70th Anniversary Celebration
Christ Church United Methodist will reach its 70th birthday on November 20, 2025, although it can trace its history all the way back to 1806.
We have big plans for the celebration, including a series of history videos, a project to collect oral histories from members, and special classes and tours. Look for more information soon on social media and in churchwide emails.
In the meantime, here are a few things to whet your appetite.
Brief History of Christ Church United Methodist
Christ Church traces its history to 1806, when a group of Methodists began meeting in a log cabin on the current site of Louisville Metro Hall. Ten years later, that group became Fourth Street Methodist Church. After significant growth, it split into three congregations in 1835. One of them, Brook Street Methodist Church, was our grandmother church.
The Brook Street church moved to East Broadway in 1865, becoming Broadway Methodist Church. There, it thrived for decades until its members and neighbors began to migrate to the eastern suburbs, including Indian Hills and St. Matthews.
In 1954, church leaders began planning to move as well. While efforts continued to sell the Broadway property, Pastor James W. Averitt launched a placeholder congregation, Indian Hills Methodist Church, on August 28, 1955. It met in Garnett Hall on the Masonic Homes campus off Frankfort Avenue. On November 20, 1955, the new congregation merged with the Broadway congregation, thus uniting Louisville’s oldest and newest Methodist churches. On January 8, 1956, the combined church became Christ Methodist Church.
Christ Church opened its first building on September 1, 1957. Additional space opened on what is now a 13-acre campus in 1962, 1974, 1997, 2007, and 2009. The original building could almost fit in the footprint of the 2009 sanctuary.
For More Information
To learn more or to get involved, contact:
Mark Ray, Church Historian: | 502-262-6503
“For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, so that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope.”—Romans 15:4 (NRSV)