The history of Elm Street Christian Church began a number of years before the formal organization took place. It was at the turn of the 20th century when the Disciples of Christ began to arrive in Greensboro with other permanent residents. Soon after 1900 the State Board began working on plans to “plant the cause in the important city of Greensboro.”
On October 15, 1911, Miss Etta Nunn, then state secretary of Woman’s Missionary Work, and Miss Florence Miller of Louisville, Kentucky, came to Greensboro to hold a rally in connection with the 50th anniversary celebration of the establishment of the interdenominational organized Woman’s Work for Foreign Missions in the nation. Dr. Jesse Caldwell, president of Atlantic Christian College came to Greensboro and spoke to the Disciples in the old YMCA auditorium. In March of 1913 at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Leslie Carter, the initial organization of the women took place. Dr. Caldwell continued to speak each second Sunday, and Mr. C. C. Ware preached for several months while they were still meeting at the “Y”. There were 32 members in 1915, and the report of 1917 lists 62 members in the Bible School, of which F. L. Atkinson was the superintendent.