Church History
As the first church to be organized and chartered within Kissimmee’s corporate limits, the congregation was organized on September 21, 1884 with 16 members. The first Pastor, the Rev. Caleb Jones helped to design and construct the church building. Construction began in 1885, and the building was dedicated May 6, 1886.
Presbyterian Church, USA
The Protestant reformation began in 1517 and a few short years later, John Calvin, founder of the early Presbyterian Church, arrived on the scene. Originally a French Catholic, Calvin joined the reformation movement and fled to Geneva, Switzerland for his own safety. There he performed his ministry and taught students as well as formed a theology founded on the sovereignty of God and the priesthood of all believers. John Knox, one of his students from Scotland, took the denomination back to his home country.
Presbyterians were originally called Calvinists, after the founder. They came to this country from Scotland, France, and The Netherlands and settled at various locations along the east coast. Between 1705 and 1775, at least 500,000 Scotch-Irish Presbyterians came to America.
The Presbyterian Church began to form various splinter groups and divisions, including large Northern and Southern divisions. These two large groups, once divided over the Civil War, reunited in 1983 to form what we know today as Presbyterian Church, USA, better known as PC(USA).