Central Baptist Church

Central Baptist Church in Jonesboro, Arkansas has roots stretching back generations, taking its current name in the 1930s under pastor L.L. Shoptaw. The Southern Baptist congregation relocated from downtown Jonesboro to its current campus on Harrisburg Road in 2004 after a move that took more than a decade to complete. Archie Mason became senior pastor in January 2005 and has led an aggressive multiplication strategy ever since, launching the Journey Campus in 2010, the Word and Refuge campuses in 2013, the Newport Campus in 2015, and a Paragould campus. Campus planting and leadership development are the church's calling cards.

Central Baptist reaches 36,895 combined followers across three platforms, the smallest total in this stretch of the rankings. Facebook leads at 24,000 followers, roughly two thirds of the total. Instagram adds 9,335 split across two campus accounts, cbcjonesboro at 6,525 and cbcparagould at 2,810. YouTube holds 3,560 subscribers on @centralbaptist, but it grew 24.91 percent over the past year, the fastest YouTube growth rate among churches ranked 81 through 90. The channel published on June 1, 2026.

Central Baptist is the purest velocity play in this group. Its reach score of 15.1 is the lowest of any church in this batch, but its velocity score of 64.4 is the highest. A small YouTube channel growing at nearly 25 percent a year, paired with a breadth score of 82.5 across three active platforms, is exactly the profile of a church earning its way up the index rather than coasting on an old audience. The two-account Instagram structure also mirrors the multi-campus strategy, with each campus building its own local following instead of funneling everything through one brand.