FPC History
The First Presbyterian Church of Lakeland has served the community for more than 125 years.
The First Presbyterian Church of Lakeland was formally organized in the community schoolhouse on March 7, 1885. The organizing pastor was The Reverend Caleb Jones. Two months later, the congregation built its first sanctuary—the first church building in Lakeland—on
south Tennessee Avenue between
Main and Lemon streets.
By 1919, the church had outgrown the first building, and a new building of buff brick was built on
South Massachusetts Avenue overlooking
Lake Mirror. FPC was well-known for its large adult Sunday School classes. The Regular Fellows Men’s class, had a membership of over 200 and its own radio program.
The Florida boom of the 1920’s brought continued growth, and First Church became a predominant congregation in the community. The Reverend Dr. Charles Raymond served for 21 years as pastor. A power struggle occured between the church leadership and the next pastor, however. That pastor left in 1950 and took half of the church members to form a new congregation. FPC recovered quickly, experienced numerical growth, and built a new sanctuary in 1955 immediately to the South of the old facility. In 1958 FPC, in conjunction with the presbytery, started Chapel in the Grove.
By the mid 1970’s, the church’s expanding membership and programs had outstripped both the building and parking capacity downtown. The congregation made a bold move to build a brand new facility in an orange grove on the east side of Lake Hollingsworth. The first service in the current location was held on Christmas Eve, 1978. The first words from the pulpit by Dr. Henry Dahlberg, the Senior Pastor, were "Jesus Christ is Lord."
An early morning communion service was introduced in the late 1980's. FPC, working with the presbytery, started the North Lakeland Church in 1990. The large Austin pipe organ was installed in the sanctuary 1994. The Little Shepherds preschool opened in 1997 and today has 200 students and 25 teachers. In October 2001 a 44,000 foot addition—the Family Life Center—was dedicated to the glory of God. This new space gave the church the opportunity to begin a third Sunday morning service called Vine, which launched in 2007. The church has been proclaiming the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ for 125 years, and today our active membership stands at 1,550, with a total constituency (counting baptized children, non member church attendees, and inactive members) of over 2,500 people.
