Central Christian Church

The congregation belonged to a church still settling its own shape. The Disciples of Christ grew from movements led by Barton W. Stone in Kentucky and Thomas and Alexander Campbell farther east, which united in 1832. Early Texas Disciples feared church organization, and when the Texas Christian Missionary Society was founded at Austin in 1886 it set off a quarrel, joined by a dispute over instrumental music in worship. The Firm Foundation spoke for conservatives and the Christian Courier for progressives, and by 1906 the conservatives had broken off as the Church of Christ.

What the plaque says

Central Christian Church Evangelist David Pennington came to San Antonio in 1883 and organized this Christian (Disciples of Christ) congregation. He held worship services in a variety of borrowed facilties until a sancturary was constructed at this site in 1884. Central Christian Church was established during a period of great growth in San Antonio due to the coming of the railroad in 1877, and church membership grew as well. Larger church facilities were built in 1903 under the leadership of The Rev. Homer Wilson. The current building was dedicatd in 1950, when Dr. Floyd Allen Bash was Minister. During the Pastorate of the Rev. Hugh McClelland Central Christian Church led in the establishment of the Mexican Christian Institute ( now Inman Christian Center) to Minister to refugees fleeing from the revolution in Mexico and to others in the southwest section of the city. The congregation also led in organizing a Disciples of Christ Church for Spanish-speaking people in San Antonio. Central Christian was the first church in the city to broadcast worship services over radio (1924) and the first to air services on television (1954). For over 100 years, Central Christian Church has provided significant service and leadership to San Antonio. (1985)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Spanish Governor's Palace — 0.6 mi
  The last visible piece of the Presidio San Antonio de Béxar: a presidio captain's house with a 1749 keystone, a century as shops and saloons, and a romantic 1930 restoration.
• San Fernando Cathedral — 0.6 mi
  The Canary Islanders' parish church on Main Plaza, where Bowie married and Santa Anna raised a red flag, rebuilt in Gothic Revival around the walls of the 1750s church.
• The Alamo — 0.7 mi
  Mission San Antonio de Valero before it was a fort: a church its builders never finished, a thirteen-day siege in 1836, and the Army gable of 1850-52 that became its emblem.
• Casa Navarro State Historic Site — 0.8 mi
  The adobe and caliche-block home of José Antonio Navarro, a native-born signer of the 1836 declaration, and the last remnant of the Tejano neighborhood called Laredito.

More markers nearby

• Site of Rincon/Douglass School — 0.3 mi
• San Pedro Creek — 0.3 mi
• Italian American Community in San Antonio — 0.4 mi
• Venustiano Carranza in San Antonio — 0.5 mi