Central Presbyterian Church was founded back in 1848, which makes it two years older than the city itself. The first pastor, Reverend Thompson Bird also served as the city’s first mayor, the church was established during a period of national turmoil over slavery, while the community was strongly committed to abolitionism and social justice. The original location of the community was a small and simple log cabin, however, they soon moved to a larger location downtown in 1867. The church hosted the 1906 General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church and then relocated to its current limestone building in 1939 under Reverand Percy Nickless’s leadership. Throughout its history, the Central Presbyterian Church has been involved in helping start other Presbyterian communities. In 1963, they progressed forward with its leadership and ordained its first women elder and then later in 1980, called its first woman assistant pastor. The church just recently celebrated its 175th anniversary in 2023, to this day the community is nearly at 500 members and attracting people across Des Moines. They continue to allow women to serve in ordained leadership and have more recently opened the door for their LGBTQ members to be married and serve openly in ministry as well. Central Presbyterian Church has helped resettle refugees from Sudan here in Iowa, while they continue to support an Arabic-speaking Presbyterian church. 

This Presbyterian community holds its faith within the Reformed tradition, emphasizing scripture as foundational. While they share core beliefs with other Christian denominations they center their faith on Jesus Christ, His life, death, and resurrection. They value a thoughtful approach to faith, emphasizing the importance of loving God intellectually and emotionally, while they remain open to new insights and questions.