Our Impact
Serving the City
We actively engage with our community through meaningful partnerships and service.
+ Our building is a hub for music, hosting recitals, choirs, and concerts. The FM Symphony, FM Music Club, youth symphonies, and American Guild of Organists regularly utilize our space.
+ We welcome community events, including nonprofit workshops, celebrations, weddings, and funerals.
+ As founding members of Churches United for the Homeless, we provide financial support and monthly volunteers.
+ We support the food pantry and clothes closet at Bdecan Church within the Spirit Lake Reservation.
+ For over 25 years, we’ve partnered with East African Presbyteries in Chogoria, Kenya, supporting schools, scholarships, and clinics.
+ We support the Emergency Food Pantry and the Downtown Engagement Center with donations and volunteers.
+ Through Sweet Dreams, we collect money for mattresses and our Presbyterian Women provide pillows for women and children at the YWCA shelter, earning us the nickname "the pillow church."
+ We provide emergency supplies for homeless vets through the VA’s Resource Center, partner with The Rape and Abuse Crisis Center to support safe activities during supervised parenting time, and support Habitat for Humanity in Barnesville.
+ Our building is a hub for music, hosting recitals, choirs, and concerts. The FM Symphony, FM Music Club, youth symphonies, and American Guild of Organists regularly utilize our space.
+ We welcome community events, including nonprofit workshops, celebrations, weddings, and funerals.
+ As founding members of Churches United for the Homeless, we provide financial support and monthly volunteers.
+ We support the food pantry and clothes closet at Bdecan Church within the Spirit Lake Reservation.
+ For over 25 years, we’ve partnered with East African Presbyteries in Chogoria, Kenya, supporting schools, scholarships, and clinics.
+ We support the Emergency Food Pantry and the Downtown Engagement Center with donations and volunteers.
+ Through Sweet Dreams, we collect money for mattresses and our Presbyterian Women provide pillows for women and children at the YWCA shelter, earning us the nickname "the pillow church."
+ We provide emergency supplies for homeless vets through the VA’s Resource Center, partner with The Rape and Abuse Crisis Center to support safe activities during supervised parenting time, and support Habitat for Humanity in Barnesville.
Economic Impact
Each year, First Presbyterian Church of Fargo contributes more than $2.44 million to the local economy through jobs, partnerships, and programs that serve the whole city. Direct spending of $1 million goes to local vendors. Events in our historic building draw thousands of visitors, generating nearly $1 million in downtown spending. Our kitchen supports Heart-n-Soul Community Café, which provides 10,000 meals each year, while community groups use our spaces at little or no cost, keeping resources focused on mission.
These figures come from the HALO Report, an independent study by Partners for Sacred Places and the University of Pennsylvania, which measures the regional economic impact of congregations through categories such as Direct Spending, Magnet Effect, and Community Safety Net, showing that sacred places strengthen the cities they serve.
These figures come from the HALO Report, an independent study by Partners for Sacred Places and the University of Pennsylvania, which measures the regional economic impact of congregations through categories such as Direct Spending, Magnet Effect, and Community Safety Net, showing that sacred places strengthen the cities they serve.
How it all started
First Presbyterian Church Fargo, chartered in 1877, has its origin in the historical developmental saga of the Northern Great Plains territories and Red River Valley.
Pioneers of the late 1800s encountered challenges unlike anything they had experienced in the east as they pushed their way westward to the Great Plains. However, taming of the treeless windswept prairies was facilitated by the expansion of the railroad into the western frontier.
Not only did the railroad accelerate migration of settlers from the east during the period of the 1870's-1900's, it made possible delivery of supplies and materials which enhanced agricultural progress and subsequent construction of buildings. This was followed in short order by development of communities and governing social structures. As communities formed, so did the desire to form faith communities.
Presbyterianism was introduced to the Red River Valley of the North Dakota Territory in 1871 by Rev. O. H. Elmer, a Presbyterian missionary pastor. Rev. Elmer served as pastor at a church in Moorhead, MN, while also preaching in the Fargo area. By 1877, the population of Fargo (incorporated in 1875) had grown to a respectable number of seven hundred, in large part due to the influence of the Northern Pacific Railroad. Following a community needs survey, it was determined that there was sufficient interest in church development to warrant organization of a Presbyterian Church in Fargo. The First Presbyterian Church of Fargo, North Dakota Territory was subsequently chartered, under the guidance of Rev. Elmer, on December 30, 1877 with nine charter members. A wooden structure was constructed in downtown Fargo to house the congregation. Less than ten years later, by 1885, membership had grown to 152.
