The earliest records of religion in Skelmersdale indicate that in 1773 a Chapel of Ease was planned to be built, and in a later record we read "This Episcopal Chapel, a very small building where few souls congregated for worship on Sunday, the Lord's Day, was erected in the year 1776, by subscription, and became the centre of Divine Service for the Church of England congregation in Skelmersdale".

After fifty years it was decided to enlarge the building to twice its initial size in 1823, and in 1850 a gallery was added and in the following year 1851 with the population now 706, the Reverend Joseph Hollingworth, M.A. was appointed incumbent.

Skelmersdale became a separate Parish from Ormskirk in 1859 and the little chapel was dedicated sacred to the memory of St Paul, and so became the Parish Church of Skelmersdale. The Vicar chose to reside in the west end of the Parish in the centre of the industrial area, and had rooms provided for him in the home of Miss Georgeson and her niece, well-known members of an old Skelmersdale family. They were able to give the Vicar attention and comfort as unfortunately the Rev Hollingworth was in a sad state of health and suffered from severe physical disabilities even at the young age of 32 and could only get about with the aid of a wheelchair.

From 1856 the population of Skelmersdale grew to 3000 by 1871, and by 1878 it had reached 5000. This called for a School Board to be formed to meet the educational needs of the town, which the Rev Hollingworth was Chairman for the year 1876-1877. With the population increase a Curate was appointed in 1881 to assist the Vicar in all Parochial duties, he was the Rev T. L. McClean who found residence in Liverpool Road for the first few months but later moved to the Vicarage adjoining the Church grounds, this made for greater convenience in parochial matters and comfort for his family.

The old Chapel of Ease was an inadequate, unsightly building and not really worthy to provide the Parochial requirements of the local parish, whose numbers had grown to over 5000 by the 1880's. In fact the Chapel was declared unsafe due to mining subsidence and insanitary by the Diocesan Surveyor G. Bradbury Esq, and by Wm. Corns Esq Surveyor to the Skelmersdale Urban District Council and was subsequently closed in 1897.
Meanwhile it was decided to raise funds to build a new Parish Church to replace the old Chapel and the first money to be donated was a collection of £35 in Ormskirk Parish Church in the autumn of 1897, as a parting gift to their Curate on his appointment as Vicar of Skelmersdale. Anonymous gifts of £100, £500 and £200 followed along with funds raised from sales of work and childrens entertainments. At the end of 1899 a bazaar was undertaken under the management of the Earl and Countess of Lathom, this was held in Ormskirk in April 1901 and a grand sum of over £2700 was added to the fund.

Next was to decide where the new Parish Church was to be built, and after a meeting of a Sub-Committee containing The Right Hon. Earl of Lathom, Captain Prescott and Mr Wm. Kellett, Manager of White Moss Colliery it was decided to erect the Church where it stands today, only a short distance from where the old Chapel stood. Plans were prepared by Austin and Paley, Ecclesiastical architects of Lancaster after invitation from Lord Lathom and approved after being exhibited at a Vestry meeting in 1902.

Work began with the Foundation Stone being laid by the Right Hon. Earl of Lathom on July 20th 1903 with full Masonic Honours before a large and distinguished company of nobility and gentry. This followed the signing of contracts to allow part of the work to get underway as there was still £2500 to be found to finish the Church without the Vestry and Porches. The work was carried out by contractors consisting of Messrs Thoms and Sons of Lancaster for the masonry, J. Rothwell and Sons of St Helens for the remainder of the Trades, and Messrs J. and T. Livesey of Accrington for the heating.

Work progressed and the first part to be opened was the New Vicarage Room on 30th August 1903, and five services were held there throughout the day. Three months later the Vicarage Room was also opened along with the installation of gas lights. The church bell rang for the first time on the 21st September 1904, and in January 1905 the gas and water mains were installed. Later work consisted of the East Window being installed late January as requested in the Will of Mrs Birchall, seats being moved from the Mission Church and installed along with new seats by John Rothwell & Sons, painting and further glass fitting, the relaying of concrete in the Vestry and some loose tiles in the aisles being reset.

The Church could only be consecrated once the debt had been reduced so various fundraising activities were held including a Fete held at Lathom Park on 18th August 1906 which although succesful (about 3000 attended in poor weather) hardly raised any money after expenses had been accounted for. After the debt (about £2700) was guaranteed by the generosity of the Building Commitee the Church was officially opened on 18th December 1906 and duly consecrated by the Bishop of the Diocese.
The debt was finally met in 1913 after further fundraising activities including a three day bazaar held at the Drill Hall in Ormskirk which was exceptionally successful raising £1723-17-3, and another bazaar held in the Market Hall in Skelmersdale in 1913 when the debt stood at £1300, but after donations meant that only £300 need to be raised, this was easily met as the bazaar was also very successful in raising £932.

Further additions and alterations to complete the Church came after the First World War to which were planned a Baptistry, South and North Porches, a Vestry and a Tower. To raise the extra money further activities took place including more Bazaars held in the Mission Sunday School on 14-16th April 1920 in the theme of an 'Old English Village', and another on 30th April - 2nd May 1924 in an Egyptian theme. First the South Porch, Parish Room (now known as the Choir Vestry), and the Porch to the Vestries was completed in 1924, and soon later the baptistry which had begun in 1923 after it was decided this should form the memorial to the men who had fallen in the 1914-1918 War. A replacement organ was added in 1925 with the surplus money from the funds from the bazaar.

The Church was now effectively finished and the Tower and North Porch which were originally planned have till now never been considered and the only other alterations to the Church have been to the decor and fabric of the Church.

Information taken from the booklets: Skelmersdale and its new Church and The Kings Highway, and from The Skelmersdale Story by Rev N. Sands.