Swedish Baptist Church organized with Rev. C. J. Johnson as pastor. Early church meetings were held in homes, rented halls, and the basement of First Baptist Church. A new sanctuary with 200 seats was dedicated in 1884 at 633 South Main Avenue.
In order to be more outward-focused, we changed our name from First Swedish Baptist Church to Central Baptist Church. All Swedish language services were replaced with English services. These two major shifts signified that we were lo longer just an immigrant church: the gospel was for everyone.
Central purchased the 8th & Spring location, hosted the Baptist General Conference 74th Annual Meeting, increased our radio broadcast range, bought houses and adjacent lots for building expansion, finished the first of three annexations, and organized a church plant in the Norton-Froelich area. God was clearly at work.
The property that would eventually become Central’s Southwest Campus was purchased, and commitments over $4.4MM were received from churchgoers. Christmas Eve 1995 was celebrated at our current location on Ralph Rogers Road.
The Southwest Campus was expanded by building a 1,200-seat Worship Center, Grand Central gathering space, and Family Life Center gym and educational wing.
Three strategic initiatives were focused on to reach a neighborhood (Pettigrew Heights through our Downtown Campus), a nation (Ethiopia, through our collaboration with global ministry partners) and a generation (Next Gen, through Kid Central, Student Central, and College Central ministries). In 2015, Central Baptist Church simplified to Central Church to remove obstacles and allow us to reach more people for Christ.
To better reflect our culture and focus on oikos, we changed our mission statement to the current: Central Church exists to help you share the love of Jesus with your relational world.
We remain committed to our mission of oikos and continue to seek God’s heart for those who are far from Him. With challenges of limited space to welcome guests to weekend services and to events throughout the week, Central is in the midst of the next building expansion effort. Learn more about Mission Expansion efforts on our campaign site Our Oikos. Our Why.
