Christian Science Pastors

When the Church of Christ (Scientist) was established in 1879, Mary Baker Eddy was its first pastor, preaching at its services and occasionally inviting others to do so. After Eddy resigned as pastor in 1889, various individuals served as pastors: Lanson P. Norcross (August 1889 - February 1893), David Easton (March 1893 - March 1894) and Septimus J. Hanna (March 1894 - January 1895). On December 19, 1894, Mary Baker Eddy ordained the Bible and her book, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, to be Pastor of The Mother Church, The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Massachusetts, thus doing away with personal preaching. The sermons henceforth consisted of Lesson-Sermons composed of citations from these books, read by two Readers, with Septimus J. Hanna and Eldora O. Gragg being the first to serve in these roles. In April 1895, all Christian Science churches began following this procedure and it continues to this day.

Christian Science church services first began to be held regularly in about 1879. On April 12, 1879, Mary Baker Eddy and the members of the Christian Scientist Association — the association of her students — voted to organize a church to be named the Church of Christ, which “should reinstate primitive Christianity and its lost element of healing.” By the time the church was chartered on August 23, 1879, it was renamed Church of Christ (Scientist) because another church had already been incorporated in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as “Church of Christ.” At the time of the founding of the church in April, Eddy was invited to become the pastor of the church, but did not accept the position until December 1879. She was formally ordained as pastor on November 9, 1881, resigning nearly eight years later, on May 28, 1889. Her duties as pastor included giving sermons at the Sunday services of the church, and she occasionally invited others into her pulpit — sometimes trusted students of Christian Science, as well as clergy of other denominations who were sympathetic to Christian Science and ministers who had studied Christian Science with her at the Massachusetts Metaphysical College. It was apparently her hope that by testing these individuals in the pulpit, she could determine if they could be effective assistant pastors, or perhaps even eventually succeed her as pastor, although for various reasons, none of them remained in these positions for any significant period of time.

During these years Christian Science churches were organized in cities and towns around the United States, and these congregations appointed their own pastors when suitable individuals could be found. One of them, the Reverend Lanson P. Norcross, succeeded Eddy as pastor of the Boston church on August 25, 1889. He was a graduate of Chicago Theological Seminary, eventually became a student of Mary Baker Eddy, and had been serving as the pastor of the Christian Science church in Oconto, Wisconsin. After The Mother Church, The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Massachusetts, was organized on September 23, 1892, Norcross continued his service as pastor, resigning on February 24, 1893. In March, David A. Easton, a former Congregational minister and student of Eddy, became pastor, serving until his death the next year, in March 1894. On March 18, 1894, Judge Septimus J. Hanna became pastor.

On December 19, 1894, Mary Baker Eddy informed the Christian Science Board of Directors that the Bible and her book, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, would become the pastor of The Mother Church. The books would “preach” during the services in the form of a Lesson-Sermon consisting of Bible citations with correlative passages from Science and Health, read by two readers. In April 1895, Eddy announced that Lesson-Sermons would read from the pulpit in all Christian Science churches worldwide. Septimus Hanna transitioned from pastor to “First Reader” of The Mother Church, conducting the services and reading the Lesson-Sermon’s correlative passages from Science and Health. A “Second Reader” read the Bible passages. In both The Mother Church and its branch churches, this arrangement continues to this day, with the Lesson-Sermons consisting of citations that are chosen by a committee to illustrate 26 topics that repeat twice yearly; these citations are published in the Christian Science Quarterly periodical. Despite the 26 topics remaining the same, the choice of citations is unique to each Lesson-Sermon. In Wednesday testimony meetings, the First Reader reads a relatively brief lesson composed of citations he or she chooses from the Bible and Science and Health. Readers of The Mother Church are selected by the Christian Science Board of Directors and serve three year terms. Readers in branch churches are elected by the branch’s own members. The branch’s bylaws determine the readers’ terms of service.