The First Church of Christ, Scientist, Boston, Massachusetts

The First Church of Christ, Scientist, Boston, Massachusetts


Pillars & Foundations documents an exploration of communities, as well as faith through religious institutions. My intent is to share experiences, and spread the positivity that I observe. 


The old, original church is still attached to the massive Romanesque Revival church (pictured in the blog from the inside)
Somehow, despite the First Church of Christ, Scientist, being a major draw for most people who explore Boston thoroughly, I've managed to evade ever going inside this building until this past New Year's Eve. They have an impressive Mapparium on the campus in the Mary Baker Eddy library which is said to be quite interesting, however I have not seen this. I strolled around the fountains and the gorgeous reflecting pool in the middle of the campus many times during my past 19 years in the Boston area, and it absolutely is one of my favorite spots in the city. The pool surrounded by the impressive buildings and boxed in on the southwest by a enormous, brutalist looking apartment block, is absolutely iconic. I don't have pictures of it here in its glory, but you should certainly look them up here. Any architecture fans will love the plaza as pretty much every building near by is impressive in its own way, not excluding the brutalist urban-renewal across Massachusetts Avenue.



My time in the "mother church," as the new extention (1906) is referred to, was an impressive, largely avant-guard organ concert that was part of Boston's "First Night 2019." By the way, don't get me started about how I detest, no that's too strong, how I'm not a fan of the term "first night." It isn't the first night, it is the last night. At best, part of it is "first morning," if we are going to get all technical. Anyway. The concert was impressive and one of two I saw that evening, the other being at Old South Church which I'll write about in a second post to be published in the next couple of weeks. There were three organists, and one of the compositions was a very modern take on the song Amazing Grace. 


The photo of the organ above is unfortunately a little bit blurry. What strikes me about this church is how clean its lines seem when you are inside. While over 100 years old, it still seems quite pristine (despite ongoing repairs which are evident). The organ seems shiny and new but it dates to 1952 and was built by Aeolian-Skinner. 

Outreach

Typically I write a bit on what the church does for the surrounding community. As mentioned the plaza of the church is one of Boston's most iconic public spaces. Go on a hot day and you'll find people strolling around the reflecting pool, or children running through the large fountain at the northeast edge of the campus. 

Also noteworthy is the Christian Science Monitor, a highly regarded news publication that has even received Pulitzer prizes in the past. Despite being published in affiliation with a religious organization the magazine has maintained a more mainstream following. The founder of the church Mary Baker Eddy, actually founded the publication in 1908.  

Perhaps in line with their magazine publication, the outreach of the church itself seems largely focused around media, be it online courses, various publications, or podcasts which are available on their website.

Various efforts to fight for social justice are also participated in such as prison and institutional work and disaster relief. 

Text and photographs by George Parks
Sources are embedded in links




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