Two Services, One Hope on Melrose Street
Central Christian Church gathers at 424 Melrose Street in Bristol, Tennessee, the twin city that straddles the Tennessee-Virginia state line. The church runs two Sunday services around a mid-morning Sunday school hour: a 9 AM traditional service and an 11 AM contemporary service, with Sunday school for all ages at 10 AM. Each service shares a simple shape that has marked the congregation for years, including the Lord's Supper, a sermon, and an offering.
Senior Minister Mark, who joined the Central staff in 2011 and is a graduate of Johnson University in Knoxville, Tennessee, preaches biblically based messages aimed at equipping believers to live out their faith day by day. In the traditional room, classic hymns that the church has sung for generations fill the air, and the choir presents special music at Easter and Christmas. In the contemporary room, the Central Worship band leads. Worship Director Kris Mangrum oversees music across both services, and Patti Quarles, the church's organist, keyboardist, and accompanist since 2012, lends a classically trained hand wherever she is needed.
Come as you are is the church's standing invitation. The traditional room runs the dress-code gamut from suits and ties to casual weekend clothes; the contemporary room is known for jeans, shorts, khakis, and t-shirts. Visitors are never expected to give.
Communion Every Sunday
Central observes communion at both Sunday services, a practice members describe as both remembrance of Christ and a quiet moment to examine their own walk with him.
The Restoration Movement in Bristol
Central Christian Church is part of a movement of churches commonly identified as the Independent Christian Churches/Churches of Christ, a stream within the broader Restoration Movement that seeks to model itself on the New Testament church and to set aside man-made doctrines that have crept into some churches. Each church in the movement operates independently of the others, and Central has published its own doctrinal statement to lay out the convictions that guide its ministry.
The church holds to a Trinitarian God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, co-equal and one. Jesus is confessed as God in human form, the Savior of the world, born of a virgin, crucified, raised, and ascended; his death paid the penalty for sin and made forgiveness available to all. The Holy Spirit is the indwelling Presence of God in the believer, equipping and empowering growth and service.
The Bible is treated as God's eternal Word, written by human authors under the Holy Spirit's inspiration, the supreme source of truth for belief and behavior. Salvation is found in Christ alone, and Central describes the Bible's pathway with five steps: belief and confession of Jesus as Lord and Savior, repentance from sin, baptism by immersion for the forgiveness of sins, the receiving of the Holy Spirit as guide and counselor, and faithfulness to Christ.
Hope Changes Everything
Central's vision statement is "Hope Changes Everything," with the dream that people in Bristol and around the world would come to know the hope of Jesus. The mission that flows from it is "Love God. Love People. Serve Both." Five core values guide decisions: Christ is Central, Scripture is Truth, Community is Vital, Spiritual Growth is Essential, and The Next Generation is a Priority.
Central Kids: From the Nursery Through Fifth Grade
Children are at the center of Central's ministry. A paid nursery staffed by trained caregivers welcomes babies and toddlers from birth through age two on Sunday mornings from 9:45 AM through the end of the 11 AM service. Nursery Coordinator Mary Argenbright, a Johnson University and ETSU graduate, oversees a rotating team of three nursery assistants: Regina Bowman, Holly Greenwell, and Ella Sumpter. Mary also has a background in elementary school counseling.
At 10 AM, everyone moves into Sunday school. Pre-K classes for ages 2.5 to 5 meet on the first floor; elementary children from kindergarten through fifth grade head upstairs to the Blue Room. When the 11 AM contemporary service begins, those same groups move into a more active program. Pre-K children rotate through small-group Bible study, crafts, kids' worship, and a small snack. Elementary children gather in "The Park," an upstairs activity room where they play games, sing upbeat worship songs, and sit down together for a group Bible lesson. Groups are split as attendance grows.
Children's Director Cooper Mangrum leads the program. She grew up in Central and is herself a product of its children's ministry, and she is supported by Children's Ministry Assistant Courtney Worthy. Every volunteer working with children goes through an application and a criminal background check, and a child check-in and check-out system runs each Sunday morning.
