Through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, we trust in the one triune God, the Holy One of Israel, whom alone we worship and serve.

God comes to us in free and undeserved favor in the person of Jesus Christ who lived, died, and rose for us that we might belong to God and serve Christ in the world. Following Jesus, Presbyterians are engaged in the world and in seeking thoughtful solutions to the challenges of our time.

Presbyterians affirm that God comes to us with grace and love in the person of Jesus Christ, who lived, died, and rose for us so that we might have eternal and abundant life in him. As Christ’s disciples, called to ministry in his name, we seek to continue his mission of teaching the truth, feeding the hungry, healing the broken, and welcoming strangers. God sends the Holy Spirit to dwell within us, giving us the energy, intelligence, imagination, and love to be Christ’s faithful disciples in the world.

More than two million people call the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) their spiritual home. Worshiping in 10,000 Presbyterian congregations throughout the United States, they engage the communities in which they live and serve with God’s love.

Origins of the Presbyterian Church

Presbyterians trace their history to the 16th century and the Protestant Reformation. Our heritage, and much of what we believe, began with the French lawyer John Calvin (1509-1564), whose writings crystallized much of the Reformed thinking that came before him.

Calvin did much of his writing from Geneva, Switzerland. From there, the Reformed movement spread to other parts of Europe and the British Isles.

Many of the early Presbyterians in America came from England, Scotland and Ireland. The first American Presbytery was organized at Philadelphia in 1706. The first General Assembly was held in the same city in 1789. The first Assembly was convened by the Rev. John Witherspoon, the only minister to sign the Declaration of Independence.

A Look Back:  

History of First Presbyterian Church of Monticello, Indiana

The First Presbyterian Church of Monticello, Indiana has been at the current location since 1836.  In 1835, a large group of Virginians joined the first settlers here and made plans to form a Presbyterian Church. Townsmen gathered at the John Wilson log cabin, west of Monticello, and the Rev. John Stocker, of Delphi, officiated. It was May 7, 1836.

The first resident pastor in 1839 was Rev. Alexander Williamson, a hearty soul, who was known to preach the morning service in Monticello, then travel 10-15 miles over rugged trails to preach again that night. His undoing was a split in the church on the question of slavery. Decades later, the reunited church formed plans to replace a cabin built in 1843 at the present-day site.

Construction of the church at the corner of Illinois and Broadway took some 13 years to complete. Work had scarcely begun before the Panic of 1873 gripped the country. Money was tight, and the sanctuary’s interior was not completed until 1886. The church cost approximately $17,000.

The first pipe organ cost $2,600 with $1,000 of that amount given by Andrew Carnegie, the steel magnate. But the music was always a part of the church. The earliest members began their hymns with the help of a tuning fork, and a reed organ provided accompaniment after 1865.

Monticello experienced a tornado on April 3, 1974, eight citizens were killed and 105 downtown Monticello Buildings and countless homes were damaged or destroyed. Two landmarks were destroyed: the eighty-year- old county courthouse and our beloved Presbyterian Church. Only a portion of the east and west walls of the sanctuary remained standing. The remnant of the west wall still bore the cross of the Lord.

The church took another blow when a four-alarm fire August 16, 1988 destroyed the church’s north education wing, which had survived the tornado 14 years before. The fire was ignited by a stereo unit’s faulty wiring and spread through second-floor classrooms to the roof. The building and renovation of the smoke-damaged sanctuary, the southwest library area and north wing was set at $1 million. 

We were lucky to have good insurance and our church building was, once again, made whole.  Throughout each time of struggle we have come together and worked to rebuild and have continued to work diligently to do the work of our Lord. 

*The above statements are referenced from the website of the PCUSA.