Distinctively formal, traditional, and liturgical, worship services are described as "Reformed and Reverential" with nods to the congregation's ancestral heritage in the Church of Scotland.

The Shadyside Church building, the congregation's third, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a prime example of Richardsonian Romanesque architecture.

The interior of the church underwent several alterations during its first forty-eight years; what is largely seen in the worship space today dates from a major renovation undertaken in 1938.

The church is built in the Protestant "auditorium-style" popular in the late nineteenth century, a result of stout transepts and a large, central lantern tower which form a Greek cross in plan.

The building's dominating pyramidal roof, adorned with four dormers (architecturally referred to as "witches hat"), features prominently in the neighborhood skyline.

With seating for 700 to 800, the second church was "English Decorated Gothic" in style and included a tower with spire which rose 140 feet into the sky.

The five-phase project included office renovations, enclosing the existing exterior cloister and atrium, and converting the 1953 gathering hall-gymnasium to a formal Parish Hall.

In 1916, during his pastorate, Hugh Thomson Kerr, Sr. penned the text for the well-known hymn, "God of Our Life, Through All the Circling Years" set to the tune Sandon.

Previous instruments include: Chapel Organs Members of the Shadyside Presbyterian Church founded two East End education institutions.

[8] The Shady Side Academy sprouted from the visions of Dr. John Morville Richmond, second pastor, and Dr. William R. Crabbe, first principal, in 1883.