In the heart of downtown Edmonton since 1881

The organizational meeting is held on November 3 in Jimmy McDonald's carpentry shop. Three days later, on November 6, Rev. Andrew Baird conducts the first Presbyterian service ever held in Edmonton, or indeed in what is now the Province of Alberta.

A permanent home is completed in November at 104 Street and 99 Avenue: a wood structure, 50 feet by 30, seating 200, at a total cost of $2,286.

Rev. David George McQueen arrives from Knox College and begins a ministry of 43 years, guiding the formation of numerous congregations across the region.

The second building is dedicated in July at Jasper Avenue and 103 Street.

When Alberta becomes a province, the congregation, until then Edmonton Presbyterian Church, takes the name First Presbyterian Church.

The Jasper Avenue property is sold for $195,000 and three lots are bought on 105 Street. The cornerstone is laid into the bell tower on July 26.

The first service in the present building is conducted on March 3, and the dedication follows on June 2. Designed by Arthur G. Wilson and D. Easton Herrald, it seats 1,280 and cost $172,450.

John A. McDougall, an Edmonton pioneer and entrepreneur, gives the set of 20 tubular chimes at the top of the tower.

Two-thirds of Canadian Presbyterians enter the new United Church. McQueen opposes union, and First Church becomes the centre of the continuing Presbyterian Church, which keeps about a third of the denomination.

Rev. D. G. McQueen dies on October 22, ending a ministry of 43 years. He had led the congregation through the building of the present sanctuary and the church union crisis of 1925.

The Session is photographed for the church's records. Among its elders are Hon. J. F. Lymburn, then Attorney General of Alberta, and the lawyer Stanley McCuaig.

Alberta's first state funeral is held at First Church in March, for Lieutenant-Governor Philip Primrose, the first representative of the Crown in the province to die in office. Rev. Dr. Andrew Osborn of First Church assists.

Arthur Newcombe becomes Musical Director on January 4, beginning 27 years as organist and choir director. The Arthur Newcombe Room behind the sanctuary is named for him.

The 1909 Casavant organ is rebuilt and enlarged and designated a memorial to those who fell in the Second World War. It is dedicated on September 23, with a recital by Dr. Charles Peaker of Toronto the following evening.

The building is designated a Provincial Historic Resource in September.

In the fall, the congregation joins the work of the Edmonton Food Bank, an outreach that continues today. A refugee sponsorship committee follows in 1986.

A plaque is unveiled granting historic designation by the City of Edmonton.

The tower chimes, silent for some years, are restored and rededicated by Rev. Lloyd Fourney on September 17, at a service honouring all who built the church and congregation.

Elder and University of Alberta historian Kenneth Munro publishes First Presbyterian Church, Edmonton: A History.

In Alberta's centennial year, First Church hosts the opening service of worship of the General Assembly of The Presbyterian Church in Canada, as it had hosted the Assembly in 1912.

The fall marks the 125th anniversary of the beginnings of Presbyterian witness in the city and province.

The Casavant organ is refurbished for worship and concerts, with a new 32-foot pedal stop and modern wind and combination systems. The congregation raises more than the $300,000 cost itself.

On June 3 the congregation celebrates the centennial of the building's dedication.

Rev. Dr. Mark Chiang preaches for the call on May 24 and is called as Minister of Word and Sacrament, as the congregation approaches its 145th anniversary. Rev. John Dowds, who served as Interim Moderator through the vacancy, concludes his ministry with the congregation.