History

First Christian Church in Clarksville, Tennessee, has proudly ministered to the Clarksville community for more than 180 years starting in 1842 and going forward. In 2022, we celebrated our 180th anniversary.

Beginning with the founding of this congregation in 1842, First Christian Church has been characterized by its people: the men, women, children and young people who have brought life and outreach to the bricks and mortar of the buildings. From 1851, when the congregation erected its first permanent church building at the corner of Madison and Third Streets, FCC has been located in downtown Clarksville. The present building has stood at the corner of Madison Street and Academy Avenue since its completion in 1922. The church facilities have expanded in size and in ministry in the 100 years since that time.

First Christian Church in Clarksville reflects the tenets of what is sometimes referred to as “the Second Great Awakening” in American religion. The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) was born in the early 1800s during the period when the United States was pushing its boundaries into new frontiers. Geographically, the “new frontier” was anything west of the Mississippi River. Just as frontier people were redefining themselves and their ideas as they forged ahead to build their lives in a new territory, the church on both sides of the Mississippi was also redefining itself and affirming what was singularly important. Under the leadership of Alexander Campbell and Barton Stone, two frontier preachers of the eighteen-hundreds American Restoration Movement, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) was born as a church in which Jesus Christ and New Testament Christianity were at the center. In November of 1858, Alexander Campbell preached in the Clarksville Christian church, where he was welcomed as the leader of the new movement. First Christian Church in Clarksville is proud of that tradition today as we move ahead in the twenty-first century.