Among the Churches

Current Notes

Barrington, Illinois (First Church).—First Church of Christ, Scientist, of Barrington, Illinois, located at the corner of Main and Wool Streets, was dedicated on Sunday, January 9, 1938. It is generally known that Christian Science churches are not dedicated until the edifices are free from debt. Services, to which the public was invited, were held that day in the morning and afternoon.

The church building is a white frame structure of the second period colonial style. A four-column portico distinguishes the front. Inside, a foyer extends the width of the church. From this foyer doors open to the main auditorium, at the front of which is an elevated Readers' platform. The foyer walls are paneled with knotty pine, while those in the main auditorium are in light shades of green, gray, and ivory. The auditorium, which includes a balcony across the church above the foyer, has a seating capacity of two hundred and eighty.

Starting in 1910 with a small group of people meeting in private homes for the reading of the weekly Lesson-Sermon, in the Christian Science Quarterly, Christian Science activity in Barrington did not become organized until 1915, when a society was formed and received recognition from The Mother Church, The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Massachusetts. For some time afterwards meetings were held in public halls.

The society developed in a few years into a church organization. The present site for the building of the church edifice was purchased in 1922, and the first unit of the church structure was built in 1924–1925. The room then used for the auditorium is now occupied by the Sunday school. In August, 1934, the enlargement and completion of the church building was begun, and this work is now finished. A Reading Room was established in 1927 for use by the public. Its present location is at 114 East Station Street.

Barrington Review

Phoenix, Arizona (First Church).—Simple ceremonies, consisting of the regular Sunday service, supplemented by a dedicatory message, marked the formal dedication on Sunday, March 6, 1938, of First Church of Christ, Scientist, to the worship of God.

The church was completed in March, 1927, but in the Christian Science denomination church edifices are not dedicated until they are fully paid for. Last October, with $4400 still needed to retire the church building debt, the members voted to dedicate it in the early spring. Contributions began flowing in, and on February 13 it was announced that sufficient had been received to retire the obligation.

Two services were held, one in the morning and another in the afternoon, at both of which the special dedicatory message was given by the First Reader:

"Christian Science services were first held in Phoenix in the year 1897, when a few Christian Scientists met in private residences for the study of the Bible Lesson and the giving of testimonies of healing. Increasing interest was manifested in these services, and in 1898 a room for public services was obtained in the Redewill Hall on West Washington Street. At that time, those attending organized as a Christian Science Society.

"In 1899, more pleasant and commodious quarters were obtained in the Young Building. These rooms were remodeled, giving ample space for a large assembly room and also for a Reading Room, which was established.

"In April, 1899, the society became a Christian Science church, and with twenty-one charter members, one of whom is still an active resident member, was incorporated under the Arizona laws as First Church of Christ, Scientist, Phoenix. At this time a Sunday school was organized, Wednesday evening testimony meetings were held; and later in the year the church gave its first Christian Science lecture. These steps were taken in conformity with the provisions of the Manual of The Mother Church, The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Massachusetts.

"Interest and membership increased, and soon these rooms were outgrown. In 1903, a brick building was erected at 17 East Monroe Street for our use as a church and Reading Room. In the fall of 1912, services were conducted at the Arizona School of Music until early in 1926, when our present church edifice was completed.

"In the words of our Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, found on page 182 of her book 'The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany': 'Humbly, gratefully, trustingly, I dedicate this beautiful house of worship to the God of Israel, the divine Love that reigns above the shadow, that launched the earth in its orbit, that created and governs the universe—guarding, guiding, giving grace, health, and immortality to man.'"—Arizona Republic.

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