The Church of Christ, Scientist, is designed to make the healing and educational system known as Christian Science available and accessible to everyone.

The First Church of Christ, Scientist--with Church, administration, and publishing buildings on a 14-acre site--serves not only as a local place of worship, but also as the international headquarters for the Church's worldwide activities. The Christian Science Plaza houses several buildings of architectural and historical significance.

The Original Mother Church, built in 1894, is at the heart of the Christian Science Plaza and remains today much as it was when first built. The building is Romanesque in style, made of New Hampshire granite. Most of the stained glass windows depict Bible stories. Designed to seat nearly 1,000 people, it was soon outgrown.

The large domed Extension was completed in 1906, and provides seating for approximately 3,000. The building combines Renaissance and Byzantine architectural concepts. The organ, built by the Aeolian-Skinner Company of Boston, is one of the largest in the world: it covers eight divisions and has a total of 13,290 pipes.

The Plaza was expanded in the 1970s with a design by Araldo A. Cossutta, Architect-in-Charge, for I. M. Pei & Partners and Araldo Cossutta, Associated Architects. The original works for the Plaza include: a 28-story Church Administration building; the Sunday School, the shape of which reflects the dome of The Mother Church extension; a 525-foot-long Colonnade building featuring solid sunshade columns; an 80-foot-diameter fountain that sprays water as high as 40 feet into the air; and a 98- by 686-foot reflecting pool, which is almost twice as long and two-thirds as wide as a standard football field.

Founder Mary Baker Eddy discovered and established a Bible-based system of Christian healing, explained in her book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, first published in 1875. The Church responds to public interest in Mrs. Eddy's ideas, publishes The Christian Science Monitor and numerous magazines and books on Christian Science, and supports Christian Science Reading Rooms and more than 2000 churches worldwide.

The First Church of Christ, Scientist's presence in the Fenway began with building the original Mother Church in 1894. In addition to regular religious services and public tours, neighbors and visitors can also enjoy occasional organ recitals, the family-oriented activities the Church sponsors each year for Boston's First Night, and the fountain on the plaza ("brick beach") each spring, summer, and fall.