History of Stuart Presbyterian Church
On Sunday, July 27, 1947 at 8pm, a commission from the Montgomery Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church in the
United States met in the Stuart Baptist Church for the purpose of organizing a Presbyterian Church in the town of Stuart,
Virginia. By unanimous vote, the 17 founding members extended a call to Dr. Fred S. McCorkle to be the first minister
of this young church. For the first three years, Stuart Presbyterian Church met in the Stuart Baptist Church building three
times a month while plans were made and executed to build a sanctuary and fellowship hall at 309 Staples Avenue. On October
1, 1950, the members of Stuart Presbyterian Church worshipped for the first time in what is now our current sanctuary.
The church began to grow immediately. By 1953, the young congregation not only witnessed its first baby born in the
congregation, James William Reed, but also noted in its Session Minutes that there were 103 in regular attendance for its
Sunday School programs. With 43 active members it forged a solid commitment to love and serve its community through
living out the gospel of Jesus Christ in everyday life.
Today, over 60 years later, although the church has grown and is in the process of expanding and building, it is still
committed to that same mission of loving and serving its community in the name of Jesus Christ. As our mission statement
declares, we want personally to know Jesus Christ, and make him known to our community.
In February of 2009, the Stuart Church became a part of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church denomination.