[1] Initially started by a group of 25 following controversy over doctrinal issues within a local congregation, the church now has approximately 1800 members.

The controversy was brought to a head when an article appeared in the Birmingham Age-Herald in which Edmonds was quoted as differing from orthodox Presbyterian theology on the subject of the inspiration of the Bible and of the substitutionary Atonement of Christ.

The church was a proponent of the Social Gospel and was one of the first to establish programs for public health, child welfare and legal aid.

He was Chairman of the Alabama Commission on Inter-Racial Cooperation, a group dedicated to improving relations among the races, and took action to ensure a fair trial for the Scottsboro Boys.

The facility was designed by the Birmingham firms of Warren, Knight & Davis and Miller & Martin, and is in the English perpendicular style.

[12] In 1978, as part of its ministries to older adults, the church formed the Kirkwood-by-the-River retirement community in Irondale, Alabama.

[13] The IPC Foundation, a 501(c)(3) entity, provides grants on an annual basis to both local and international groups for humanitarian and educational purposes.

Contemporary church musicians are regularly invited to perform at Highland Hall, and the building serves as a venue for youth choirs and musical groups.