The First Church of Christ, Scientist

Coordinates: 42°20′40″N 71°05′06″W / 42.34443°N 71.084872°W / 42.34443; -71.084872

The domed Mother Church Extension (1904-1906), The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Massachusetts. The Brutalist high-rise at right is the 26-story 177 Huntington Avenue, the former Christian Science Administration Building (1973).

For other churches called First Church of Christ, Scientist, see First Church of Christ, Scientist (disambiguation).

The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Massachusetts in the United States is The Mother Church and administrative headquarters of the Christian Science Church, and is located in the Christian Science Center in the Back Bay neighborhood of Boston. Surrounding a plaza and built over many years beginning in 1894, it consists of seven structures: the Original Mother Church, Mother Church Extension, Christian Science Publishing House, Mary Baker Eddy Library, 177 Huntington Avenue (former Administration Building), 101 Belvidere (former Church Colonnade Building), and the Sunday School Building.^[1]

The Original Mother Church edifice, designed by Franklin I. Welch, was built in 1894. Although fairly large for the time, this Romanesque Revival stone structure is often overlooked by casual visitors as it is dwarfed by the much larger domed Mother Church Extension. Designed to fit on an odd kite-shaped lot, it features an octagonal auditorium that seats 1100 people and a massive 126-foot (38 m) steeple. It is built of granite from New Hampshire, Mary Baker Eddy's home state.^[2]

The original church, built in 1894, before the construction of the larger surrounding structures

Added in 1904-1906, the Mother Church Extension was originally designed by architect Charles Brigham, but substantially modified by S.S. Beman when he took over construction in 1905 as a result of Brigham's illness. In particular, Beman minimized the Ottoman and Byzantine elements, bringing the domed structure into line with the Classical architectural style that Beman favored as most appropriate for Christian Science churches.^[3] It boasts one of the world's largest pipe organs, built in 1952 by the Aeolian-Skinner Company of Boston.

The Mary Baker Eddy Library is housed in an 11-story structure originally finished in 1934 for the Christian Science Publishing Society.

Designed in the 1960s by the firm of noted architect I.M. Pei, the 14-acre (57,000 m²) Christian Science Plaza along Huntington Avenue includes a large administration building, a colonnade, a reflecting pool and fountain that together make it one of Boston's most visually recognizable sites and a popular tourist attraction.^[4] Another draw for tourists is the three-story tall Mapparium, a stained glass globe that visitors view from the inside and The Apiary installation by glass artist Dale Chihuly.

In accord with the Manual of The Mother Church, the title of the Mother Church is "The First Church of Christ, Scientist," and while its branch churches may call themselves, "First Church of Christ, Scientist," or "Second Church of Christ, Scientist," and so on, they are prohibited from using "The" in front of their names. Only The Mother Church can do so.^[5]

Gallery

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References

Notes

1. ^ "Christian Science Plaza". christianscience.com. Boston: The First Church of Christ, Scientist. http://christianscience.com/church/the-mother-church/boston-activities/plaza/. Retrieved September 1, 2011. 
2. ^ Ivey, Paul Eli (1999). Prayers in Stone: Christian Science Architecture in the United States, 1894-1930. Urbana, Illinois: University of Illinois Press. pp. 50-52. ISBN 978-0-252-02445-0. 
3. ^ Ivey, Paul Eli (1999). Prayers in Stone: Christian Science Architecture in the United States, 1894-1930. Urbana, Illinois: University of Illinois Press. pp. 71-75, 119, and 122. ISBN 978-0-252-02445-0. 
4. ^ Palmer, Thomas C. Jr. (October 17, 2006). "Church looking to redevelop". The Boston Globe. Boston. http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2006/10/17/church_looking_to_redevelop/?p1=MEWell_Pos2. 
5. ^ Eddy, Mary Baker (1910). "The Manual of The Mother Church". Boston. p. 70 (p. 25 pdf). ISBN 978-0-930227-22-7. http://www.mbeinstitute.org/CManual/ChurchManual.pdf. "'The First Church of Christ, Scientist,' is the legal title of The Mother Church. Branch churches of The Mother Church may take the title of First Church of Christ, Scientist; Second Church of Christ, Scientist; and so on, where more than one church is established in the same place; but the article 'The' must not be used before titles of branch churches, nor written on applications for membership in naming such churches." 

External links

• Home Page of The First Church of Christ, Scientist
• Home Page of The Christian Science Publishing Society
• The Mary Baker Eddy Library
• Photos of the grounds of the Christian Science Church in Boston
• Waymarking listing for The First Church of Christ, Scientist, Boston, MA - has images including one showing Original in front of the much larger Extension
• Photos inside of the Christian Science Church in Boston