Edgewood Presbyterian Church was the first, and for many years the only, church in the present city of Homewood. It was formed in 1912 through the merger of the Oak Grove and Rosedale Cumberland Presbyterian churches, which were organized in 1885 and 1898, respectively. The merger was due in part to a split among Oak Grove members who favored the 1906 union of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church with the northern Presbyterian Church (USA), with which Edgewood is still affiliated.
The first meetings of the newly formed church were held in a tent erected on the site of the present church. The tent eventually was replaced by a frame building, which underwent occasional additions over the years.
Despite a community growing out of the prevailing farmlands, the church struggled. Forced to rely on the Board of Home Missions for help, the church was taken under its care in 1915 for about six years. As the only church in the area, it became the Edgewood Community Church, and opened its doors to all residents regardless of denomination.
Just as the Presbyterian Church is described as the mother of the free churches, Edgewood can be described as the mother of many of Homewood's current churches. As the population of the area and church grew, Community Church members began dropping away to form their own congregations. Between 1925 and 1928, a Baptist, a Methodist, and an Episcopal church were organized, all within a short distance from the church, and the Community Church reverted to its original name and affiliation.
The white, frame structure was razed in 1953 to be replaced by the present educational wing, and the upstairs fellowship hall served as meeting place until the construction of the current sanctuary, which didn't occur until 1966.
Its
birth perhaps a foreshadowing of things to come, the congregation
became sharply divided during the late 1970s over opposition to the
ordination of women as elders. The issue twice went through appeals
all the way to the General Assembly, which upheld the denomination's
position that women can be elders. As a result, the pastor resigned
and took a major portion of the membership to form a congregation
affiliated with the more conservative Presbyterian Church in
America. For several years thereafter, Edgewood languished, but is
now seeing an increase in new members as Homewood's population
continues to shift from older residents to young professionals and
families.