Third Church of Christ, Scientist (Washington, D.C.)

Third Church of Christ, Scientist
Third Church of Christ, Scientist
General information
Architectural style	Brutalist
Town or city	Washington, D.C.
Country	United States
Completed	1971
Demolished	2014
Client	Third Church of Christ, Scientist
Design and construction
Architect	Araldo Cossutta
Architecture firm	I. M. Pei & Partners

Third Church of Christ, Scientist, established in 1918, is a Christian Science church in downtown Washington, D.C. From 1971–2014, the church was located in a controversial building at 16th and I Street NW. Considered a significant work of "Brutalist" church architecture by some critics, the building was considered unsatisfactory by members of the Church's congregation, which shrank over the years. In 2007, the church applied for a demolition permit for the building to permit sale and redevelopment of the site, with plans to relocate to a more suitable structure. A 1991 application for landmark status for the building, filed to forestall a demolition threat then, was subsequently approved. After a lawsuit and hearings, the District of Columbia issued a demolition permit in May 2009, and the building was demolished in 2014. Church services are held at a temporary location, and a new building is planned.

The Christian Science denomination was founded by Mary Baker Eddy in the 1860s, and the Church of Christ, Scientist was formally established in the 1870s. Third Church of Christ, Scientist is a branch church of the Mother Church, The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston.

Third Church was originally located in a building on Lafayette Park near the White House, shared with the National Woman's Party. In summer 1918, soon after it was established, the church relocated to the Masonic Temple on New York Avenue at 13th Street. In 1927, the church moved to a former Unitarian church building at 13th and L St that it purchased, but then in the 1950s, the church considered options for relocating closer to Lafayette Park.

The site at 16th and I Street NW, owned by the Mother Church, housed the Washington offices of the Church's Committee on Publication. In the 1960s, the Church decided to demolish that building and construct a new office building to house the Committee and The Christian Science Monitor, with space available on the site to accommodate a building for Third Church of Christ, Scientist.