Central United Methodist Church (Manila)

The church's history is closely intertwined with that of Knox United Methodist Church, as both churches were the result of Filipino-American ties following the surrender of Manila in 1898. Thereafter, the first Protestant worship service in the Philippines was held on 28 August 1898. Officiated by the Rev. George C. Stull, the service was attended by both American soldiers and Filipino civilians.

During the Philippine–American War, the congregation separated from its American component, which transferred its services to the YMCA and was formally organized in 1899.

Its first chapel was completed on December 23, 1901, and was replaced by a stone structure in November 1906. In 1932, it was elevated to the status of a cathedral.^[2] During the Liberation of Manila in 1945, Central UMC was severely damaged and rendered unusable by fighting between combined American and Filipino troops and Japanese imperial forces. Its congregation temporarily reunited with Knox UMC until 1949, when Central UMC was rebuilt on its original site along T.M. Kalaw Street.

Since then, the membership of Central UMC has shifted from a predominantly American demographic to a mixed Filipino and American congregation.

The Central UMC is located at the corner of T.M. Kalaw Avenue and Taft Avenue in Manila, across from Plaza Olivia Salamanca.

• José Abad Santos, former chief justice and acting president of the Philippines, 1942
• Jorge Bocobo, former justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines, 1942–44

• 
  Left external side
• 
  Details of the main arch window
• 
  Details of the portal inside the church
• 
  Gothic arches inside the church
• 
  Gothic portals
• 
  Historical marker in Filipino
• 
  The nave
• 
  Transepts, crossing, and choir of the church