A Brief History of Central Church
Birth of a New Church (1896 – 1913)
The year was 1896 and Grover Cleveland was President of the United States. Peter Turney was Governor of Tennessee, and W. L. Clapp was Mayor of Memphis. The entire world was looking forward to the beginning of the twentieth century. It was also the year that the Court Avenue Cumberland Presbyterian Church of Memphis conducted a tent revival at the corner of Union and Dunlap, now Forrest Park, but then outside the city limits.
The revival began on August 9, 1896 and was conducted by the Rev. Mr. M. C. Aleridge of Oregon,one of the most widely known and most successful evangelists in America. This revival continued through September 6. When he left others continued to preach another week. As a result, 32 people were organized as a branch of the Court Avenue Church and services were held until October 17 in the same tent. The congregation was officially organized as a Cumberland Presbyterian church on October 22 and took up residence on Union Avenue as Central Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Another tent revival was held in May 1897 and was led by Mrs. Louisa Woosley who preached for three weeks. She also helped raise funds for a new building, which they moved into on December 19, 1897.
First Locations and a Historic Change (1913-1974)
The first official full time pastor of the church was the Rev. Charles Henry Walton, who first preached to the congregation on September 29, 1906. He was just one of the many faithful pastors who led this congregation. Property was purchased on the corner of Linden and Dudley streets in 1912 and occupied on March 16, 1913.
On August 10, 1969, 56 years later, Under the leadership of pastor Jimmy Latimer, the congregation moved to 6311 Poplar Avenue, the current home of Kirby Woods Baptist Church. The Sunday before the move, the church had 185 people in the worship service and 90 in Sunday school. The picture below was taken on the first Sunday in the new facility. It wasn’t long, however, until more and more people were finding Christ through Central Church and a place of sound biblical teaching and fervent evangelistic outreach.
In August of 1972 the church built a new 1300 seat auditorium at the same address. Just two years later, on March 31, 1974, after years of concern with the way the denomination was abandoning its moorings in Scripture, the church declared itself independent from the Cumberland Presbyterian denomination. At the same meeting it adopted the Cumberland Presbyterian Confession of Faith of 1883 (with minor modifications) as the official doctrinal statement of the new independent Central Church. Central Church made this historic break with the Cumberland Presbyterian denomination, but retains the Presbyterian form of government with representative leadership through elders.
Massive Growth and More Moves (1974-Present)
It seemed that leaving the denomination only served to make Central Church a more attractive church to people from all denominations and the church experienced massive growth numerically. But space was so limited on the Poplar site that the church moved to new facilities at 6655 Winchester Road on March 29, 1981. Several stages of building resulted in a wonderful multipurpose facility.
When a local Christian college, Crichton College (formerly Mid-South Bible College and now Victory College), needed a place to stay, Central Church became its new home. But as the college and the church continued to grow, it became obvious that the Lord intended a new situation for both. On June 3, 2001, Central Church moved to temporary facilities at 952 W. Poplar in Collierville, selling its property on Winchester to The World Overcomers Outreach Ministries Church, who sold their facilities on north Highland in Memphis to Crichton College.
In 2003 Central Church completed its new facility at 2005 Winchester Blvd. near Bailey Station in Collierville. We are thrilled to be in Collierville and to be following the Lord’s direction for us in ministry. We hope you’ll consider joining us for the exciting adventure God is taking us on. Under the leadership of pastor Ernie Frey we are here to be His expression of love and compassion in the greater Memphis and Collierville community.
