SOON THE NEW STUDY EDITION of the Church Manual by Mary Baker Eddy in English will arrive in Christian Science Reading Rooms. The Study Edition paperback will be available in June. A month or so later, the Study Edition Vivella® will be available in ruby red and sapphire blue. All these Manuals will be the same size as the Study Edition Bible and Science and Health.
As in Mrs. Eddy's time and continuing ever since, the typesetting of Mrs. Eddy's books has been periodically revised. The Church Manual Study Edition includes a few typesetting changes to enhance its readability. Line numbers have moved toward the spine, creating wider margins that offer space for notes. Article and section numbers, in addition to their place within the text, are included in the margins. The list of offices and officers that appears in the front will continue to name Mary Baker Eddy as Pastor Emeritus. To keep the book current, other officers will be named on The Mother Church Web site (www.churchofchristscientist.org) in the form of a free, printable PDF. Also, a notice on the copyright page will direct prospective members to contact the Clerk's Office for applications.
Mrs. Eddy wrote, "Of this I am sure, that each Rule and By-law in this Manual will increase the spirituality of him who obeys it, invigorate his capacity to heal the sick, to comfort such as mourn, and to awaken the sinner" (The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 230). Our hope is that these slight format adjustments will encourage increased study, appreciation, and employment of the spiritual wisdom in this unique guidebook and so open the way for its readers to grow in their ability to be "comforters .../ Of Christlike touch" (quoted in Retrospection and Introspection, p. 95).
