First Church of Christ, Scientist, Livermore

Lectures

Our recent church lecture was held on March 8, 2025

Finding Where God Is Seen and Felt—What’s Church got to do with it?

All are invited to this free talk
by Emra Farkas at 2 pm Saturday, March 8, 2025
in our church, 263 S. N Street, Livermore

History

First Church of Christ, Scientist, Livermore 

In 1923, a group of Christian Scientists in the Livermore Valley began to meet in their homes to read the Bible Lesson as given in the Christian Science Quarterly. By April 1925, regular Sunday Services, Sunday School, and Wednesday Testimony Meetings were being held in Livermore’s Carnegie Library.

In January 1931, The Mother Church, The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Massachusetts, recognized the group as a Christian Science Society.

In December 1948, the present church property on the corner of 3rd and South ‘N’ Streets was purchased for $1,500. On March 17, 1951, the original church building was completed at a cost of $11,887 for building and finishing. This building consisted of the present church auditorium and child-care wing. The Society obtained two grants for this initial building program: $3,339 from the Trustees Under the Will of Mary Baker Eddy and $4,258 from the Selina C. Cornish Fund. The Cornish grant had no repayment requirements. The Trustees’ grant was to be repaid only if and when the church were sold.

The child-care wing initially served as a Reading Room, Sunday School, Board Room, and Committee Room. Because of increasing attendance, the Sunday School soon outgrew this limited space. The Society then rented the second floor of Dania Hall, next to the church, for Sunday School.

In March 1958, a building program for a Sunday School addition was begun with a fund balance of $3,541. The initial concept was to add about 1500 square feet to house the Sunday School and to provide Board and Child-Care rooms; the estimated cost was $17,000. In the final plan, 2470 sq. ft. were added at a cost of $23,550 to house the Sunday School and to provide street frontage for a new Reading Room. To be able to build out to the property line, the Society had to ask that the church property be re-zoned from residential to commercial. The re-zoning request was unanimously approved by the Livermore City Council on July 20, 1959. Construction on the addition began on June 13, 1960, and was completed on November 4, 1960. The new Sunday School was used for the first time on the following Sunday, November 6. The Society again obtained two grants for this second building program; $6,000 from the Trustees Under the Will of Mary Baker Eddy and $5,742 from the Sellna C. Cornish Fund. During the two years and seven months of the building program, the membership and congregation contributed $8,320 to the building flind. These donations, together with the grants, enabled the addition to be debt free upon completion. The Society had 24 members during this period.

In 1960, a member of the Society became a Journal-listed practitioner, thus qualifying the Society to apply to The Mother Church for branch church status. Accordingly, in December 1960, The Mother Church granted branch church status to the Society

In 1983, the Trustees Under the Will of Mary Baker Eddy notified the Church that there were no longer any repayment requirements for the grants made from their trust flind. Upon recommendation of the Executive Board, however, the membership agreed to send at least $100 each year to the Mother Church as a token of appreciation for its aid in their two building programs.

About Christian Science

About Christian Science 

Christian Science, a system of healing in the way Jesus healed, was discovered by Mary Baker Eddy in 1866. She wrote out her discovery of this curative principle in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures . It is Christian because it draws its authority squarely from the Bible, especially the life and teachings of Christ Jesus. It is Science because it has provable, repeatable results, as demonstrated in the daily lives of people all over the world for well over 100 years, bringing healing and regeneration. Its purpose is to save not only from physical ills but also from sin and death through an understanding of God.

An expansive view Mrs. Eddy had of this Science (written in Miscellaneous Writings ) states:
“It is the soul of divine philosophy, and there is no other philosophy. It is not a search after wisdom, it is wisdom: it is God’s right hand grasping the universe, — all time, space, immortality, thought, extension, cause, and effect; constituting and governing all identity, individuality, law, and power. It stands on this Scriptural platform: that He made all that was made, and it is good, reflects the divine Mind, is governed by it; and that nothing apart from this Mind, one God, is self-created or evolves the universe.”

Christian Science practitioners and Christian Science nurses have a ministry of prayer and practical help for those seeking treatment. These individuals are devoted to helping others to understand God and man scientifically, in a way that results in healing mind and body. (There is usually a charge for this treatment or care, since this ministry is their livelihood.) A directory of these individuals is in the Christian Science Journal, a monthly print magazine available at Reading Rooms, or on line at http://www.spirituality.com/journal/directory.jhtml.

There is a great deal of information on Christian Science at the website of The First Church of Christ, Scientist. There are also many books and magazines on the subject available at our public Reading Room.

• Learn more about Christian Science, including videos

• Find a Christian Science Practitioner

• Visit the official web site of The First Church of Christ, Scientist.

• Learn more Mary Baker Eddy.

• Read Science and Health.

• Articles, testimonies, and inspiring ideas.