mother church

American  

noun

1. a church from which other churches have had their origin or derived their authority.

2. a cathedral or a metropolitan church.

3. the church attended in one's youth or for the greater part of one's life.

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Etymology

Origin of mother church

Middle English word dating back to 1275–1325

Example Sentences

Its survival and growth since the forcible closure of its Beijing mother church in 2018 only adds embarrassment to alarm.

From The Wall Street Journal

The British monarch is head of the Church of England, the mother church of global Anglicanism.

From Barron's

The Church of England – which some people call "The Mother Church" because it was the first Anglican Church – is broadly considered to have moved in a more liberal direction than some churches elsewhere, not least in Africa, where it is estimated that two-thirds of Anglicans live.

From BBC

The long ago protest led to the founding of the first Black denomination in the United States, which Murray described as “the mother church of Black America.”

From Los Angeles Times

Dean Monteith took up the role a year ago in Canterbury, which he described as the mother church for 80 million Anglicans.

From BBC