Central: A Christ-Centered Church has stood on Pennington Road in Ewing Township, New Jersey, since 1957, but the congregation itself stretches back to 1854, when twenty-nine members of a struggling downtown Trenton fellowship formed what was then the Central Baptist Church. Today the church describes itself as a diverse community following Christ anywhere and bringing hope to the hurting, a vision statement added to its constitution in 2017. Adults, students, and children gather each week across two in-person services and an online broadcast, while more than two dozen missionaries carry the church's reach across Africa, Latin America, Asia, and beyond.
A Baptist congregation shaped by 170 years of Trenton and Ewing history
The congregation's origins sit on the corner of East Hanover and North Montgomery Streets in Trenton, where nine men and twenty women reorganized themselves on April 30, 1854, under the guidance of Reverend James T. Wilcox, sent by the New Jersey Baptist State Convention. The Civil War era shaped the young church in visible ways: Pastor George Darrow volunteered as a Union chaplain in 1861, and the congregation organized a Central Baptist Boys Brigade to train young men in leadership, discipline, and character, with many of the students going on to fight. The war years also produced a sanctuary expansion. When Reverend Thomas S. Griffiths arrived in 1863, members pushed forward a remodel that culminated on March 4, 1864, with the dedication of a larger 700-seat sanctuary paid off in a single day, the final $3,000 of a $7,000 project raised that morning.
Through the post-war decades, the church cycled through six pastors during the Reconstruction era, weathered the 1873 financial panic (at one point deeding the parsonage to the pastor in place of salary), and rode Trenton's late nineteenth-century boom as a manufacturing hub of rubber, wire rope, ceramics, and cigars. Dr. Albert Wishart moved the church into the twentieth century with progressive preaching that drew large crowds. Reverend Don Clyde Kite then shepherded the congregation for twenty-nine years through World War I, the Great Depression, and the entry into World War II. When depression-era debt climbed to $50,000, several members liquidated personal assets in 1941 to retire $32,000 of it, and the Trenton Savings Fund Society adjusted loan terms to provide additional relief. Members on the home front staffed Trenton factories, supported soldiers from Fort Dix and McGuire Air Force Base, and raised money through social events and card parties.
Dr. David W. Allen became senior pastor in 1944 and ended the church's reliance on card-party fundraising in favor of regular congregational giving. Over a thirty-eight-year tenure, his conservative, scriptural preaching brought a spiritual renewal that still marks the church; the gym on the Ewing campus is named Allen Hall in his memory. By the late 1950s, with members migrating to the suburbs and concerns growing over downtown parking and crime, the congregation purchased 4.5 acres in Ewing Township opposite what was then Trenton State College. In 1957, after 103 years in its original home, Central moved to Pennington Road, the building that remains its home today. Over the next two decades the campus grew to include a nursery wing, education building, and gym.
A bookstore operated out of the church for more than forty years, and Mercer Christian Academy shared the campus from 1971 to 2005. When Pastor Allen retired in 1982, Pastor Bruce Benson led for four years before sending Associate Pastor Tyrone Perkins to plant Westside Bible Baptist in West Trenton in 1988. A second worship service was added in 1993 under Pastor Ted Harmon, who served from 1989 to 1998. Pastor Richard Gay's twenty-year run from 1999 to 2019 introduced contemporary services alongside the classic service, hired Anthony Gilmer in 2008 to launch Life Groups, and oversaw a $6 million building project that modernized the sanctuary, added a fellowship mall, and added office and nursery space. When the renovated facility reopened in 2009, the church took a new name, Central: A Christ-Centered Church, an elder-led governance model, and a new vision statement. Pastor Gay's Easter 2019 message was his last; he died of a heart attack that week.
A shared-leadership pastoral structure emerged from that loss. Anthony Gilmer was installed in November 2020 as Central's first Lead Pastor, and Tyrone Perkins returned to the church as Associate Pastor in 2022. The church weathered the pandemic by leaning into online services and outdoor gatherings; when in-person worship resumed in spring 2021, attendance began to climb again. Life Group participation, professions of faith, and baptisms have risen steadily since, and partnerships with local universities, fire and police departments, and nonprofits addressing physical needs have grown alongside the ministry.
