Welcome to Central United Methodist Church

Central United Methodist Church is a community for Christ in the center of the city.

We welcome everyone without exception, and we affirm that all individuals are persons of sacred worth.

We strive to follow the example of Christ, grow in love, and include into full fellowship persons of every race, age, gender, culture, nationality, creed, faith history, sexual orientation or gender identity, socioeconomic status, physical and mental ability, marital status, or family make up.

To fully experience this welcome, we encourage visitors and new members to become involved in a small group within the church, such as a Sunday School class or a journey group, Wednesday night study, ministry group, or a volunteer opportunity.

Followers of Christ and the Ministries of The United Methodist Church (UMC)

Loyal to Christ, we use our power to strengthen and faithfully participate in the ministries of The United Methodist Church through our:

Not only is prayer a spiritual discipline, it is a gift. Prayer helps us connect to God and His will, and helps strengthen the bonds of Christian community as we pray with and for each other.

The opportunity for presence is an invitation to be exposed to the teachings of Christ and the Church. This exposure impacts and shapes our values, our priorities, our desires, our expectations, and our life direction. When we gather together, we are stronger than when we are apart.

Gifts present us with the challenge of investing in something bigger than ourselves. We take these gifts and connect them with what others give, and create something good that will honor and glorify God.

As part of the community of the new covenant with Jesus Christ, we reach out with Christian love and compassion to meet human needs locally, nationally and globally. We’ve been able to feed our local unhoused friends, help children in Bolivia and Cambodia and help travelers find their way home.

As part of the community of the new covenant with Jesus Christ, we witness in word and deed about the good things that God has done in our lives.

Apostles Creed

I believe in God the Father Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth;
And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord:
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, dead, and buried;
the third day he rose from the dead;
he ascended into heaven,
and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen

History of Central UMC

Over 180 years ago, a small, white-framed church was built on the site of our current location. This humble structure was Asheville’s first church—and the beginning of God’s great plan for Central United Methodist Church.

Today Central Church remains the city’s longest continuously operating church and is home to over 3,000 members. Through the years, our purpose has remained steadfast: a commitment to follow Jesus Christ and share the Gospel message.

1739

John Wesley, priest in the Church of England, forms Methodist Societies around London to “support one another in the pursuit of holiness of heart and life”.

1784

The Methodist Episcopal Church is formed at the Christmas Conference in Baltimore, led by Thomas Coke and Francis Asbury.

1800

Bishop Francis Asbury, the most famous of the early circuit-riders, visited Asheville and found Methodists here, but they were not an organized group and had no church building. (Asheville had a population of several hundred.)

1824

Circuit-rider Reverend David B. Cumming came to Asheville to organize the Methodists.

1837

A small, white-framed structure was built on our present location and was Asheville’s first church- our ancestor church, Asheville Methodist Episcopal Church.

1844

Long-standing disagreement over slave ownership by clergy culminated in a General Conference vote to suspend Bishop James Osgood Andrew of Georgia. Southern delegates dispute this discipline resulting in a schism that leads to the formation of a separate denomination, the Methodist Episcopal Church South. Asheville ME Church affiliated with the ME Church South.

1857

An expanding congregation moved into a new, larger, brick structure that underwent several expansions over the next 45 years.

1868

Black members of the congregation, long experiencing segregation in worship, communion, and Sunday School, decided to withdraw their membership and establish a church of their own after being denied permission for a black minister to preach in the sanctuary. Hopkins Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church was formed. https://hopkinschapelamezion.org/our-history/

1880

The now Asheville Methodist Episcopal Church South began to establish satellite churches. (The population of Asheville was about 2600.)

1888

The name Central Church was first used to designate the downtown church from the satellite churches established around the city.

1890

Central Church had a membership of 475. (Asheville had a grown to more than 10,000 residents.)

1900

Plans were underway for a new house of worship. (Asheville’s population was now 15,000.)

1902

Construction began on the new facility, our current structure.

1919

Nine years after the Boy Scout program came to America from England, Troop Four of Central Church received its charter. It has been in continuous existence since.

1924

Church membership totaled more than 2,000, and a renovation project was in full swing. The sanctuary was enlarged and the balcony added. A wing was added to the south that included the Fellowship Hall and kitchen as well as Sunday School rooms.

1937

Central Church celebrated its 100th birthday in July.

1939

The Methodist Episcopal Church and Methodist Episcopal Church South reunite and, along with the Methodist Protestant Church, join to form the Methodist Church.

1949

The Chapel was built and dedicated to the 16 young men of the church who gave their lives in World War II.

A three-story Sunday School complex was added on the south side of the Fellowship Hall.

1968

The Methodist Church merged with the Evangelical United Brethren Church to form the United Methodist Church.

1987

Central United Methodist Church celebrated its Sesquicentennial Celebration—150 Years: Calling Us into the Future.

1989

The administrative offices were renovated.

1990

The Fellowship Hall was renovated.

1994

The church sanctuary was remodeled.

2006

In November of 2006, Central and Haywood Street United Methodist Church merged, creating two campuses under the name of Central United Methodist Church.

2018

Central celebrated its 180th Anniversary — Reaching into the Future from a Foundation of Faith. In the course of research on this occasion, the shared history of Central and Hopkins Chapel was rediscovered, which rekindled and strengthened our kinship in faith. This culminated in Central joining in worship to celebrate with Hopkins Chapel their 150th Anniversary and sparked closer examination of how to follow Jesus in manifesting racial justice in our community.