Often admiringly called “the busy church” by neighbors, Central has been historically involved in serving the needs of their Appalachian community.

Bristol is proudly the home of country music and a legacy NASCAR site, but it has also been beset by large demographics of poverty and economies of extraction including a new casino/gambling industry. 

Faithfully, they had been feeding 35 food-insecure children weekly in a weekend backpack program when they began their Thriving Congregations work, no small feat in organization, labor, or finances for a small congregation. Central did not need to learn compassion or courage in our program. But they did learn how to scale their work through organizing their neighbors and other local congregations. 

Three years later, Central has increased their weekly backpack program to feed 172 children and teens and are raising over $50,000 annually in community funds and grants to support the program.