Church is one of the oldest churches in
Toledo's Historic Old West End.
Central United Methodist is a Progressive,
Welcoming & Affirming Congregation.
Central was one of the first five members of
the both the Reconciling Ministries Network
and the Church within A Church Movement.
C. S. Wright 1896-1898 *
W. H. Leatherman 1896-1898 *
L. H. Gressley 1898-1900
J. W. Gibson 1900-1901
D. G. Strong 1901-1902
Jesse Carr 1902-1904
Daniel Stecker 1904-1906
C. W. Collinge 1906-1908
N. S. Brackn 1908-1910
C. J. Yeisley 1910-1913
W. N. Shank 1913-1914
J. D. Darling 1914-1914
J. S. Altman 1914-1917
F. E. Higbie 1917-1920
George F. Barber 1920-1924
E. L. Davis 1924-1925
J. N. Eason 1925-1928
R. J. Beard 1928-1931
C. W. Graham 1931-1933
W. H. Huber 1933-1936
W. T. Blume 1936-1939
Allan W. Caley 1939-1944
Edwin Swinburne 1944-1945
William L. Horst 1945-1952
Leonard Donnally 1952-1956
Paul Ertel 1956-1961
Melvin Grossman 1961-1967
Dorwin Snyder 1967-1969
Linden Damschroder 1969-1971
Harold Stafford 1971-1974
Theron Diehl 1974-1977
Lawrence Drum 1977-1979
Howard Abts 1979-1987
Kevin Chambers 1987-1989
Larry Whittington Clark 1989-1994
Yvonne Aziza Preston (Asso.) 1991-1993
Rebecca Gifford-Mitchell 1994-1999
Cheri Holdridge 1999 - June 2008
Kathleen Richards June 2008
Chronological History of Central Methodist Church
Feb. 23, 1896 Monroe St. Methodist Church held a service on Albion St.
to organize a Sabbath School
May 1897 Monroe St. minister organized a new church
Spring 1897 Lots were purchased at Central and Detroit Ave.
Sept. 6, 1897 Central Methodist Episcopal Church was dedicated
Fall 1906 Business building on corner of Detroit and Central was built
and used for Sunday School rooms
Fall 1910 The Tabernacle was built and used as a church. It was on
Central at Glenwood Ave.
Easter 1912 Ground breaking services at Central and Scottwood Ave.
Sept. 1, 1912 Cornerstone was set
July 27, 1913 Dedication of the new building
Winter 1937 Business block was liquidated in a debt reduction program
May 7, 1944 Mortgage Burning Service
Winter 1957 Parish House built
March 3, 1957 Consecration of the Parish House
March 1959 Youth Chapel completed
Dec. 20, 1959 Battin-Rogers Memorial Chimes dedicated
April 28, 1963 Mortgage Burning Service
1970's - Hosts & helps birth Good Samaritan Parish M.C.C.
1984 - One of first Reconciling Ministries Network churches, first in
Ohio and West Ohio Conference.
1990's - Grand Central Station after school turoring/mentoring program
founded.
2002 - One of first member churches in Church Within A Church
movements & helps birth Open Door Community Church in Findlay,
Ohio.
2008 - Central United Methodist reaches out to Tabernacle of Faith
Church, whose building was destroyed. Tabernacle of Faith & Central
agree to a sale of the 701 W. Central site, and Central agrees to move
into a renovated, larger, accessible auditorium at Collingwood Pres.
Church.
Revised 2008 by Kurt Young*
Toledo’s Old West End was originally Toledo’s first upscale suburb. At the end of the
19th Century, the rich and powerful of Toledo built large homes in the area bounded by
Monroe Street, Collingwood Boulevard, Detroit Avenue and Central Avenue. This area is
now part of the city of Toledo.
Collingwood Boulevard became the predominant place for the building of houses of
worship. Local legend is that the expression “Holy Toledo” comes from a visitor being
driven up Collingwood Boulevard and, after seeing the approximately one dozen
churches, temples, and the catholic cathedral, exclaiming “holy Toledo, you’ve got a lot of
churches in this town”.
However the Methodist Episcopal Church (later to become the United Methodist
Church) did not build it’s facility on Collingwood Boulevard. Instead, the area was served
by Monroe Street United Methodist, which is located well outside of the Old West End.
Through the efforts of Monroe Street Methodist Episcopal Church, two other churches
would fill this need, Epworth Methodist Episcopal Church (then at the corner of Delaware
and Parkwood, now on Central Avenue in Sylvania) and later Central.
