Our History:

In Arcadia, in 1914, our first 24 members worshipped in an abandoned store room on First Avenue just north of the Santa Fe tracks. Dr. Henry Gage was the first pastor. In 1916, for $1,800 they bought four lots and an old packing shed at Huntington and Santa Anita, where Denny's Restaurant is now. The next year the first sanctuary was built for $5,000.

A second building project was required by 1923, a stucco church costing $21,000. After ten difficult years, Dr. Nathan Milo Fiske was called, and placed the church on its first firm foundation of spiritual and financial strength, and a congregation of 700 members.

The third building project was started in 1935. The church was cut in two, the halves were moved to First and Alice Street, reassembled fifteen feet apart, and the middle filled in. During the ministry of Dr. J. Davis Barnard from 1948 to 1968, two more building projects were completed, the present Fellowship Hall and Administration unit, then our present sanctuary was dedicated in 1962.

Dr. James W. Hagelganz, on staff first as Associate Pastor, was called to become the pastor of the church in 1969, following Dr. Barnard's death. Under Dr. Hagelganz' leadership many new programs were developed or expanded, including Christian Education, youth evangelism, singles ministries, pastoral care and counseling, and the community outreach ministry to persons with drug addictions.

Our Heritage:

The 16th century French Reformer, John Calvin, was the organizer of Presbyterian thought. Our Presbyterian name comes from presbuteros, the Greek for elder. A student of Calvin, John Knox carried the Presbyterian Faith to Scotland. Francis Makemie came from Ireland to establish the first American Presbyterian church, in Maryland in 1683.

Thirteen signers of the Declaration of Independence were Presbyterian. The only minister who signed it was John Witherspoon, who also was a teacher at the Presbyterian College of New Jersey, later named Princeton. Nine of the U.S. Constitution drafters were Presbyterians. Eleven of our presidents have been Presbyterian.

In California, the first Protestant worship service was conducted in 1848 at San Francisco by Capt. John Montgomery, a Presbyterian elder. In 1848 the Presbyterian Rev. Timothy Hunt started the first Protestant ministry in California.