The history of the Center Street Church of Christ dates to
1836 when the first congregation was organized in
Washington County with 20 members. It was in 1848 when John
T. Johnson and Robert Graham came from Kentucky to hold a
twelve-day meeting in Fayetteville in which 35 were
baptized and a congregation was formed in the city. Graham,
a graduate of Bethany College, returned to Fayetteville as
the minister for the new church in January 1849. By 1850,
Graham had founded Arkansas College, a Christian college
and the first degree-granting institution in the state of
Arkansas. The school lasted until the Civil War when the
campus was burned to the ground after the battle of Pea
Ridge in March, 1861.
The church in Fayetteville continued to grow after the war
and by 1885 had a new building on College Avenue on land
that was once part of Arkansas College. A new minister,
N.M. Ragland, introduced a piano into the Sunday school
classes but was opposed by several members to its use in
the worship. In the spring of 1886, the group opposing the
piano in worship withdrew and started meeting with a
mission effort on Government Avenue. They became known as
the Government Avenue Church of Christ.
The Government Avenue congregation grew rapidly, and a new
building was erected in 1888. In the 1920s the church grew
so large they would have their summer meetings in a vacant
lot across the street under a tent. By 1942, it became
apparent that the church needed a new meeting place. Land
was purchased on the corner of Center and Locust Streets
but it was 1948 before construction began. It was September
11, 1949 when the new building was dedicated and the first
worship service was conducted.
During the 1950s, the Center Street congregation grew
dramatically. They established a student work at the
University of Arkansas and in 1958 started the North Street
Church of Christ. They were also instrumental in
establishing the Combs Street Church of Christ in 1961. In
1977 they completed an educational and office addition to
the building and remodeled the auditorium in 1989. An
elevator was installed in 1997 to provide easier access and
additional fellowship space. Expansion of the fellowship
hall and the construction of new class space was completed
in 2005.
Preachers who have served the congregation have been:
Johnnie Martin, John T. Hinds, A.M. Foster, W.B. Ragsdale,
C.C. Houston, L.E. Pryor, James E. Laird, Leo P. Mansfield,
Willie Fritts, E.M. Borden, Fred McClung (two times),
Harbert Hooker, Taylor Davis, George Curtis, Allen Harper,
Glen Parks, Joe Spaulding, Charles Caldwell, Jr., Joe L.
Banks (three times), F.I. Stanley, Jim Caldwell, Albert
Gardner, Tom Dockery (two times), Larry Mitchell, Jack
Harriman, Robb Hadley (current associate minister) and Jack
English (current preaching minister).
The current leadership consists of six Elders: Allen
Cochran, Ken Crudup, Lonnie Farrar, Jerry Henson, Rick
McWhorter, and Wiley Vaughn. Others serving as elders since
1949 have been: Sam Couch, W.S. Fritts, C.E. Johnson, W.D.
Lucas, O.L. Dailey, Walter Miller, Lester Fritts, D.B.
Hebberd, Charles Johnson, Frank Gibson, Oris Salyer, Ralph
Terry, Bill Sisemore, Glen Oxford and Arthur Caselman.
The Center Street church of Christ continues to reach out
to the community with the simple story of what God has done
for us through Jesus.