What Central believes
Central's statement of faith opens with the Bible: the Old and New Testaments are the inspired, inerrant Word of God, complete as the revelation of His will for salvation, and the supreme and final authority in all matters to which they speak. The church holds to one God, eternally existing in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, equal in every divine perfection, executing distinct yet harmonious offices in creation, providence, and redemption. God the Father is confessed as an infinite, personal Spirit, perfect in holiness, wisdom, power, and love, who hears and answers prayer and saves all who come through Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ is affirmed as God's eternal Son, true God and true man, conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, living a sinless life, dying a substitutionary death on the cross, rising bodily from the dead, ascending into heaven, interceding for His people, and returning personally and visibly in a premillennial coming. The Holy Spirit is recognized in His personality and His work of regeneration, sanctification, and preservation, glorifying Christ and empowering believers for godly living. Central teaches that man was created in God's image, that sin has broken that image by nature and choice, and that salvation comes by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, received apart from any human merit, works, or ritual, and resulting in righteous living, good works, and proper social concern.
The church itself is understood as the spiritual body of which Christ is the head, composed of all who have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit through saving faith, and expressed in local assemblies of immersed believers gathered for worship, instruction, evangelism, and service. The two ordinances of the local church are believer's baptism by immersion and the Lord's Supper. Each local church is self-governing and free from interference by any ecclesiastical or political authority, and every believer is called to glorify God with a blameless life, faithful stewardship, and a pursuit of full maturity in Christ. The church also confesses the bodily resurrection of the saved and the lost, the eternal existence of all people either in heaven or in hell, and divine judgments, rewards, and punishments.
Sunday mornings at Central
Central holds two modern worship services and one classic service each Sunday at 2015 Pennington Road. Modern services run at 9:30 and 11:00 AM and feature engaging worship with a live band along with biblically based preaching that aims at real-life application. The classic service at 9:30 AM offers more traditional music with the same teaching. The 9:30 AM service is also broadcast online for those who join remotely. Visitors arriving for the first time are greeted at the main doors by the First Impressions Team and pointed to a Welcome Desk where a small gift waits as a thank-you; the team will follow up by text after the visit.
Most people wear casual attire, though the church's standing invitation is to come in whatever makes a guest comfortable. Between the services and during midweek programs, the campus also runs adult Life Groups and a full children's ministry for newborns through high school seniors, so families can settle into a Sunday rhythm that covers every age.
Kids, students, and young adults
Central Kids is led by Director Allison Loveland and staffed by trained, background-checked volunteers. Sunday mornings offer programming for infants through fifth grade during the 9:30 AM service and for infants through Pre-K during the 11:00 AM service; check-in is secure, age-appropriate Bible teaching is paired with fun activities, and the infant room includes livestream access so parents can see what's happening. Wednesday nights add two layered programs from September through April: Kids Worship for kindergarten through fifth grade from 6:00 to 7:00 PM, and Wednesday Night Clubs for ages four through fifth grade from 7:00 to 8:15 PM. Both are Christ-centered and Bible-based, balancing life skills, scripture teaching, and high-energy fun. All volunteers must have attended Central for at least three months, fill out a Central Kids application, meet with the Director, complete a background check, and receive safety and policy training.
Central Students, under Director Isaac Keller, is built around two weekly touchpoints. Breakaway youth nights happen Tuesdays from 7:00 to 9:00 PM during the school year and run a familiar rhythm: a snack in the Hangout Room, an opening game in the gym (Dodgeball, Knockout, or the Breakaway classic 3-Ball), student-led worship, an applicable message, and small groups for processing and prayer. Students in sixth through twelfth grade are welcome; leaders serve as guides through the night. Sunday Life Groups meet from 9:30 to 10:30 AM in the Student Ministry Wing with donuts, icebreakers, Bible study chapter by chapter through books like Romans and Ephesians, and small-group discussion led by trained leaders. Students are dismissed into the Fellowship Mall at 10:30 AM for pickup after the first service.
Devoted, the young adult ministry for ages 18 to 30, meets every other Monday at 7:00 PM as a life group and gathers once a month for connection, prayer, and special events. Its stated purpose is to build a community that walks alongside one another, shares in burdens and hardships, prays together, and loves as Christ did. Whether an attendee is connected to Central or not, the group aims to give hope and encouragement that ultimately points to the Lord.
Women, men, and marriage
Central's women ministry presents itself as a diverse, multigenerational community of women seeking to grow in their relationship with Jesus, organized around women's life groups and engaging events, with prayer as a top priority. It also offers a monthly Mom's Time Out gathering for young moms, an active Facebook group, and a bi-monthly email newsletter. Women's Life Groups meet in person and online throughout the week. The men's ministry sets out the same kind of vision: a diverse, multigenerational community of men growing in their relationship with Jesus, with men's life groups, events, and a men's breakfast on the calendar. Marriage Life Groups round out the family ministry, building, maintaining, or reclaiming the marriage God intended, and support life groups provide a safe place for those struggling with grief (GriefShare), divorce (DivorceCare), generational trauma, or recovery, among other needs.
