Founder and Leader:
The First Church of Christ, Scientist
Into the 20TH CENTURY: THE MOTHER CHURCH EXTENSION. 1906.
Crowds at dedication of The Mother Church Extension, 1906
At the turn of the century, just eight years after building The Mother Church, three services each Sunday could not contain the congregation. In 1902 Christian Scientists at their Annual Meeting pledged to raise money to erect a large “extension” to the church.
In 1906 the first services were held in The Mother Church Extension, whose dome towered above the original edifice. Under that dome, the pews could seat a congregation of five thousand.
In the face of the church’s impressive growth in the new century, Mrs. Eddy cautioned about glorying in numbers. She prohibited The Mother Church and its branches from publishing numbers of congregants.
