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by Cindy Peyser Safronoff (Author)
Reborn into a new way of thinking about life's challenges, followers of Rev. Mary Baker Eddy became active in the religious landscape throughout the world with the founding of her church in Boston in 1879, The First Church of Christ, Scientist. Initially derided as "a woman's religion," this new church that supported equality of the sexes empowered women and attracted them in large numbers. Charged with the mission to "reinstate primitive Christianity and its lost element of healing," Christian Scientists built branch churches in nearly every town and city in America, most prolifically through the mid-20th century. Many of these often elegant and sometimes iconic edifices have since become historic landmarks. In Seattle, new converts were exploding in number as this remote pioneer town was rapidly growing into a globally significant city that would become known for information technology and aerospace. Christian Science churches were built in nearly every district of the city, some of them like megachurches in their day. Dedication gives a rare inside look at who built these churches and how they faced the many challenges of a major construction project. Part 1: 1889 to 1929 focuses on four churches in Seattle: First Church of Christ, Scientist, on Capitol Hill, Third Church in the University District, Fourth Church on First Hill; and Seventh Church on Queen Anne Hill. Follow the building committees as they struggle through the tumult of growth, public criticism, leadership changes, world war, pandemic, financial concerns, and internal battles. Meet key players, a gender-balanced cast of colorful characters from diverse backgrounds. Through this engaging democratic drama about Seattle's spiritual development, Cindy Safronoff explores aspects of Mary Baker Eddy's church, and what it means to be dedicated. Cindy Safronoff is also author of Crossing Swords: Mary Baker Eddy vs. Victoria Claflin Woodhull and the Battle for the Soul of Marriage, winner of ten book awards, including 2016 Silver "IPPY" in Women's Issues and Illumination Book Awards Enduring Light Bronze in Christian Thought, and featured in the Sunday Boston Globe.
