Central Baptist Church is an Independent, Fundamental, Bible-believing Baptist Church. We believe that God’s Word has the answer to life’s problems and is the final authority for all matters of faith and practice. The Bible tells us we can know how to get to Heaven and how to live a Biblically prosperous and successful life until we arrive there.
A day of confusion and instability reigns in our country, and yet God has given us His Word as a guide in these times. The Word of God instructs us personally as individuals in the husband-wife relationship, and in the parent-child relationship to make our homes a little heaven on earth
We are committed to help people of every age group find the peace that only God can provide. This is the ministry the Lord Jesus Christ has given to us. We want you to know Jesus as your personal Savior (see here) and for you to be involved in a church family that cares for you.
One of the hallmarks of Central Baptist Church is the preaching of God’s eternal Word. A trend in preaching today is to soften the truth of how God expects us to live. The result is that truth is weakened to the point of being just another religious option. At Central Baptist, the preaching is an unapologetic declaration of timeless precepts from the Bible coupled with practical applications for daily life.
Distinctive music is another special aspect of Central Baptist Church. After just one service you will realize that our intent is to glorify God to the best of our ability. Our traditional, yet exciting, congregational singing and special music aids each individual’s opportunity to participate in expressing God’s worth to Him.
Finally, we hold to traditional, biblical, Baptist beliefs. In the past, when people stood up for what they believed, they were said to have character. In today’s society, they are tagged as intolerant, old-fashioned, or out-of-touch. In our drifting society, where families are torn apart and violence is rampant, people need a solid, steady anchor. We believe the time-tested truths, preached with relevance and compassion, offer the anchor of peace and steadfastness people need.
We have a four-fold mission: Worship God, Love Others, Serve God and Invite Others.
Central Baptist Church traces its origins to a series of revival meetings in 1930 at Central Presbyterian Church in downtown Amarillo led by J. Frank Norris, a well-known Baptist preacher from Fort Worth. The meetings gathered families who would become the first members of Central Baptist.
Gloria Gray (pictured left with Pastor and Mrs. Chadwick) attended the church as a child in the ’30s and remembers stories of services held in a downtown horse stable before the first church was built. “They started out with straw on the floor and then later they picked it up and maybe put sand or something down to make a floor,” she said.
In 1931, a small tabernacle was built at Ninth Avenue and Van Buren Street. On April 15, 1931, the church was established with the name Fundamental Baptist Fellowship Church. Church members began construction in 1933 on a new location at Eighth Avenue and Monroe Street. The new building, not much larger than the previous location, included 24 classrooms.
Gray said the church members divided into groups to raise money for the new building. Each group was responsible for raising $100, she said. “I remember my mother telling me about it,” Gray said. “It wasn’t natural of my mother to ask. She was more bashful and she said that they just prayed to the Lord to help them have the courage to go out and ask local businessmen, ‘Would you like to buy bricks for our building?’ “In that era, it was a different age and wasn’t like it is now. Money didn’t flow freely and if someone gave you $100, they were really giving you big bucks.”
She said the new location was not large enough to host revival meetings during the ’40s and ’50s, when membership surpassed 500. “Even in the Monroe Street building, it would be standing room only,” Gray said. “Sometimes they would raise the windows and people would stand in the alley-way that goes by and in the street outside to listen to the preacher. She said the church would rent the Amarillo City Auditorium for revivals to accommodate the large crowds.
In 1937, Fundamental Baptist changed its name to Central Baptist. In 2007, the church was moved to its present location on SW 58th Ave.
The Rev. Jerald Chadwick, a Borger native, and his wife, Arlene, came to Central Baptist in 1995 after spending more than 18 years on the West Coast starting churches in Washington and California. “We had come back here for a family reunion in 1994,” Chadwick said. “We knew the Lord was done with us in Spokane (Wash.), but we really thought we would be on the West Coast because there was such a tremendous need for churches there.
“I knew it was God’s will for us to come back, though. The current pastor wasn’t quite ready to step down yet, so we just started a church here in Amarillo. In March of ’95, Central Baptist called me in as pastor and we merged the church with the church which we had started, which was called North-Plains Baptist.”
The church supports about 80 missionaries and has special facilities to host visiting pastors and missionaries in training. “George and Fern Patrick spent 41 years in Korea and started 18 churches with Central Baptist’s support,”
Membership was at its highest in the ’50s, but the church continues to thrive with about 130 members and 20 students enrolled in the academy. Original Article on Amarillo.com
NOTE: In September of 2020, Brother Allen Copeland and his wife Stephanie assumed the position of pastor and pastor’s wife at Central Baptist Church. Learn about the Copelands