Mount Ecclesia was founded after Max Heindel, Founder of the Rosicrucian Fellowship (8/08/1909) reported to have conctact with an anonymous figure identified as one of the Elder Brothers of the Rose Cross known as "The Teacher",who instructed that a permanent headquarters be established to support the twin mission of the Organization: to spread the Rosicrucian teachings, (the deeper Esoteric Christian Mysteries); and to heal the sick (according to the spiritual method delineated by the Order of the Rose Cross).

On the winter solstice of 1910 The Teacher gave Max Heindel a spiritual vision of the location through "Jupiter Consciousness/picture consciousness/spiritual vision/telepathy" with the mission to find it and start the work.

They finally came down to fellowship's new headquarters on the 40 acres (about 16.19 hectares) land of Mount Ecclesia to dedicate it to the "Great Work of the Elder Brothers of the Rose Cross".

An excerpt of the first-hand description of the mentioned event is as following : On the 27th, Mrs. Heindel and I started for Oceanside, nearly exhausted from the strain of packing and moving.

Our responsibility to aid thousands of weary hearts to bravely bear their burdens has often seemed beyond our strength; yet always have we found our powers renewed by looking within; and this time it seemed as if all Nature wanted to cheer us and was saying: "Take courage, remember the Work is not yours but God's; trust entirely in Him; He will point the way."

Those present were: Annie R. Atwood, of San Diego; Ruth E. Beach, of Portland, Ore.; Rachel M. Cunningham, Rudolf Miller, and John Adams, of Los Angeles; George Kramer, of Pittsburgh, Pa.; Wm.

His wife, Agusta Foss Heindel, remained active in civic engagement, promoting the Fellowship and working to beautify Oceanside until her death in 1949.

Spiritual Healing meetings are held in this holy place at a regular time each day by the Probationers who have consecrated their lives to this work.

The columns fuse Greek (Ionic, Doric and Corinthian) and Roman (Tuscan and composite) styles, each one with a capital crowned by a finial globe.

[3]On July 23, 1920 (at noon), during the laying of the cornerstone in the north-eastern corner of the temple, the purpose of The Ecclesia was stated in accordance to the commands of Christ, namely, "Preach the gospel and heal the sick": This work of Christian spiritual healing is one of the methods of serving suffering humanity, by offering to the true physician a means of uniting the power of science with that of religion.

On December 25, 1938, the Rosicrucian Fellowship opened a Sanitarium building[4] which was used for a number of years to treat patients with non-contagious diseases.

[5] Over the years, the group built a number of structures on the property, including an administration building in 1913, a chapel in 1914, a guesthouse and healing center in 1938, and a business office and cottages in the 1960s and 1970s.

Max Heindel, the founder of the Rosicrucian Fellowship, had a dream, yet to be concretized, of a beautiful Grecian theatre envisioned to be built in the canyon below the chapel and in which performances would be given of plays with a spiritual message and occult truths such as the great dramas of Shakespeare[6] and other inspired classics; as well as of the Fellowship's own splendid orchestra composed of permanent students, that it would perform in the theatre works of master composers, particularly those of Beethoven and Wagner whom he knew to be high musical Initiates, and also that classes in initiatory music would be taught there.

The Fellowship runs its own printing press, established by Max Heindel in 1912, which is an area of great activity with hundreds of products being produced: printing the ephemerides, the books (with millions spread worldwide),[7] most of the course materials sent to the members,[8] the periodical Echoes from Mount Ecclesia (which became the Rays from The Rosy Cross in July 1915),[9] the pamphlets (in six languages) that are distributed freely to people and many other various things, such as flyers, brochures, postcards, posters, etc., that are necessary for the diffusion of the Rosicrucian Christian teachings,[10] the Gospel of the coming Age of Aquarius.

[11] The organization generated so much mail that the federal government built the city's first post office on Seagaze Drive in 1936 to keep up with the demand.

[12] The historic district of Mount Ecclesia, home to the Rosicrucian Fellowship, is noted for its singular architecture and the preservation of nature grounds and gardens, offering a unique meditative walking experience.

The Fellowship has always balanced along the edge of the subsistence level with its funding and maintenance being achieved through the voluntary giving of members and friends, legacies, book-sale profits, housing rentals and cafeteria income and with the assistance of volunteer workers.