On August 22, 2004, a large number of friends and former members gathered to help
FPC celebrate 150 years of service to Christ and to Dyer County. Dr. Douglas Kelly gave two stirring messages on the Church
as Christ's body. FPC's history is an example of God's faithfulness to the body of Christ, His instrument of redemption
in the world.
The groundwork for First Presbyterian Church was laid in
October 1853, when a Rev. William A. Hall visited the town. He agreed to preach on the third Sunday of each month, which he
began doing regularly in January 1854.
In April 1854 a petition was presented
to the Presbytery of the Western District, meeting in Brazil, TN, requesting that a church be organized in Dyersburg. Rev.
Hall was appointed to organize the church, which took place on August 19, 1854. Nine persons presented themselves for membership.
The church met in various locales, including the Sawyer Opera House, until 1889, when the congregation
erected its own building at the corner of Mill and McGaughey streets.
In 1972,
the church moved to its present property on Highway 51 Bypass, generously donated by the Alexander family. Services were held
in what is now Alexander Hall until the present sanctuary was dedicated on September 12, 1993.
In 1983 the congregation voted to affiliate with the more conservative and doctrinally reformed Presbyterian Church in America.
In 1995, First Presbyterian Christian School opened with an enrollment of 24 students. In 1999 a new Christian Education building
was opened for the use of the school. Today the school, renamed Christ Classical Academy and fully accredited, is serving approximately
110 students, pre-kindergarten through 8th grade.
The church
has had only 13 pastors in its history. Our present pastor, Wally Bumpas, Jr., was called to FPC in October 1998.
