When the Reverend Oscar Elmer arrived in the Red River Valley, he found a tent colony housing a few rugged pioneers. Settlers were carving out a new life along the Red River where boats carried supplies to the people of the valley. This site, which later became known as Moorhead, saw the first religious services conducted by Rev. Elmer at the Chapin House, a tent hotel, on October 1871. 

On a quiet spring evening, May 26, 1872, Rev. Elmer and seven worshipers organized themselves into the First Presbyterian Church, the first church in Moorhead.

After worshiping in a one-room building called the “Reading Room,” the congregation built a sanctuary in 1874. School classes were held in the Reading Room until November 1873 when the new public school was built.

A new sanctuary was built in 1878 after lightening struck the building and it burned down. The church burned a second time in March 1909, and the cornerstone for another new sanctuary was laid July 25, 1909.

The church grew in size and activity for the next fifty years, but the stability of the church was shaken when the sanctuary was condemned March 1, 1966. The congregation rallied again, however, and the current sanctuary, including fellowship hall and 2 large classrooms, was dedicated November 17, 1968. An additional wing designed for and dedicated to education was completed in 1995.