Welcome to Forks of the Brandywine

Our confessional standards, which we believe to be an accurate and good summary of Scripture’s teaching, consist of the Westminster Confession of Faith and the Westminster Larger and Shorter Catechisms. We believe these standards contain carefully worded summaries of the contents of sacred Scripture. To be sure, acceptance of every confessional distinctive is not required for membership at Forks Church. One may be a participating member of our congregation by affirming the clear biblical teaching that salvation is accomplished by grace alone through faith alone because of Christ alone. However, as a Reformed and Presbyterian Church, the preaching and teaching is based upon the truths of the historic Christian church as well as the distinctives of the Confession.

Our History -
The Forks of the Brandywine Presbyterian Church was organized by and comprised of a majority of Scottish and Scotch-Irish settlers on September 26, 1735. The first pastor to "The Forks" during this pioneer period was the Reverend Samuel Black. In 1761, the Reverend John Carmichael, a native of Scotland, was installed as pastor. Known as the "Revolutionary Pastor," Rev. Carmichael whole-heartedly supported the "revolution." He preached before Congress, was present at the Battle of Long Island, and urged enlistment into the army. Rev. Carmichael was a counselor of General George Washington.

There are many other wonderful and important historical events that surrounded The Forks of the Brandywine Presbyterian Church. One was the building of the stone church in 1761. The church burned in 1785 and was restored in 1787 with gifts from Benjamin Franklin, Benjamin Rush, and David Rittenhouse. This church was replaced by the current American gothic style church in 1875. The cornerstone of the present sanctuary was laid on August 7, 1875 and a service of dedication was held in December of 1876. This was the third sanctuary of record. Another singular event was the guest preaching of the notable evangelist, Dwight L. Moody in 1892.