Christ Church United Methodist is a church with a great heritage. Although we have only been at our current location since 1955, we’ve been God’s hands and feet in the Louisville community for a long time. In 1807, the first Methodist congregation in the city of Louisville was started and became Fourth Street Methodist Church. By 1835 there had been so much growth in the city that Fourth Street Methodist Church decided to divide the membership into three separate congregations, one being Brook Street Methodist. Brook Street Methodist then moved to Broadway in 1866 where a new building could accommodate their phenomenal growth, and they became Broadway Methodist Church.
During the 1940’s, the community around Broadway rapidly changed from residential to commercial. In 1954 a special meeting of Broadway Methodist was called by Bishop William Watkins and the suggestion was made for the church to consider relocation. In 1955, Indian Hills Methodist Church was formed and Dr. James Averitt was appointed pastor of both Broadway and Indian Hills Methodist Churches. These two churches merged later in the year forming a new congregation named Christ Church Methodist.
Christ Church United Methodist has been through several additional building projects including our current sanctuary which opened in 2009, our three-story Christian Life Center which opened in 2007, our Fellowship Hall and additional classrooms in 1997, the education wing and gym in 1975 and our chapel in 1962.
Christ Church has continued the long history of being a church that looks beyond itself. The congregation initiated and funded St. John United Methodist Church in Prospect in 1979, helped establish the Portland Promise Center and continues to support various ministries in the local and global communities.
Our history is part of who we are—the fabric of Christ Church. We express this in our mission statement: We are called to build a loving and inclusive Christian community that invites everyone to know God, to grow as a disciple of Jesus Christ and to serve faithfully in the world.
Groundbreaking began on our current site and the doors of the new chapel and educational facility opened in September 1957. Subsequent pastors were Rev. K.A. Loy, Dr. Bill Slider, Rev. Jim Thurmond, Rev. Wally Thomas and Dr. Billy Ray Jennings.
