Our church has a long and faithful ministry to the people of Phoenixville. The origin and history of the church date back to 1846, when Robert L. Anderson, a licentiate of the Presbytery of New Castle, accepted an invitation to “preach in this place to those who are Presbyterians, either by education, or open profession,” the attention of presbytery having been called to the field by Caleb Stackhouse. After a short period, there was enough interest to justify request of the presbytery of Philadelphia that a church be organized. The presbytery formed a committee to perform this duty and the first Tuesday in November was named as the day for the committee to visit Phoenixville and perfect an organization. Our minutes state that “The committee met on Tuesday, November 3rd, 1846, at Phoenixville, agreeable to appointment.” So it was that 13 committed, hopeful members unanimously agreed to be an organization called the First Presbyterian Church of Phoenixville. For a time, public worship was conducted at the Mennonite meetinghouse, now the home of the Phoenixville Area Historical Society.
