The term Mother Church has many meanings within Christianity. The principal definition in the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is "The Church, esp. the Roman Catholic Church, considered as a mother in its functions of nourishing and protecting the believer". Other definitions include: "A church (as a parish church) which has responsibility for or oversight of another (as a chapel of ease, chantry, etc.)"; "The principal church of a country, region, or city; a cathedral or a metropolitan church"; "The original church of a particular Christian movement, serving as an organizational or spiritual centre; esp. the First Church of Christ, Scientist in Boston, Massachusetts, that of the Christian Scientists"; and "The church (i.e. organized body of Christians) of which another church or denomination is an offshoot; (also) the oldest or original church from which all others have sprung".
Famous quotes containing the words mother and/or church:
“My grandfathers, my grandmothers and my mother hardly ever spanked at all. My grandfather said that if you spanked the little ones, you made them scared and they couldn’t think. My great great-grandfathers used to use the double rope, but they never hit you; they would just barely miss you with that rope. Afterwards, they would go easy. They would take this boy or girl and talk very softly and kindly to them, and these youngsters would listen.”
—Max Hanley (20th century)
“The legacies that parents and church and teachers left to my generation of Black children were priceless but not material: a living faith reflected in daily service, the discipline of hard work and stick-to-itiveness, and a capacity to struggle in the face of adversity.”
—Marian Wright Edelman (20th century)