The Presbytery of the
Northern Plains was organized in January 1977, the successor to a long
series of presbyteries in the northern Dakota Territory, and later the
states of North Dakota and Minnesota, which originated in the Presbytery
of St. Paul. The earliest Presbyterian work in this area was conducted by
the Church of Scotland in 1815 around Pembina in territory held by the
Hudson Bay Company. Settlers of European descent began arriving after the
railroads came through beginning in the 1870's. The oldest congregation in
the Presbytery as presently aligned is the First Presbyterian Church of
Moorhead, chartered in 1872.
Today much of the area
of the Presbytery continues to reflect decisions made 100 years ago.
North Dakota was platted with towns and railroads before it was
homesteaded, using planning models developed for climates where the
average rainfall was greater than found here. This resulted in what has
been called the “too much syndrome,” (too many miles of railroad and
highways, and too many towns, school and churches). By 1917 there were
186 Presbyterian congregations in North Dakota alone. Today the total
number of congregations is one-third of that number. In 1996, the
population of North Dakota was the same as it was in 1920, 641,000.
Presbyterian comprise 1.27% of the population.
The economy across the
Presbytery is predominantly agriculturally-based, with wheat, sugar beets,
potatoes and other crops most prevalent in the east, and ranching in the
more thinly populated, drier western sections. Mining, oil, and military
bases are significant contributors to the economy. The population has
been declining over all with pockets of growth around Fargo, Grand Forks,
Bismarck, and Rolla.
