The Central United Methodist Church was formed in 1925 through the merger of the Broad Street Methodist Church and Centenary Methodist Church. Broad Street Methodist Church, founded in 1870, was located on the corner of Fifth Avenue and Broad Street (now Broadway). Centenary, named in honor of the one-hundredth anniversary of American Methodism, was founded in 1883 and located about a mile from Broad Street Church on the corner of Gill and Irwin Streets. The combined congregations met in the sanctuary of the Centenary Church for a year while the new church was being built on Third Avenue. In 1927, the united congregations worshipped for the first time in their new building.