The year was 1863. The country was embroiled in the Civil War. In the dead of that winter, God placed a burden on the heart of a handful of believers to start a church just inside Poinsett County along Crowley’s Ridge. They called themselves the Missionary Baptist Church Worshipping at Pleasant Grove. This early group of believers shared a one-room log cabin with their Methodist brethren in what is now known as the Willis Chapel. They worshipped there with circuit riding, or part-time pastors for another 40 years.
About the turn of the 20th century, Pleasant Grove moved south about one half mile and built a building they would hold for about 100 years. The Pine Log School would later share that building. As the church grew, they added to the structure. In the late 1960s, God laid on the hearts of those in the congregation to hire a full-time pastor. In the 1970s, the church would again step out in faith and hire student and worship leaders, along with clerical help.
The Central School was started sometime after World War II as local schools consolidated to the location. Earliest records show the school’s first graduating class to be 1952. This school functioned as K-12 until the late 1980s with mandatory consolidation of smaller districts. At that time, the school consolidated with Trumann and the building was used to house Trumann Middle School. In 2009, the school completed a new facility in Trumann and closed the old school.
At this time, God once again laid on the hearts of His people to step forth in faith and purchase the school to renovate to house a new church in order to better reach the community. Once again, as those believers moved locations, they changed names and Central Community Church was born.
However, churches are not simply the structures in which believers come together to meet. They are, and always have and will be, the people who worship Jesus Christ. From those first ten believers in the one-room log cabin, to those today worshipping in an old school building, it is His people. God has continued to call out His people for His work and purpose. God has used the work from those ten faithful servants to touch this area of Crowley’s Ridge and share the Gospel to points across the globe.
