First Church of Christ, Scientist, New York, USA (photo)

First church of christ scientist. New York. The 1903 1st Church of Christian, Scientists -- Central Park West and 96th Street. In the years following the Civil War Mary Baker Eddy conceived a new theological approach which focused on the spiritual and deprecated the material. Her new organization, the Church of Christ, Scientist, grew despite detractors who dubbed it a cult—mainly because of Eddy’s conviction that illness should be healed through faith rather than man-made medicine. In 1886 she sent her close friend, Mrs. Augusta E. Stetson, to New York to organize the First Christian Science movement in the city, which she did by 1888.”