Our Story

Ours is a rich, varied history of sharing life together as we serve our city and world together.

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A Brief Summary of Our History

Christ Presbyterian Church met for the first time on January 4, 1981 under the leadership of its Founding Pastor, Dr. Cortez Cooper. On that first Sunday, four generations gathered to form the new church at Hillsboro High School.

The church called Cortez Cooper as Senior Pastor and Scotty Smith as Assistant Pastor.

The first major decision was to join the Presbyterian Church in America, a new and growing denomination, in the spring of 1981. The second decision was to purchase land and build a permanent facility. We were a mobile congregation in those days – setting up and taking down “church” every week at Hillsboro High School.

When 49 acres of land became available at 2323 Old Hickory Boulevard, we purchased the property for $450,000. The first service in our new facility was on May 13, 1984.

After moving into the new facility, two other significant ministries were formed. Christ Presbyterian Academy opened its doors in September 1985. In the same year, Salama Urban Ministries was founded, ministering in various ways in the Edgehill Community of Nashville. Both have steadily increased in their impact since their inception.

Dr. Cooper left Christ Presbyterian in the Spring of 1985. Our next Senior Pastor was Dr. Peter Doyle, also a writer of books for adults and children. Dr. Doyle is best known as a deep thinker, a theologian, and a teacher.

In June of 1988, Charles and Alice McGowan were called to Christ Presbyterian. Under Charles’ leadership, we were able to establish a strong identity and vision for the future. Also during 1988, a decision was made to expand Christ Presbyterian Academy to a K-12 school.

In 2004, Christ Presbyterian called Dr. Ray Ortlund as Senior Pastor. A highly regarded Biblical scholar, theologian, prolific writer, and teacher, Ray would later become Founding and Senior Pastor of Immanuel Church, Nashville's first Acts 29 congregation.

In July of 2007, Dr. Wilson Benton and his wife, Pam, came out of retirement to become our interim Senior Pastor. The Benton's and Christ Presbyterian formed a meaningful bond with each other, so much so that Wilson served as our Interim Pastor for a full five years!

Rev. Scott Sauls became Senior Pastor in 2012. He and his wife Patti planted two churches before serving at Redeemer Presbyterian in New York City. Christ Presbyterian embraced a vision to become a multi-site church, planting several new congregations, including Koinonia in North Nashville.

In 2015, Rev. Sauls and Missy Wallace launched the Nashville Institute for Faith & Work (NIFW) to support the faith and work integration aspect of the church's discipleship pathway. NIFW's services are available to anyone who wishes to benefit from its insight and resources.

In November of 2023, Pastor Sauls prayerfully submitted his resignation and Christ Presbyterian began seeking the Lord's guidance for our next Senior Pastor.

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