The First Presbyterian Church of DeFuniak Springs, Florida, is a member of The Presbytery of Florida, the Synod of South Atlantic, and the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, U.S.A. 

The church was organized in 1883 by local families of predominantly Scottish ancestry who had settled in Euchee Valley just southeast of DeFuniak. First Presbyterian has a rich history reflecting its participation in and contribution to the mission and leadership of Presbyterianism in Florida and beyond.  The church was established with a membership of 10, as DeFuniak Springs became a shipping and trading center for the L & N Railroad. Today, the church has an active membership of 92 (several are descendants of its original founders.)

From early gatherings in a log building to the 1890 completion of a red brick church among the magnolias along the lake shores just east of its present location, the families of First Presbyterian now worship in the Graeco-Roman-styled sanctuary constructed in 1923.

Among the chief contributions to the community and its environs was the Florida Presbytery’s 1907 establishment of Palmer College in DeFuniak Springs.  Leaders from First Presbyterian provided financial assistance and many other kinds of support to the college throughout its existence.

The college offered general elementary, secondary, and two-year college courses and training institutes for church officers and ministers until the Depression forced its closure in the 1930s. The educational activities and spiritual development of Palmer’s students were powerful influences in the church’s life.

Christian education continues to be integral to the church’s ongoing mission, with Sunday School classes for all ages.   Fellowship, outreach, and support of community activities are also vital to the church’s mission, the chief end of which is to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

AG. Campbell, Jr., in his 1963 history of First Presbyterian, wrote that First Presbyterian is “a church active for God, a church in which the joys and sorrows, the humor and pathos are shared, and a church in which such sharing binds its members into Christian fellowship.”  These words still ring true today!