The flourishing agricultural economy of the Red River Valley soon took a turn for the worse. A protracted drought in the Dakotas from 1888-1894 was compounded by the economic depression which followed the Great Panic of 1893. The agricultural base of the Red River Valley was severely threatened and hence the financial viability of the young church. The greatest blow, however, came in the form of the devastating Fargo fire of 1893 which destroyed the majority of the town including homes and businesses. The original church building, constructed in 1878 of wood and located downtown, survived the disastrous fire. However, church membership dropped considerably as approximately a third of its members dispersed to other parts of the country and into Canada. Nonetheless, the congregation continued to grow and 30 years later had reached a membership of 259, outgrowing the building's seating capacity of 200.
In 1906, the original wooden church building structure was sold and moved to an alternate location. This made room for construction of a larger building on the same site, this time brick, with a seating capacity of 425.
Pioneers of the late 1800s encountered challenges unlike anything they had experienced in the east as they pushed their way westward to the Great Plains. However, taming of the treeless windswept prairies was facilitated by the expansion of the railroad into the western frontier.
Not only did the railroad accelerate migration of settlers from the east during the period of the 1870's-1900's, it made possible delivery of supplies and materials which enhanced agricultural progress and subsequent construction of buildings. This was followed in short order by development of communities and governing social structures. As communities formed, so did the desire to form faith communities.
Presbyterianism was introduced to the Red River Valley of the North Dakota Territory in 1871 by Rev. O. H. Elmer, a Presbyterian missionary pastor. Rev. Elmer served as pastor at a church in Moorhead, MN, while also preaching in the Fargo area. By 1877, the population of Fargo (incorporated in 1875) had grown to a respectable number of seven hundred, in large part due to the influence of the Northern Pacific Railroad. Following a community needs survey, it was determined that there was sufficient interest in church development to warrant organization of a Presbyterian Church in Fargo. The First Presbyterian Church of Fargo, North Dakota Territory was subsequently chartered, under the guidance of Rev. Elmer, on December 30, 1877 with nine charter members. A wooden structure was constructed in downtown Fargo to house the congregation. Less than ten years later, by 1885, membership had grown to 152.
The flourishing agricultural economy of the Red River Valley soon took a turn for the worse. A protracted drought in the Dakotas from 1888-1894 was compounded by the economic depression which followed the Great Panic of 1893. The agricultural base of the Red River Valley was severely threatened and hence the financial viability of the young church. The greatest blow, however, came in the form of the devastating Fargo fire of 1893 which destroyed the majority of the town including homes and businesses. The original church building, constructed in 1878 of wood and located downtown, survived the disastrous fire. However, church membership dropped considerably as approximately a third of its members dispersed to other parts of the country and into Canada. Nonetheless, the congregation continued to grow and 30 years later had reached a membership of 259, outgrowing the building's seating capacity of 200.
In 1906, the original wooden church building structure was sold and moved to an alternate location. This made room for construction of a larger building on the same site, this time brick, with a seating capacity of 425.
Historic Church Building
By 1930, further growth of the congregation brought membership to 1300, exceeding capacity of the second structure. An offer from the government to purchase the site made way for construction of the current Gothic style church building located at 650 2nd Avenue North, across the street from the prior location.
The building was completed on the eve of the Great Depression. Stymied by financial hardships, the congregation barely succeeded in paying off our construction debts and took nearly 30 years to pay of all debt and purchase the stained glass windows that now decorate the towering stone walls.
In the early 2000s an addition was built on the west end of the building to accommodate offices, an elevator, and a new entrance.
On June 4, 2025, The First Presbyterian Church was official listed on the National Register of Historic Places in recognition of its contribution to the cultural heritage of North Dakota.
The building was designed and engineered by the firm Lang, Raugland and Lewis (Minneapolis). The stained-glass windows were created by Weston and Leighton. The building originally housed an Etsey organ complete with echo chamber but now houses a Schantz pipe organ, rare for the area.
The building was completed on the eve of the Great Depression. Stymied by financial hardships, the congregation barely succeeded in paying off our construction debts and took nearly 30 years to pay of all debt and purchase the stained glass windows that now decorate the towering stone walls.
In the early 2000s an addition was built on the west end of the building to accommodate offices, an elevator, and a new entrance.
On June 4, 2025, The First Presbyterian Church was official listed on the National Register of Historic Places in recognition of its contribution to the cultural heritage of North Dakota.
The building was designed and engineered by the firm Lang, Raugland and Lewis (Minneapolis). The stained-glass windows were created by Weston and Leighton. The building originally housed an Etsey organ complete with echo chamber but now houses a Schantz pipe organ, rare for the area.
