OUR HISTORY
The roots of Albany's Presbyterian community reach back to 16th Century Scotland when the Protestant Reformation arrived in that country. Over time several groups seceded from the established Church of Scotland. Scottish immigrants from the several Scottish Presbyterian churches came to this area in the 19th century.
In 1849, the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church was organized about three miles outside Brownsville. A year later the Willamette Associate Presbyterian Church was formed on the site of what is now the Oakville Cemetery. Over the next few years the congregations worked to form a single church.
In May of 1858 the United Presbyterian Church of North America was formed by a union of the Associate Presbyterian Church and the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church (both denominations having been organized by immigrants from different Scottish free churches.)
From Many Congregations, One Church
1853
WHITESPIRES UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
On October 11, 1853, the first church in the nation to organize from its very beginning as a United Presbyterian Church was in Albany, with Rev. James P. Millar as pastor. That church became the Whitespires United Presbyterian Church after its second church building at Fifth and Washington was constructed during 1891-92.
1866
ALBANY PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
In August 1866, the Albany Presbyterian Church was organized by a Presbyterian congregation, with Rev. William J. Monteith as pastor. Rev Monteith was brother to Thomas and Walter Monteith, the founders of the town of Albany. The congregation worshipped in various homes and buildings throughout town, including the Monteith House, until the church's first building was constructed in 1882. The two-room wooden church stood at Fifth and Broadalbin Street, until the current stone structure was built on the same site in 1912.
1892
CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
The Cumberland Presbyterian Church was established in 1892 at Main Street and Santiam Road. The church was renamed Grace Presbyterian Church in 1906 and although that church later closed, the wooden Queen Anne style building continued to serve a variety of purposes and was eventually purchased by the City of Albany in 2000. In 2021, the building was moved to its current location further east on Santiam Road where efforts are underway to restore the historic structure as the Cumberland Community Events Center. Cumberland Church, built in 1892, now stands at 1400 Santiam Road SE.
1967
UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF ALBANY
In the mid-1960s the Presbytery began to press the two congregations to merge and on October 1, 1967, that merger took place, forming the United Presbyterian Church of Albany, continuing worship at the stone church at Fifth and Broadalbin. The Whitespires building was later sold but has continued to be used as a place of worship for various faith communities.