VIVID Summer Camp
Each June, Central opens VIVID, a summer day camp for children entering kindergarten through sixth grade. Campers choose their own slate of activities for the week: basketball, baseball, cooking, dance, cheerleading, drawing and painting, wacky experiments, and more. Along the way they learn about Jesus and what it means to love others as he taught. Cooper Mangrum coordinates VIVID, and registration opens in the spring.
Central Student Ministry
Central Student Ministry, led by Matt Mosher, the church's Minister of Youth and Connection, exists to connect the lives of middle and high school students both to Christ and to each other. The ministry's weekly rhythm has two anchors. Wednesday Night CSM runs from 6:30 to 7:45 PM with games, music, videos, large-group teaching, and small-group discussion. Sunday morning, students meet from 10:00 to 10:45 AM in the upstairs youth room for a small-group class where they can recap their week, talk about current events, and dig into their faith.
A handful of annual events round out the year. The summer retreat asks students to set aside technology for most of the week so they can rest in God's creation with God's people. CIY Move, a week-long high school conference, is the favorite week of the year for many students. Camp ACC Core 3 at Appalachian Christian Camp in Unicoi, Tennessee serves middle schoolers; Matt sits on the camp's planning team. Each January in Gatlinburg, the Tennessee Christian Teen Convention draws more than five thousand students for a weekend of worship, concerts, and teaching.
Outreach Across Bristol
Central's community footprint reaches well past its own building. A few of the regular projects and partnerships:
- Cafe Central / River's Way Lunches. Throughout the school year, in collaboration with Tennessee High School and Virginia High School, Central hosts River's Way Lunches. Local students learn real-life skills by preparing and serving meals to the community on Thursdays and Fridays, much of it from a greenhouse on the Central campus.
- A Friend's Closet Clothing Pantry. The clothing pantry is open each Wednesday from 10 AM to 2 PM and serves hundreds of families each year.
- Bookworm Blessings. The Back to School Bookworm Blessings Giveaway, now in its second decade, equips local children from Pre-K through twelfth grade with a school bag filled with socks, underwear, and personal care items, along with the chance to pick out clothes and shoes. Registration opens in June and the giveaway takes place in mid-July.
- Meals on Wheels. Central has been one of twenty-two churches delivering meals to roughly fifty people Monday through Saturday for more than forty years. The church prepares and delivers meals on the third Friday of each month.
- Bristol Faith in Action. Each year the church partners with Bristol Faith in Action to come alongside neighbors in crisis through financial assistance and counseling.
- HopeFull Projects. Central's three-year plan includes a community service initiative that has already sent members out to landscape local schools and assist local missions organizations with practical needs. New projects are announced as they come together.
A Wider Mission Field
Central supports a long list of mission partners both near and far. Local partners include Appalachian Christian Camp, campus ministries at East Tennessee State University, the Bristol Emergency Food Pantry, the East Tennessee Christian Home and Academy, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Haven of Rest, and the Bristol Women's Conference. Missionaries and ministries further afield include Alex and Diana Aburto, Agape Missions in Haiti, Tim and Tammy Aho in England, the Christian Holyland Foundation, CECEF (the Zagreb Biblical Institute), the Christian Evangelical Fellowship, Haitian American Cooperative Christian Ministries, Lowell and Blanche Hunefield, Kulpahar Children's Home, the Bradley family in Malawi, and Mango Tree Ministries.
An Endowment for the Long Run
The Central Christian Church Endowment Fund was established as a permanent fund to strengthen and sustain the church's ministries for generations to come. Unlike regular offerings, gifts to the endowment are invested and only a portion of the earnings is distributed each year. The first recipient of those distributions is Central's Missions Team. The fund accepts direct gifts, memorial contributions, and planned gifts through wills and estate plans, and is overseen by an Endowment Committee.
Following Along Throughout the Week
Sunday services can be watched online through Central's YouTube channel, and a sermon podcast carries the week's message to Apple Podcasts and Spotify. A weekly bulletin and a monthly newsletter keep the congregation in the loop between Sundays. Giving is available online through the church's Church Center account.