The Central Barren United Methodist Church had its beginning in 1845 with ministers coming from New Albany to preach in homes. In 1851 the church was organized as the “Zoar Congregation” of Central Barren Methodist Church. The first Church building was a log church across from the Kaylor Family Cemetery just south of Central Barren.

In 1857 the second building was built on the site of the present Central Barren Cemetery. The church was a part of the Bradford Circuit and the parsonage was located in Bradford. The community was listed as “The Barrens” from 1851 until the post office was established in the community and the name became Central Barren. The Bradford circuit listed five churches on the charge in 1863, counting Central Barren, with two others added including New Salisbury.

All of the churches on the Bradford Charge were discontinued on that charge over the years until only Central Barren United Methodist Church was left on the charge.

In the 1860’s and ’70’s many German immigrants settled in Harrison County, and the Central Barren Church conducted their worship services in German. The transition from German to English was gradual until 1924 when the church joined the English Conference.

For several years the German services were conducted one Sunday per month and were well attended by the German-speaking members of the congregation. Today the services are all in English, but the Altar Bible is a German Bible to remind the congregation of the church’s history as a German Methodist Church.

In 1891 the third church was built. It was located just south of the current building at the intersection of Bradford Road and State Road 135. This church served the congregation until 1974 when the current building was built. The parsonage was located directly across the highway from the church and was built in 1949 replacing the one built in 1875.

Today the church is very active in the community. The congregation sponsors several mission projects each year.  For example, for the past several years, they’ve sponsored an Angel Tree at Christmas with names of children and their families from the Morgan and North Harrison schools who need assistance.  They make a yearly contribution to the Harrison County Community Services, donate items in support of Operation Christmas Child and conduct outreach projects for service men/women currently serving in our armed forces.  These are just a few of the many outreach projects sponsored by the congregation.  Over the past several decades, the congregation of Central Barren has traditionally held 2 major fundraisers to support their church and mission projects. The Oyster Dinner is a favorite community event held annually.