page_title: Church of Christ, Scientist
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Church of Christ, Scientist / History
caption_attribution_description: A photochrom postcard published by the Detroit Photographic Company.
context_page_description: The Church of Christ, Scientist was founded in 1879 in Boston, Massachusetts, by Mary Baker Eddy, author of Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, and founder of Christian Science. The church was founded "to commemorate the word and works of [Christ Jesus]" and "reinstate primitive Christianity and its lost element of healing". Sunday services are held throughout the year and weekly testimony meetings are held on Wednesday evenings, where following brief readings from the Bible and the Christian Science textbook, those in attendance are invited to give testimonies of healing brought about through Christian Science prayer.
  In the early decades of the 20th century, Christian Science churches sprang up in communities around the world, though in the last several decades of that century, there was a marked decline in membership, except in Africa, where there has been growth. Headquartered in Boston, the church does not officially report membership, and estimates as to worldwide membership range between about 400,000 to less than 100,000.
context_section_description: The church was incorporated by Mary Baker Eddy in 1879 following a claimed personal healing in 1866, which she said resulted from reading the Bible. The Bible and Eddy's textbook on Christian healing, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, are together the church's key doctrinal sources and have been ordained as the church's "dual impersonal pastor".
  The First Church of Christ, Scientist, is widely known for its publications, especially The Christian Science Monitor, a weekly newspaper published internationally in print and online. The seal of Christian Science is a cross and crown with the words, "Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons," and is a registered trademark of the church.
caption: The church building, Huntington Ave., Boston, 1900
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