The first regular meeting of the Presbytery of Chester was held in New London on October 4^th-5^th, 1870.  A committee of Home Missions was appointed to hold a series of meetings in the small village of Avondale on the Philadelphia and Baltimore Central R.R. to determine the advisability of organizing a church at that place.  On December 8^th, 1870, a meeting was held in Ziba Lamborn’s Hall and on the following day, at a worship service, 12 charter members constituted the Presbyterian Church of Avondale.  The first installed pastor was the Rev. James Fraser.  From the first annual report of the new church, sent to Presbytery in 1872, the total budget was $698.  At this time there were 27 communicant members and 40 were enrolled in Sunday school.

Three years after they organized, the congregation made plans for a permanent church building.  During the year 1873, the erection of the present structure was begun.  It was built on the northwest corner of Pennsylvania and 5^th Avenue on about an acre of land purchased for the sum of $400.  The contractor was Hiram Jacobs of New London, and the cost of the church was $4,276.  All but $500 was voluntarily contributed.

In 1879, our church established a chapel in Toughkenamon, which in 1888 became the Toughkenamon Presbyterian Church.  In March 1885, a chapel was established in West Grove and was conducted under the direction of the Avondale Church until May 27^th, 1886, when the Avondale session, together with a committee from the Presbytery of Chester, met at the West Grove Chapel to organize a Presbyterian Church at West Grove.  At that time 50 persons were dismissed, at their own request, from Avondale Church to unite with this new church.  This was a remarkable sacrifice for the Avondale Presbyterian Church to make because their membership at that time was about 100!

Between 1905 and 1906, 60 persons were added to the church membership and 100 were attending Sunday school.  The need for more room was most apparent.  About 1908, the project of an addition to the church was begun.  This beautiful edifice, which was a large two-story room with a balcony, was added to the rear of the church, and was constructed of Avondale brownstone to match the rest of the church.  The cost of this new addition, including the heating plant, was $3,722.  The addition was dedicated on October 9^th, 1909.

In 1923, plans were discussed for the building of a manse and a lot was purchased for $600.  The manse was completed in 1925 at a cost of $12,000.  During this same year an Estey organ was purchased at a cost of $400.

In the early part of the 1940’s, new lights and carpet were installed and the chancel was remodeled to its present appearance.  In 1946, a Hammond electric organ was installed, and it was replaced in 1985 with an Alan organ, which is in use today.

In 1958, the men of the church excavated the basement of the church, and new classrooms were built at a cost of $12,000.  Some of those members are still in our congregation today.  If you ask around, you may discover who among the men in the congregation actually accomplished this task!

The next major addition came on October 31^st, 1965, with the dedication of the new Christian Education Building.  This building has seen much use in the past thirty years.  We’ve had fellowship dinners, bazaars, rummage sales, many meetings, and of course, Sunday school.  It has been shared with the community for tutoring, aerobics, Boy Scout and Girl Scout activities, the Boy Scout Pine Wood Derbies and AA meetings, just to name a few.  It was also rented to the School Board in 1967-68 to be used for classrooms until the new Middle School could be built.  The original cost of this building was $70,000.