Park Avenue Church started with the purpose of serving the patients and families of the Kennedy Hospital at Park and Getwell in Memphis, TN. Kennedy was a veteran’s hospital that opened during World War II. In 1944, new patients came in daily and the surrounding community grew rapidly. A group of sixteen people started meeting in the neighborhood with hopes of forming a church. The first prayer meeting was held on April 14th, 1944, in a house on Loeb Street. In May they held a Vacation Bible School, and in June they met for their first worship service outside. The following October 1st, the church officially organized as Kennedy Memorial Baptist Church with 37 charter members. They met in a newly purchased home on the corner of Park Avenue and Watson Street.  

Committed to believing the Bible as the Word of God and dedicating themselves to serving the community, the church experienced steady growth in the early years. The church voted to change its name to Audubon Park Baptist Church in 1969. In 1985, Park Avenue Baptist Church merged with APBC, adding over 250 members. However, church membership began to decline in the late ‘90s and early 2000s as challenges in the neighborhood grew.

A decade later, God graciously began doing a work of revitalization in the church. Over the last few years, God raised up a congregation united in the gospel and eager to make Christ known in East Memphis and beyond. In 2023, we changed our name to Park Avenue Church. We are thankful to God for both the rich heritage of PAC, and hopeful future of gospel impact we aim to have in the world. Our prayer is that God will "do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen." (Ephesians 3:20-21)