The Christian Science church in Cambridge dates its inception from Jan. 5, 1899, when at a meeting of the Directors and First Members of The Mother Church instructions were given to organize branch churches in Cambridge, Chelsea, and Roxbury as soon as possible, to relieve the crowded conditions at the Boston church.
A preliminary meeting of the five Cambridge members who had attended the conference was called two days later, and on Jan. 13, 1899, a meeting was held at the residence of a student of Mrs. Eddy, 175 Mount Auburn Street, Cambridge, for the purpose of organizing a Christian Science church. There were present all the Christian Scientists residing in Arlington, Watertown, Belmont, and Cambridge, who were members of The Mother Church, fifty in number. Temporary officers were elected, and the directors were authorized to secure Brattle Hall, 40 Brattle Street, near Harvard Square, for services.
The first service of the Cambridge church was held Sunday morning, Jan. 22, with about two hundred and twenty-five people present. The Sunday school was organized Feb. 5, and on Feb. 22 a meeting was held for the purpose of arranging for incorporation and the election of officers for the ensuing year. The church charter was granted March 27, 1899. In a letter written to her student under date of April 21, Mrs. Eddy said: "There is a special adaptation in my choice of the first and second readers in your church and to the state of society around them."
