil of the Sunday school who has reached the age of twenty be appointed a worker in the Sunday school, perhaps as secretary or a teacher? It is, of course, necessary that those who hold positions of trust shall have the status of experienced, working Christian Scientists who are demonstrating Mrs. Eddy's teachings. To this end class instruction is desirable, and even essential; but the individual Christian Scientist takes this practical instruction in the religion he loves when his own demonstration of Mind's guidance leads him to do so.
In The Mother Church the Board endeavors to select for all positions those who appear suitable, qualified, and available. The qualifications for positions vary; special education, taste, and experience may be essential. The Directors, as a Board, have major as well as minor offices to fill. They elect the officers of The Mother Church, the Manager of the Publishing Society, and the Editors of the Christian Science periodicals. They appoint the Superintendent of the Sunday School and, on his or her recommendation, the teachers and officers; the Manager of the Committees on Publication, managers of the Literature Distribution Committee, the Advertising Information Committee, and the Circulation Committee of The Mother Church; and upon the recommendation of the respective managers, they appoint members to these committees. The Board of Directors also elects the Reading Room librarians; appoints, when there is a vacancy, a trustee of the Shawmut Realty Trust, of the Trust for Gifts and Endowments, and so on.
In The Mother Church Sunday School, among pupils who have reached the age of leaving, there is found, occasionally, one who has developed the degree of understanding and ability to teach that some of the younger classes need, and it is a pleasure to say that, now and then, a pupil on retiring has been appointed by the Board to teach in the Sunday School, or to act as one of the secretaries.
