First Presbyterian Church of Redmond

The first Presbyterian congregation in Redmond was organized in 1906, one year after the city was founded. The church was established by Reverend Jesse C. George under the authority and guidance of an existing Presbytery in Pendleton, Oregon. The Pendleton Presbytery had sent Reverend George to Central Oregon in 1905 to minister to the Tumalo community fifteen miles southwest of Redmond. Shortly after arriving, a number of Redmond residents asked him to conduct Presbyterian services in their community as well. Over the next few years, George established the Redmond congregation with the help of Reverend J. W. Mitchell of the Sisters Presbyterian Church and Reverend Levi Johnson, an itinerant pastor who eventually founded eleven churches in Eastern Oregon communities. The new Presbyterian congregation held services in a number of locations around the city. In 1910, the congregation bought three adjacent lots along 7th Street in downtown Redmond for a permanent church building. A ground-breaking ceremony was held on July 31, 1911. The building was completed the following spring and dedicated on June 30, 1912. Shortly after the church's dedication, Redmond's local newspaper reported that the church had cost $5,000 to build and had seating capacity for 250 parishioners. The First Presbyterian Church of Redmond is the oldest church building in the city and the second-oldest religious structure in Deschutes County. Because of the building's Gothic Revival architecture and its importance to the history of Central Oregon, the First Presbyterian Church of Redmond was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on September 3, 2001. == Structure ==

The First Presbyterian Church is located on a 100-by-100-foot city lot on the corner of 7th Street and Cascade Avenue within the original Redmond townsite. The building is sited on the western side of the lot with the entrance facing Cascade Avenue. The entry steps begin at the public sidewalk along Cascade Avenue. On the 7th Street frontage, there is a four-foot landscaped lawn between the structure and the sidewalk. The east side of the lot is used for parking. The church was built in the Gothic Revival style with Queen Anne architectural detailing. It is a rectangular one-story building with a structural footprint measuring 72 feet by 40 feet. There is a two-story steeple on the southwest corner of the building above the main entrance. At the top of the steeple is a belfry that houses the church-s original bell, which was cast by the American Bell and Foundry Company of Northville, Michigan. At the peak of the steeple is a tall, ornate finial with decorative globes, fans, and scrollwork. All of the church windows are Gothic arch style. The main sanctuary window is made up of four Gothic arch windows that support a rose window with ornate tracery. The entire window group is set into a large Gothic arch frame. On the east side of the church is a large bay window. In the original church design, this bay window feature was the focal point of the interior sanctuary space. == Interior ==

The ceiling in the church sanctuary is 19 feet high. The sanctuary walls are lath and plaster with a wooden wainscoting to a height of three-and-a-half feet. The sanctuary pews were originally arranged in a semicircle facing a large bay window on the east side of the building. In 1944, the sanctuary was reoriented along the length of the building with the pews facing an expanded altar and choir area at the north end of the room. Today, the sanctuary space is open and can be arranged as required for specific events. There are two rooms in the northwest corner of the building. Both are approximately 12 feet by 12 feet. The rooms have 13-foot ceilings and the same lath and plaster walls and wainscoting as the sanctuary. The rooms have hanging glass-globe lights that are original to the building. A hallway runs from the sanctuary along the northeast corner of the building to the back door. It also provides access to a restroom and an office area that was once the church organ's mechanical room. == References ==