Church History

     Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, organized the original Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Massachusetts on August 12, 1878. This church is "designed to commemorate the word and works of our Master, which should reinstate primitive Christianity and its lost element of healing." (Church Manual, p. 17)

     First Church of Christ, Scientist, Cincinnati was issued its charter by the State of Ohio on August 2, 1892, and continues today under the same name and charter. The first services were held in private homes, and in Odd Fellows buildings in downtown Cincinnati. A dispensary, now known as a Reading Room, was opened on Plum Street in 1894.

     By 1899 attendance at First Church had grown enough to warrant purchasing the Second Presbyterian Church on Rockdale Avenue. After six years, a new edifice was built on Park Avenue in Walnut Hills. Three services were conducted on its first Sunday, April 23, 1911, attended by three thousand people, with dedication following on December 7, 1913.

     After many years of studies, the Park Avenue church was sold in 1979, a relocation committee formed, and services moved from place to place. Property was purchased at 3035 Erie Avenue in 1982, and building begun, with dedication on June 3, 1984, in keeping with Mrs. Eddy's idea "that the edifice has been fully paid for," and signifying "the fullness of God's blessing." Two services that day inaugurated the services of Sunday and Wednesday evening meetings.

     On June 3, 2004, First Church of Christ, Scientist, Cincinnati, will mark its twentieth anniversary at this present location.