Founded in 1831, Saline First Presbyterian Church is an historic church located at 143 E. Michigan Avenue in Saline, Michigan. It was added to the National Register in 1985 and designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1995. The church was founded by a group of 12 Presbyterian families leaving Park Presbyterian Church in Newark, New York, to move to Michigan soon after the Erie Canal opened, and they wanted to bring their faith and its practices with them. 

So Park Presbyterian organized them into a new church, and when they settled in Saline, they began meeting in homes and the local schoolhouse while saving money to build the first building, which they accomplished in 1842. This early church served the congregation until 1898, when the current church was constructed. The congregation hired Detroit architects Frederick H. Spier and William C. Rohns to design the church, and local contractor Conrad Schaffer and Son to build it.

New porches and steps were constructed in 1954, using stones quarried from the same location as the original stones were. The interior of the building has been renovated several times and continues to house a vibrant congregation serving Christ in the same location. Part of our vision is to remain a downtown church in Saline, serving the community faithfully and bearing witness to God’s goodness and grace for us all.