The pastor and members of Monroe Street Methodist Episcopal Church saw the need for
services in the Central Avenue and Detroit Avenue area. They rented rooms above a store
on Albion Street. Beginning as a Sunday School on February 23, 1896 in an upper store
room. Rev. S. C. Wright, preached and organized the Sunday School and Mr. G. W. Farley
was elected the first Superintendent. For the first year the work was carried on by the
pastor and laypeople of the Monroe Street Methodist. At the end of one year the average
attendance of the school was 85.
In May 1897 Rev. H. W. Leatherman called a meeting of all the people interested in
organizing a new Church. This meeting was well attended, the name Central Methodist
Episcopal Church was chosen, and Members were enrolled, Officials were elected and the
general organization perfected.
The first Official Board meeting was held at the home of G. D. Norton, 3155 Detroit Ave.,
and the business at hand was the selection of building lots and the approval of building
plans for the first church. The church was rushed to completion during the summer and
dedicated on September 6, 1897.
Then ground was purchased on the corner of Central and Detroit Avenue. The church
was built near the corner and dedicated in September of 1897. This building was later torn
down in the Spring of 1963 to allow for other development.
Central's growth was so rapid that it became a Station appointment in the fall of 1902.
It is recorded that during the pastorate of Rev. Daniel Stecker the membership doubled
and that by 1906, nine years after the church building was dedicated it was too small for
the congregation and three store rooms were built on land adjoining the church, to help
house the Sunday School.
In 1911 a temporary tabernacle was built at Central and Glenwood. Here the
congregation worshipped for two years in frontier style with wooden benches and
sawdust for a floor. The congregation worshipped there until they were able to move into
the present building on July 27, 1913. The present building cost $28,000 to construct.
During the tabernacle period and the building of the new Central Methodist Church the
pastor was Rev. C. J. Yeisley.
The attendance at the church grew during this time to a peak of 750 in worship, with
over 400 in adult and youth Sunday School Classes throughout the neighborhood. At
that time, Central set itself apart as the church where people could attend in their
coveralls. Local legend is that workers from the Willys Overland (later to become the Jeep
Plant) and the Chevy Transmission Plant, both located blocks from the Church, would
walk to service on Sunday, straight from work.
The Board of Trustees kept the old property and improved it into store rooms and
apartments, thus the church went into the real estate business for a period, but this
venture proved unsuccessful.
In 1937, with the Great Depression, it became necessary to do something about the
overburdening debt of $91,000.00. The Bank holding the mortgage offered a settlement in
which they became owner of the business block at Detroit and W. Central and a dwelling
next to the church on W. Central, and asking for a cash amount of $17,500.00. The offer
was accepted and Dr. W. J. Dunham and Dr. W. T. Blume called in the Board of Home
Missions and Church Extension to help the congregation raise the required funds. The
members and friends raised $8,000.00, in cash and secured a new loan for $9,500.00
which was to be paid off in seven years. By November, 1942 this amount had been
reduced to $7,050.00.
When in September 1939 the conference appointed pastor Rev. Allan W. Caley, the
people were ready for another forward march in the progressive history of their Church.
During the winter of 1941 the Church was redecorated, the aisles carpeted, the Choir re-
robed, the Communion altar rebuilt, a Cross and candle set and new collection plates
were presented as memorial gifts and a new heating system installed. These
improvements were all paid for on Dedication Day with the exception of the furnace, and
the Church was Rededicated to the Worship of God and the service of mankind, by
Bishop H. Lester Smith on March 9th, 1941.
At last on May 7,1944 came a mortgage burning day. This was a time of great rejoicing.
Again Central felt the need of expansion and the Parish House was built providing two
large rooms and a pastor's study. The rooms were named after the great leaders of
Methodism John Wesley and Francis Asbury. The consecration service was March 3,
1957. At this same time the youth of the church made a chapel of the old choir robbing
room.
At the Christmas service in 1959 the Battin-Rogers Memorial Chimes were used for the
first time. The Altar Guild made a Sacristy of one of the organ rooms to prepare materials
for the worship services. With much hard work and effort by the congregation the new
debt for the construction of the annex was retired and on April 28, 1963 a second
Mortgage Burning Service was held.
In the late 1970's the church was approached by Rev. Chester Chambers, a local
Methodist minister, to be the host facility for meetings and activities of PRO/Toledo. The
church agreed, and over the years expanded its contact with, and participation in the
lesbian and gay community of Toledo. The Good Samaritan Parish of the Metropolitan
Church conducted services for several years at Central Church
In 1984, a new movement emerged, originally called the Reconciling Congregations
Program, now known as the Reconciling Ministries Network. The Reconciling
Congregations Programs was created in response to The May 1984 Baltimore General
Conference’s decision to amend the Book of Discipline to state that "no self-avowed,
practicing homosexual shall be ordained or appointed in the United Methodist Church."
