Darrell Allen has been a pastor for Central Church since 2004 and has played a pivotal role in the advancement and development of the church over the last 19 years.

Allen has been part of the United Methodist Church (UMC) for almost 20 years, where he was ordained and licensed. Even with being a part of UMC, Allen and his wife, Donna, always had the same goal in mind.

“I was ordained and licensed through the UMC, but our hearts have always been to start a church here in Covington that was non-denominational, contemporary and spirit-filled,” Allen said. “We were not sure how to go about that, but we knew God had placed this idea and dream in our hearts.”

In 2004, Allen broke ground on the idea.

“Once we located the building here on City Pond Road, the owners agreed to allow us to stay here while we went through the process of being approved by the city to start a church in this area, which at the time, wasn’t zoned for a church,” Allen said. “After a month-long process of meeting with the city council, they agreed to allow us to start a church in our area. So, on July 18, 2004 Central Church was born.”

From 2004 to present, Central Church has continued to grow and expand.

In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Allen broke ground on their new 700-seat sanctuary. The new sanctuary allowed for the previous one to be renovated into Central Church’s children facility. 

Allen helped build Central Church’s second Newton campus in 2022.

“In 2022 we launched our second campus on Hwy 81, known as Central Church South Campus,” Allen said. “We took the existing buildings that were on that 10 acres of land and completely renovated them. As of today, both campuses are thriving and completely full every weekend.”

Central Church’s expansion goes much further than the United States.

“Last month, we launched our third campus located on the other side of the world in Cambodia,” Allen said. “Some of my leadership and I flew there and spent 12 days doing ministry and training leaders. While there, we dedicated the church and committed it to the service of the Lord. The church on that Sunday morning was completely full.”

Along with the campus in Cambodia, Central Church has missionaries in Thailand, Uganda, Brazil, Mexico and Peru.

Throughout the change and expansion over the last 19 years, the mission for Allen and Central Church has always stood strong.

“We decided early on that we were going to be a church that would love God, love people and do our best to do everything with excellence,” Allen said.