Lady Victoria Murray and the birth of Christian Science in Manchester
It was Lady Victoria Murray, an ardent Christian Scientist, who introduced Christian Science to Manchester over a century ago. She and her faithful followers were involved in building the First Church in Victoria Park — designed by celebrated local architect Edgar Wood and built between 1903 and 1908.
Sir Nikolaus Pevsner described it as "the only religious building in Lancashire that would be indispensable in a survey of 20th century church design in all England."
Her legacy is still present in Fourth Church today — fragments of the stained glass from the original First Church, dating from 1904, are incorporated into the panel at our entrance. Lady Victoria Murray's own desk is kept in the Board Room.
February 1923 — Fourth Church is born
In February 1923, thirteen people met in the Milton Hall, Manchester, to prepare the organisation of a branch church of Christ, Scientist. A collection taken at the meeting amounted to £75.12.6 — enough to hire a hall.
The first services were held at Milton Hall, then at the Geographical Hall, The Parsonage, where 200 could be seated. The application to The Mother Church was made on 29th May 1923 and granted on 20th July 1923.
Fourth Church first appeared in the Christian Science Journal in October 1923. Service times were advertised in The Manchester Guardian.
"A prominent feature of those early days of the Church was the zest and alertness of the members, the majority of whom were on duty at every service, and many for some hours before the service… there was a constant expectancy of healing from everyone who attended the services."
Fourth Church Archives, 1924The original members' roll book has been in continuous use since Fourth Church was founded. It carries the signatures and names of every member from the founding year to the present day — a quiet, tangible thread connecting those who gather now with those who first opened the doors.
Acquiring the Futurist Cinema on Peter Street
As the congregation grew, the Memorial Hall at Albert Square began to fill beyond capacity. News came that the Futurist Cinema in Peter Street (originally the Grand Theatre) was on the market.
On 27th August 1924, an auction was held at the cinema — the Catalogue of the Stock-in-Trade of a Cinema House — under instructions from Fourth Church, who had acquired the building for Church purposes. The sale disposed of 900 tip-up chairs, two Simplex projectors, electric curtains, and all the fittings of the Futurist.
The total cost of establishing the new church edifice was £39,942 — comprising £22,572 for land and buildings, £16,441 for alterations, and £929 for furnishings.
The Futurist Cinema building still stands on Peter Street today — almost directly opposite the current Fourth Church — now home to the Peaky Blinders restaurant.
24 November 1924 — the first service at Peter Street
Work commenced to transform the Futurist Cinema into a church befitting the Christian Science movement. Whilst alterations were carried out, services continued at the Memorial Hall.
Six months after the purchase came the great day: the first service at Peter Street was held on 24th November 1924, preceded by a short service of gratitude attended by members only.
On 6th May 1925, Manchester suffered a heavy cloudburst which caused Peter Street's sewers to overflow — flooding the newly decorated church entirely. Members came in urgently to find the carpet under water. It took a long while for the smell of that incident to subside.
A church at the heart of the city
Christian Science lectures held in the church in 1925, 1926 and 1927 drew such extraordinary crowds that attendance exceeded safety limits — they had to cease holding such meetings in the building.
In 1959, the front part of the church was altered — resulting in a new edifice that was loved and visited by so many people over the following decades for services, talks, and lectures.
The current members of Fourth Church recognise the dedication and enthusiasm of those early workers who made it possible to have a prime position in the centre of Manchester.
“This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.”Christ Jesus · John 17:3 — inscribed on the Fourth Church auditorium wall
“First built in our hearts”
Eventually the decision was made to move. In 1974, the membership set a spiritual goal: "To maintain a church, rightly placed, correctly equipped and poised for the work of healing and regeneration in the community."
This goal guided all negotiations and metaphysical work for the new building. The membership recognised that their church would "first be built in our hearts" (Mary Baker Eddy) and that the building should be the effort of the whole membership.
"Mind, God is the architect that builds its own idea, and produces all the harmony that appears."
Mary Baker Eddy · Miscellaneous Writings
An award-winning new building for Manchester
The new building at 40–42 Peter Street was developed by OMI Architects. Described in Church Building magazine as "an enjoyable yet unassuming work of great subtlety and intelligence," it was designed to give the church a higher public profile, with the bookshop and Reading Room acting as a kind of shop-window to the street.
The double-height auditorium is a subtle and intimate space, with lighting from cleverly concealed openings. A column and beam — fortuitously describing the shape of a cross — exposed during construction adds a sense of depth to the space.
The Commonwealth Games — Fourth Church reaches out
The Commonwealth Games were held in Manchester from 25th July to 4th August 2002, with athletes from 72 countries. As Fourth Church is in the centre of Manchester, the church rose to the occasion.
46 volunteers from a 50-mile radius staffed the Reading Room for the full eleven days of the Games, keeping it open from 10am to 10pm each day. The Reading Room window was dressed in the colours of the Commonwealth Games.
"The blessings are still unfolding," the church recorded, "— like ripples on a pond."
