In the fall of 1877 Emporia Presbytery met in Osage City and received a request from the residents of El Paso to organize a church.  A meeting was held in the El Paso schoolhouse Saturday November 24, 1877 at 10:00 am.  Following a sermon and a prayer, fourteen persons assented to the Confession of Faith and Covenant and the Rev. Harsen pronounced and declared them duly organized and established the First Presbyterian Church, USA, El Paso, Kansas.

The first pastor was Rev. B.H. Lea.  Services were held in the El Paso schoolhouse for two years and the first building erected on the present site in 1879.  It was a frame structure 24'x40' and had a capacity of about 100 (shown above left).  Cost was $1,175.  The first Sunday school was organized in 1880. Times were hard in 1880-81 and the congregation was not able to support a full time minister. 

In 2002 the First Presbyterian Church of Derby celebrated it's 125th Anniversary.  Extensive research was completed and a 20 page booklet compiled with the history of the church from 1877 to 2002.