At that time, Central was led by Pastor Howard Abts, who still is among the longest
serving pastors in Central’s History. The decision to become a Reconciling Ministry is
often a difficult one for congregations to undertake. However, Central found the process
quite easy and it became one of the first in the nation, and definitely the first in the State of
Ohio and in the West Ohio Conference.
Central Church found itself in the late1980’s & early 1990’s much like it’s
neighborhood, a great area for growth needing the right spark. Part of that spark
occurred with the addition of a new pastor in the person of the Reverend Dr. Larry
Whittington Clark (now Larry Clark). Under Dr. Clark’s tenure, Central had had two
pastors, one a white male and the other a black female. The congregation became quite
diverse, with a true multiracial mix and included a significant number of lesbians and gay
males.
Members of the congregation have been active in national movements to fully include
Gay, Lesbian, Bi-sexual and Trans-gendered persons in the life of the Methodist Church.
In the past, a member of Central was a Treasurer of the national RC program, four
members from Central presented testimony before the Committee to Study
Homosexuality, a group set up by the 1988 general Conference of the United Methodist
Church to reexamine the church's position on homosexuality. Several members of Central
were also key in founding the Church Within a Church Movement. And in 2007, the
movement’s Co-Convener, Anti-Racism and Resource Chair’s are members of Central.
Also during the Tenures of Pastors Abts, Clark and Later Pastor Rebecca Gifford-
Mitchell, Central engaged in several different programs to provide economic justice.
Central played host to a free store, where people could obtain low cost and free
household items and clothes. Also, Grand Central Station was created to help the
students of Glenwood Elementary School.
Glenwood Elementary School, which was torn down at the end of school year 2005, to
make way for the construction of the New Glenwood Elementary, scheduled to open in
2008, has a proud history. However, in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, the school’s test
scores had fallen to some of the lowest in the Toledo Public Schools. Central, along with
other churches in the neighborhood, have worked to provide after school programs to
provide a safe space for the children of Glenwood. Thanks in part to a series of robberies
of the church in the Summer of 1999, Grand Central Station now hosts a high tech
computer lab, among other education and enrichment opportunities. Grand Central
Station is currently on hiatus as it’s children are attending other schools.
In 1999, Pastor Gifford-Mitchell was replaced as Pastor of the Church by Reverend
Cheri Holdridge. At that time, Central’s attendance had fallen to an average of 27 in
worship. Through a series of initiatives, and assistance from the Conference, Central
began a revitalization under Pastor Holdridge’s leadership. From 1999 to 2004, worship
attendance rose rapidly, over 145%. In that time, Grand Central Station was incorporated
as a separate, non-profit corporation to allow it to apply for different funding sources.
Also, Central applied for and was a granted a 10-10-10 Missionary through the General
Board Global Ministry, Tanya Pike.
Tanya was placed at Central to work on adult faith formation. She created a Servant
Leadership School at Central, which is still in operation today. Through her work, a group
of individuals from the Findlay area began conducting group study together and
worshipping at Central. To accommodate their worship needs, a Sunday Night service
was begun. Later, this service became the Open Door Community Church.
In 2004, Central celebrated it’s 20th Anniversary of being a member of the Reconciling
Ministries Network with guest preacher Jimmy Creech. Over the last several years, along
with the Jimmy Creech event, Central has hosted events with a variety of guest speakers
including Paul Nixon, Harry Knox and Jim Wallis.
In 2007, the Tabernacle of Faith, a non-denominational church worshipping from a
location on Detroit Ave, experiences a tragedy when their building is destroyed by fire.
Central reaches out to its neighbor church and offers to share its space. In 2008, Central,
having found larger, accessible space in Lincoln Hall Auditorium, sells its property to
Tabernacle of Faith. The first service in this new space is held on June 1, 2008.
On June 22, 2008, Cheri Holdridge will step down as the church's longest serving
pastor and begin the process of planting a new church, the Village Northwest Ohio. On
June 29, 2008, Rev. Kathleen Richards will take over at the Pastor of Central.
From a bold initiative in 1897, Central has grown to birth several new churches,
provide after school tutoring and meals to children of the neighborhood, and provide a
safe worship space for people regardless of Race, Gender, Ethnicity, Sexual Orientation
or economic status.
*This history was made possible by the hard work of several who came before me. Parts
of it are taken directly from the Mortgage Burning Day program written by Miss Katherine
Baer and edited by Mrs. Violet Ritter in 1944. Other portions were written for anniversary
celebrations of the decision to become a reconciling congregation. My thanks to Nancy
Hatfield and the other saints of the church who have preserved this history for me to pass
along.
