770 Chemeketa St. NE
Salem, OR 97301-3894
(503) 363-9234
Office Hours:
Monday - Friday
8 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Email us at
mainoffice@salemfirstpres.org
Email our
Web Site Manager at
publications@salemfirstpres.org
Brief History of the First Presbyterian Church of Salem, Oregon
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1869 - 1871, Membership 20 - 38: On the upper floor of the J. K. Gill Bookstore – just east of the Ladd and Bush Bank Building, the First Presbyterian Church was organized as a home mission project of the United Presbyterian Associate Presbytery of Oregon. On Saturday evening, May 15, 1869, at the call of two ministers and an elder from Albany, 19 men and women became the founding members. Next morning, they held a service and added a new member! While the church met here the congregation paid $15 per month rental for the upstairs room. However, it was sublet to the Salem Musicians Union on weekdays for $10 per month, for a net rent of $5 per month; janitor service was $2; wood (at $4.75 a cord), coal oil, and lamp wicks were maintenance costs.
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1871 - 1894, Membership 38 - 236: In 1871, the first church building of the congregation was created on the west side of Church Street between Chemeketa and Center Streets. The chapel-style structure was provided with a picket fence, hitching posts, mounting block, and carriage stalls. It had a library of 145 books. The entire building was valued at $6,000. A debt of $650 was paid after nine years, with the help of a Presbyterian Church in Portland. About this time, the congregation became self-supporting and found means to move an old house up against the church for the Sunday School. Although the Salem Church was organized as a United Presbyterian church, in the fall of 1872 the Session decided to change ecclesiastical affiliation to the Presbytery of Oregon to allow financial aid and closer relations with neighboring churches in the Lower Willamette Valley, and to introduce instrumental music (not allowed by the United Presbyterian Church). With this change, the church’s name officially became First Presbyterian Church.
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1894 - 1928, Membership 236 - 940: In 1894 the first small church was extensively redesigned, lifted, and enlarged by adding porches, vestibules, and classrooms; a wing on either side of the sanctuary; two large Sunday School rooms at the rear; and stained frosted glass, gas lights, and a warm-air furnace – all at a cost of $4,000. By 1917, growth for both church and city forced relocation. Property was bought at the northeast corner of Chemeketa and Winter Streets and a manse was built there in 1923, but it was not until 1927 that $60,000 was in hand to begin the $125,000 church planned.
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1928 - 1959, Membership 940 - 1780: A new church structure was dedicated on July 22, 1928. The scope of the building and its continuous and varied uses by groups both within and without the membership brought pride and a feeling of permanency. Yet, shortly after its 75th anniversary in 1944, the congregation was compelled to plan moving again because of the expansion of the Oregon State Capitol Mall. Beginning in 1946 seven properties diagonally across Chemeketa and Winter Streets were acquired. During a six-month period in 1958 – 1959, the sanctuary, weighing over 1,000 tons, was slowly moved across to the new site. Then the construction of a Christian Education wing, a Chapel, and the church offices began.
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1959 - Present, Membership 1780 - 807 (as of June 2007):
This fifth structure of the First Presbyterian Church of Salem faces the Oregon State Capitol Mall. Built originally between 1958 and 1960 (and added to since then), it incorporates the sanctuary of 1928 with the chancel widened and deepened to afford choir seating. Also added when it was moved to the new location were a fine Möller Pipe Organ which now has 3 Manuals and 33 Ranks, an elevated pulpit, a lectern, and a communion table. On the south of the sanctuary is the Christian Education with providing three floors of Church School departments, the Fireside Room and Pioneer Room (for meetings), and the Fellowship Hall, added in the Fund 2000 remodeling to ease hallway congestion after worship and provide a space for people to mingle. On the north of the sanctuary is a shorter wing which includes the chapel and the church offices. Below the sanctuary is a large social hall with a spacious kitchen, reached by an elevator and stairways. Nearby are a choir room and a bridal room. The enlarged church consistently follows the Georgian-colonial architectural style of the sanctuary.
Ministers:
Paul N. Poling, 1951 - 1963
John R. Stewart, 1963 - 1987
Robert J. Elder, 1987 - 2007
What lies ahead for First Presbyterian Church? Only God knows for certain! Whatever the future, our history of faithful response to God’s call challenges all members of First Presbyterian Church to fuller commitment in years to come.
(Parts of this brief historical sketch are excerpted from the centennial prepared by Dr. Helen Pearce and Mrs. Faye B. Mille.)