Christian Science (1890–1921) In 1890, after studying Christian Science about four years, Hanna left his legal practice to devote himself to "the Cause of Christian Science", although he had no plan of how to proceed. In May 1890, there was a three-day meeting of Mary Baker Eddy's students held in New York City, the fifth annual meeting of the National Christian Science Association and the Hannas decided to attend. While there, Septimus Hanna was invited to take charge of a society of Christian Scientists in Scranton, Pennsylvania. After visiting Scranton, he accepted the invitation, marking the beginning of his career in Christian Science. During this period, Hanna and his wife were invited to meet Eddy, then living in the Boston neighborhood of Roslindale. He was deeply impressed by her vitality and her spirituality, as well as her interest in world affairs. Speaking of her later in a lecture given in Malden, Massachusetts, Hanna said, "I can truthfully say that intellectually she is one of the most alert persons I have ever known; that she labors incessantly and unselfishly for the cause to which she has devoted her life, and that, notwithstanding her years, she performs an amount of labor each day which if known would seem incredible, even if done by one yet in the adolescence of life." The Hannas worked in Scranton until autumn 1892, when Eddy appointed Septimus Hanna editor of the Christian Science Journal, and his wife assistant editor. A move to Boston followed. Boston years During the years the Hannas were in Boston, the church organization was taking shape and Hanna served in several key positions. In early 1893, in addition to editing the Journal, Hanna was called to become pastor of The Mother Church. He was also chosen by Eddy to read her address to the World's Parliament of Religions in Chicago. In 1894, the Bible and the Christian Science textbook were ordained as the "impersonal pastor"; with changes in the church service, Hanna became First Reader. In 1895, around the time the Manual of The Mother Church was published, Eddy wrote a letter to Hanna describing the work of establishing the by-laws that would govern the church, a portion of which was later published in her book Miscellaneous Writings and in the front of the Manual, before the table of contents. Eddy was reported to have called him "morally statuesque" and in a letter