History of the Gothic cathedral at Central, Market undergoing renovation

After years of sitting vacant and vandalized, the Gothic cathedral at Central and Market may be poised for a revival.

If it comes to fruition, the renovation project longtime local pastor Joe Wright is leading could mean new life for the church, which has been abandoned since 2012.

Construction of the building began in 1946. The church, designed in an “American interpretation of Gothic” design, was dedicated in 1948 as the new home for Central Christian Church.

Central Christian has been a fixture in Wichita almost as long as the city has existed — it was originally formed in 1879 and met in a home. In 1903, it built a brick church on the southeast corner of Second and Market, which later sustained heavy damage from a fire in 1943.

The old Central building at 445 N. Market houses about 35,000 square feet of space — including a main sanctuary, a smaller chapel, an education wing and a large basement.

Its main sanctuary was famously equipped with a pipe organ paid for in part by the “Two-Ten Family” — anonymous donors at Central Christian who sent two $10 bills to the church every week to fund the pipe organ.

That pipe organ — though broken and needing about $500,000 of repairs — still remains in the church today.

By 1976, Central Christian Church — which had become one of the largest churches in Wichita — ran out of room at 445 N. Market.

By that time, the church’s membership hovered around 2,000, necessitating three services every Sunday.

It was one of the largest congregations in the Disciples of Christ denomination, and it helped found other churches in Wichita in the 1970s.

That year, the church’s congregation voted to spend $240,000 to buy 20 acres at 29th and Rock to build a new $5 million church.

Subsequently, Central Christian decided to withdraw from its affiliation with the Disciples of Christ denomination in 1980.

When Central moved to its new facility at 29th and Rock, it wanted to sell the downtown church it had outgrown, but wanted it to remain a church.

First Christian Church, a group that splintered from Central Christian Church in 1980, showed interest. About 100 former Central Christian members stayed.

In 1982, First Christian bought the building with a roughly $775,000 purchase price. First Christian paid off its mortgage in 2002.

It frequently opened its basement to shelter the homeless, according to an article in The Eagle.

But by 2004, First Christian was struggling. According to an Eagle article, its membership was about 165, though only about 35 regularly attended Sunday services in its sanctuary built to seat 800. Most were in their 70s.

First Christian held its last service on Aug. 28, 2005, before closing its doors and putting the building up for sale.

Most of the offers to purchase the building were from developers who wanted to bulldoze the property to erect office complexes and other buildings in its place.

Then in 2006, a man in California decided he wouldn’t allow anyone to pave paradise to put up a parking lot.

The man, who had attended Central Christian Church as a child and sang in its choir, bought the building in the hope of seeing it become a church again.

It continued to sit vacant until 2009, when the owner reached an agreement with the newly formed Calvary Chapel Fellowship.

In exchange for allowing the church to hold services there, its rent would be to fix up the place.

Calvary installed window air-conditioning units in the far southern part of the building, but progress on the building was halted in 2012, when it left for its current home at 190 S. Rock.

It sat vacant and vandalized for another three years, until Wright and his group approached the California man about turning the building into a church again.

In early 2016, Wright set out to give the old church at 445 N. Market new life, together with a team of volunteers.

His ambition is to bring the church back to active service, as well as house the homeless ministry, Church on the Street, in its basement.

This story was originally published July 30, 2016 at 4:36 PM with the headline "History of the Gothic cathedral at Central, Market undergoing renovation."