A Brief History Of Our Church

Our church was organized as the Union Baptist Church in 1848 and met at a location about a mile north of our present-day community. Our Sunday school organization dates back to 1853.

Tragedy struck the little church in 1879 when fire destroyed the meetinghouse. The search for a temporary meeting place ended when the local Masonic Lodge offered the use of the first floor of their building located where the church cemetery is today.

The Masonic building continued to be used by the church until the early 1900's when the congregation built a small, wooden structure in which to meet. A brick building was constructed in 1949 on the same site as described above. Reverend  Ira Harris, the pastor at the time, led the church into removing the old building and replacing it.

Services of dedication and the laying of the cornerstone were held as part of the Homecoming celebration on Sunday, July 21, 1949. By the Homecoming of 1950 the mortgage had been paid off making the church debt-free.

To meet the growing need for Bible teaching and church fellowship space, an addition was  joined to the rear of the church auditorium. Construction that included space that could be made into three classrooms by means of folding partitions or left as one large area, was completed on July 5, 1959.

In 1966, during the pastorate of Reverend Clinton Barrette, a modern and spacious educational wing was added to the northwest corner of the church building. As part of the Homecoming celebration on Sunday, July 24, 1966, this new building was dedicated. During 1973, the debt on the addition was paid in full, and on Homecoming Sunday, July 29 a note burning service was held. The church was again debt-free.

On May 1, 1977, the church acquired 4.57 acres of land from the State Board of Education (Central School Property). The initial phase of building a new sanctuary, fellowship hall and office space was completed on October 26, 1979 at an estimated cost of $ 200, 000. This was accomplished under the leadership of Pasto John Ben Lane, our longest serving Pastor to date.

On April 14, 1994, the church purchased the residence of Jane Brown, located one half mile north of Central on Alabama Highway 9 for use as a pastorium. Pastor George Smith was the first Pastor to live there.

In 2008, the Old Central School House and property was donated to the Church and was renamed the Family Life Center. This was accomplished under the leadership of Pastor Chad Chandler.