History
Desert Springs was established when a local minister named John Evans voiced many of the same concerns about his United Presbyterian Church that had troubled the founders of the PCA. He found that many of his beliefs agreed with those set forth by the PCA and so, in October of 1977, he led a group of 108 members from his church to form their own PCA church, called Desert Springs Presbyterian Church.
Their first meeting was held in a backyard, with everyone bringing their own chairs, but by their second week together they moved into a small building on the corner of Fifth Street and Rosemont which was left unoccupied when the congregation of First Evangelical Free Church moved to its new facilities on North Swan Road.
The first 19 years proved to be tumultuous for Desert Springs. Five pastors came and went during that time—John Evans, Rodney King, Rick Dunkin, Will Tilly and Ron Hendricks.
After Rodney King, the church was without a permanent pastor for almost a year and a half.
In 1984, the church sold its Fifth Street buildings and purchased land at La Cañada and Overton. However, unable to raise enough money to build on the land, the members spent a decade meeting in places like a day care center, a meeting room at the Foothills Mall, an office building and a funeral home chapel.
But, in 1995 God saw fit to allow Desert Springs to build on its northwest land, and so, the church finally had a home all its own, along with a solid pastor, Stu Sherard, who faithfully preached the Word of God.
Stu Sherard retired in 2005, and then Dennis Hermerding was pastor until the end of 2008.