No account of an actual organization of
our Church can be found. There is a record in the Presbytery’s Minutes for October 10, 1810, when Rev. Thomas Dunn, a Baptist lately for England, was received by the Presbytery, that since he had "for of the people, it was agreed that he should be regularly appointed to preach for the new Church." Because of this record, it was decided at our Centenary Celebration in 1909 to take October 17, 1809, as the date of our organization.

Early in 1811 subscription books were circulated in behalf of a church building. A site was chosen on Germantown Avenue, between Haines and Rittenhouse. Ground was broken on August 5th and the cornerstone laid September 10th. The total cost of property and building was $17,000, for which the group was not prepared. They had "over built" and serious indebtedness hung over their shoulders for 27 years. The Presbytery was asked several times for financial aid, but none was forthcoming.

Under the leadership of Rev. William Neill, the Church secured
a new Charter (1832) in which the Church received its present name, "The First Presbyterian Church in Germantown." And in 1836 we became "free from all debt whatever" – for the first time.