In the Beginning

In 1879, four years before the incorporation of Riverside as a town and fourteen years before the formation of Riverside County, ten pioneering Presbyterians gathered in the home of Mr. and Mrs. S. C. Evans on Magnolia Avenue. Six members of the group had come from the eastern U.S., planning to settle and make their homes in Riverside. The remaining four came from the nearby community of Colton. This group initiated what eventually became the first Presbyterian Church, in what are now the city and county of Riverside. Originally, this area was part of the Southern California Colony Association in the County of San Bernardino. It has been written that the “real fathers” of the church were S. C. Evans and D. W. McLeod, because of their earlier meetings with Mr. Chester A. Crosby.

Establishing the Church

In preparation for establishing a Presbyterian Church in Riverside, arrangements were made with the Presbytery of Los Angeles to take the necessary steps for organization. As a result, two Los Angeles ministers, the Reverend J. A. Compton and the Reverend John Marquis came as the appointed representatives – a two-day trip for those gentlemen if they traveled only during daylight hours.
On Sunday afternoon, November 9, 1879, the organizing committee met at the Sunnyside Schoolhouse on West Central Avenue and organized the “First Presbyterian Church of Arlington.” The name was chosen because of a plan at the time for a community named Arlington to extend to a focal point at the north edge of Magnolia and Arlington Avenues.
​Mr. Crosby left a very interesting description of that first occasion. He stated, “Mr. and Mrs. Evans drove us with their team and top surrey through a two-inch rain storm and a foot of adobe mud to the Sunnyside Schoolhouse where we met the other charter members.”

The Original Building

Two months after they organized, the congregation discussed the need for a church building. They purchased a lot on Magnolia Avenue, 300 X 150 feet, for a total price of $438.25. During the summer of 1880, they called for bids, and the sanctuary contract was awarded. On April 24, 1881, the sanctuary was finished and dedicated. Total cost of the building with furnishings was $4,766.90. The Church was surrounded on three sides by orange groves.

Pastoral History

• REV. A.G. LANE,Pulpit Supply from Colton PC (1879-1882)
• REV. H. CLARK, Stated Supply (1882)
• REV. IRA M. CONDIT, Stated Supply (1882)
• REV. JOSEPH R. DAVIS, Stated Supply (1883)
• REV. JOHN A. MERRILL, Pastor (1884-1886)
• REV. HENRY B. GAGE, Pastor (1886-1900)
• REV. DANIEL L. MACQUARRIE, Pastor (1900-1937); Pastor Emeritus in 1937
• REV. GEORGE L. BRAHMS, Pastor (1937-1941)
• REV. ISAAC P. WARD, Pastor (1942-1945)
• REV. LLEWELYN EVANS, Pastor (1945-1951)
• REV. FRANKLIN K. TOMLINSON, Pastor (1951-1953)
• REV. DAVID E. DILWORTH, Pastor (1953-1955)
  • REV. GEORGE SMITH, Associate Pastor (1954-1956)
• REV. LEONARD J. OSBRINK, Pastor (1956-1968)
  • REV. WILBERT M. TOM, Associate Pastor (1960-1963)
  • REV. FRED MONDIN, Associate Pastor (1965-1968)
• REV. ROBERT R. BYRD, Pastor (1968-1985>)
  • REV. EUGENE BARNARD, Associate Pastor (1973-1979)
  • REV. BRADLEY C. COPELAND, Assistant/Associate Pastor (1979-1985>)
• REV. ROBERT R. BYRD, Co-Pastor (<1985-1992); Pastor Emeritus in 1992
• REV. BRADLEY C. COPELAND, Co-Pastor (<1985-1992>)
• REV. DR. BRADLEY C. COPELAND, Pastor (<1992-2014); Pastor Emeritus in 2019
  • REV. DIANA C. WRIGHT, Associate Pastor (1993-2000)
    • REV. KARN GRIFFEN, Pastoral Associate for Visitation (2000-2013)
  • REV. CHRIS ENOCH, Associate Pastor (2002-2006)
  • REV. ANDREW PARNELL, Associate Pastor (2007-2011)
  • REV. CLAIRE SCHLEGEL, Assistant/Associate Pastor (2011-2017>)
• REV. CLAIRE SCHLEGEL, Co-Pastor (<2017-present)
• REV. PAUL KNOPF, Co-Pastor (2017-present)