As the Filipino congregation grew, the church was renamed Central Student Church in 1916. The original structure was demolished in 1932 and replaced with another neogothic building designed by Juan Arellano.
After World War II devastated the compound, Arellano also designed a new church, which was inaugurated on 25 December 1949 and rededicated in February 1950.
Cruciform in plan, the church interior features faith-inspired woodcarvings by Garciano Nepomuceno, based on designs by writer and former Supreme Court Associate Justice Jorge Bocobo, himself a church member. Its stained glass windows were crafted by Kraut Art Glass, which continues to operate today.
Rededication
The church was rededicated as the Central United Methodist Church in 1968 following its union with its mother organization, the Evangelical United Brethren of the United States.
In 1985, the then National Historical Institute (now the NHCP) installed a marker recognizing the CUMC as the first and oldest Protestant church in the Philippines.
Prominent members have included Justice Jose Abad Santos, Senator Camilo Osias, Foreign Affairs Secretary Narciso Ramos, and his son, President Fidel Ramos.
These and other details are chronicled in the newly published book Onward with Christ by Dario Borje, Patrick David Borje, Rev. Lizette Pearl Tapia-Raquel, and Roela Victoria Rivera. The book fills a crucial gap in Philippine history, particularly on the arrival, spread, and growth of Protestantism.