Life Groups: the front door of discipleship
Life Groups are how Central does discipleship. Each group typically includes eight to twelve adults and meets weekly in homes, online, or on campus, with most groups running six to twelve weeks in fall, winter, and spring semesters. Groups are mixed demographic, women-only, men-only, marriage-focused, or young-adult, and they share a common rhythm of fellowship, Bible study, discussion, and prayer. Most weeks gather for one to two hours, attendance is taken in Planning Center, and assignments extend the study into the week. Childcare options depend on the group's meeting pattern: groups meeting on campus during Sunday morning or Wednesday evening have Central Kids programs available, while home groups typically work out sitter arrangements on their own.
Anyone can join a life group regardless of background, belief, or church membership status. Some groups are Bible-focused; others walk through marriage material, parenting studies, or books picked by the group leader. A few community Bible studies gather at Central but operate as nondenominational groups outside the church's formal ministry umbrella. Becoming a Life Group leader at Central requires recommendation from an existing leader, one prior semester as a group member, and the church's Life Group Leader training.
Global and local missions
Central's global missions vision is to support and send qualified missionaries to unreached and unengaged people groups where access to the gospel is limited, with the expectation that those missionaries will make disciples and develop Christian leaders that plant self-sustaining church communities. The church supports missionaries and their families across organizations including Wycliffe Bible Translators, Avant Ministries, Word of Life International Ministries, Push the Rock, Missions Door, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, Friends of Fort Liberte, The Center for Mission Mobilization, Friends of Israel, and Athletes InterVarsity.
The missionary roster reflects that breadth. David and Jenny Rowe serve with Wycliffe in Africa, where David develops software tools for non-Roman scripts and Jenny coaches French-speaking Bible translation leaders. Gary and Esperanza Williams teach at the Central American Theological Seminary (SETECA) in Guatemala City and run a neighborhood ministry for men, women, and children. Tomoo and Kaori Koike have ministered in Japan with Word of Life since 1991, working with a local church in Sendai and Minami-sanriku and rebuilding after the 2011 tsunami. Scott Canterberry serves as head of North American Operations for Push the Rock and oversees afterschool programs in the Lehigh Valley and Mercer County, NJ. Workneh and Tersit Tesfaye serve with Missions Door as regional director for New England, eastern Canada, and Africa while planting churches in Boston and rural eastern Ethiopia. Ryan and Mandy Kennedy minister in Indonesia with The New Horizons Foundation, teaching at an Indonesian Bible college, working at a Christian community center, and showing the Jesus film in remote tribal villages. Jonas and Beth Menezes have planted churches in Porto Velho, Brazil, with Avant Ministries since 1984; Laura Vellenga supervises InterVarsity graduate and faculty ministry across eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware, including Princeton's graduate chapter. Dasnis and Sherlie Pierre lead holistic ministry in Fort Liberte, Haiti, with a deep focus on education. Thor Magnus Odland serves with The Center for Mission Mobilization. Tom and Lorna Simcox teach and write with The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry. Allison Stump leads Athletes InterVarsity chapters at TCNJ, Monmouth, and Rider. David and Danora Bachmann serve in Brazil with Avant, where David consults for AM and FM radio ministries and Danora leads children's ministry and prayer initiatives.
Locally, the church partners with organizations like Urban Promise and Restoring Hearts Ministries, and the life group directory includes support groups for recovery, grief, divorce, and generational trauma. The vision emphasizes digital and culturally engaged ministry as well; the church believes God calls it to follow Him into online spaces and to bring a biblical perspective to difficult cultural topics even when the conversation is uncomfortable.
Care, prayer, and benevolence
Pastoral care at Central runs through several channels. Anyone can submit a prayer request via the Prayer & Care form online or by text message; requests can be held confidential or shared with the weekly prayer list. The Deacons of Care, chaired by Denise Zuczek, follow up on prayer cards and also administer the church's Benevolence Fund, a short-term financial assistance program for active participants facing urgent needs such as a medical emergency, accident, or job loss. Assistance typically goes directly to a business provider for food, housing, transportation, medical needs (including psychological counseling), or similar necessities, and applicants may be asked to take part in financial counseling as a condition of approval. Forms can be downloaded online and returned by email.
