The first independent organization to form from the First Presbyerian Church was the Calvary Presbyterian Church. Rev. George Taylor writes,
The next independent organization was the Second Church, now located on South Avenue and Mulberry Street. No event carried with it so much struggle as this tearing up of the roots. The continued increase in membership made our Church not only the center of Presbyterian life in this district, but also a great burden for one man. So much was this true that some new policy had to be adopted in order to conserve the Presbyterian interests in Wilkinsburg.At first the solution was not quite clear, but as time went on one of two things seemed inevitable. Either the whole policy of the Church life must be changed and assistant pastors employed to reorganize the work so as to interest all those under her supervision, or the Church must be divided.
As early as January 3, 1899, a series of questions embracing, in the main, the alternative stated above were submitted to each member of the congregation. The result of that canvass prophesied a second church in the near future. Many warm and heated discussions followed, and for a time the break threatened to carry with it a sting. But the better judgment prevailed and the break was accomplished without serious results.
The first definite step was taken on March 15, 1899, when one-third of the proceeds to be realized in the sale of the old church property on Wood Street and South Avenue was set aside for the new organization. This provision was made upon condition that the contemplated organization would not leave the Church until the building was completed. The promise was kept and not until the October meeting of Presbytery, 1903, was a petition presented for the new enterprise.The organization was culminated on the evening of October 27, 1903, in the Penn Hall of Wilkinsburg. Of the two hundred and twenty-three charter members, two hundred were received from the mother Church. The growth of the new Church was rapid and steady. Today she sustains a membership of one thousand. No mother could be prouder of her child than this Church is of the new enterprise. She has proved herself worthy of the faith in every detail.
George Taylor, Jr., A Brief History of The First Presbyterian Church, Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania. Pittsburgh: Reed & Witting, 1916, pp. 69–70.