Serve: putting gifts to work
Central organizes its serving opportunities around eight ministry areas. The First Impressions Team staffs the Welcome Desk, greeters, parking, ushers, the Central Café, and guest follow-up. The Next Steps Team walks new attenders through baptism, membership, baby dedication, life groups, and serving. The Worship and Tech Team covers the modern and classic services with vocalists, instrumentalists, a dance ministry, prayer support, ProPresenter operation, lighting, sound, video, slides, and post-service editing. Central Kids recruits teachers, helpers, large-group leaders, nursery workers, check-in attendants, and recreation leaders across Sunday morning and Wednesday night programs, plus a recurring Kids Worship rotation. Central Students relies on small group leaders, worship team members, game-time leaders, tech specialists, and student care volunteers. The Life Group Team develops leaders through coaching, curriculum research, and Planning Center administration. The Prayer & Care Team prays with people after services and follows up on prayer cards. The Adult and Marriage Ministries Team organizes men's, women's, young adult, and marriage events and content. The Creative Team produces photography, video, social media content, and digital storytelling, while the Operations Team handles security, setup and takedown, cleaning, and office support.
The campus and a season of paying off the mortgage
The Pennington Road campus houses the modern sanctuary, the classic service space, a large fellowship mall that doubles as a gathering and event space, an education wing, nursery rooms, the gym known as Allen Hall (named for the late Dr. David W. Allen), and office suites for staff and ministry leaders. The kids' ministry occupies its own dedicated wing, and the student ministry is centered on the Hangout Room and student gym.
Central has launched a five-week campaign called Help Bring Hope aimed at retiring the mortgage on the building by the end of 2026. The campaign was triggered by a $1.3 million balloon payment due on January 1, 2027. After twenty years of steady payments and $500,000 set aside through the Greater Fund, the church needs to raise an additional $800,000 to clear the balance and avoid refinancing at higher rates. Eliminating the mortgage would free up roughly $180,000 a year for ministry, what the campaign frames as the difference between paying off what holds the church back and pouring out the hope of Jesus into local outreach, global missions, facility improvements, and leadership growth. Gifts can be made online through the Help Bring Hope fund, by designating an envelope, or through stock and asset gifts arranged with the church office, with pledges fulfilled over twelve to fifteen months and a special commitment Sunday planned mid-October.
Joining Central on a Sunday
Visitors can plan a visit online so the team knows they are coming and can answer any questions in advance. From there, central steps for getting connected include filling out a New Here card, joining a life group, attending a Discover Central membership class, and exploring serving opportunities. Baptism is open to anyone who has decided to follow Jesus; a simple Next Steps form starts the conversation. Young families can schedule a tour of the Central Kids space before their first Sunday if they prefer to walk the building first.
The church connects with the congregation outside the building through a Church Center app for iOS and Android, a text-message update list, an email newsletter, a YouTube channel of sermon archives, and social channels on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. Giving, event registration, life group sign-ups, and sermon playback are all available through the app or the Church Center online. The merch store carries Central-branded gear, and online giving supports both the general fund and the Help Bring Hope campaign.
Leadership and oversight
Central operates under an elder-led governance model. The Overseeing Elders are John McClintock (Chair), Marc Cooper (Vice Chair), Jonathan Hood (Secretary), Jason Phillips (Secretary), Joe Kohr (Secretary), Jeff Heiserman, Todd Perkins, and Lead Pastor Anthony Gilmer. Overseeing Elder Advisors include Gwendolyn Jennings and Lynn Buschman. Anthony Gilmer preaches and leads the staff as Lead Pastor; Tyrone Perkins preaches at the classic service and provides part-time spiritual leadership. Emily Nally directs worship planning for both modern and classic services. Beth Canterberry leads strategic projects. Allison Loveland oversees Central Kids, Isaac Keller oversees students, Joe Kohr oversees men's ministry, Kathy Kohr oversees women's ministry, Wandalynn DeJesus oversees First Impressions, Heather Stoffel coordinates the Serve Team, CJ Brown leads the Media Team, Todd Perkins leads Video, and Denise Zuczek chairs the Deacons of Care. Sylvia Hamilton serves as administrative assistant to the senior pastor, Jessica Agosto serves as business administrator, and Marla Bailey maintains the facility.
Central describes itself in five core values: Christ-Centered (Jesus is first in life, message, and mission), Diverse (worshipping, celebrating, and experiencing life together across every nation, tribe, people, and language), Gracious (extending the grace God has given), Relational (pursuing neighboring and engaging the people God has placed around them), and Generous (joyfully giving finances, time, and energy in response to God's grace). A sermon series by Pastor Anthony focused on biblical stewardship is leading the Help Bring Hope campaign, walking the church through what faithful, joyful generosity looks like for the next generation of ministry in Ewing and beyond.