In the spring of 1873 the Rev. James Paton B.A., with his progressive ideas on worship, intimated to the congregation of Graham Street Reformed Presbyterian Church his desire to introduce paraphrases and hymns into church praise. Feelings then were so strong within the congregation that it led to a split in the membership and ultimately to the Rev. Paton and around 250 members of that church resigning and seeking recognition from the Church of Scotland. In May 1873 they were received into the Communion of the Church of Scotland.

Shortly after, funds were received from various sources and a local Architect, Mr. Matthew Forsyth of Springwells, was commissioned to design a new church which would seat 900, a hall to seat 350 and a manse. On 28 March 1874 the first sod was cut on the site. The foundation stone was laid on 13 October 1874 by the local Member of Parliament, Mr. Alexander Whitelaw, and the new building, to be known as Flowerhill Parish Church, was opened for worship on Sunday 27th June 1875.

The church is designed in the Romanesque or Byzantine style and cost approximately £10,500 to build. This style of architecture was developed in Western and Southern Europe during the period of the Byzantine Empire, ie. between the 9th and 12th centuries following the deposition of the last Roman Emperor. The style is characterised by the construction of large areas of masonry walls, rounded arches, mouldings, spires and the use of mosaics. The local newspaper – the Airdrie Advertiser – stated at the opening of the church that it was certainly the most handsome ecclesiastical building in the Parish of New Monkland. A few years later a local historian wrote that the church, manse and hall together formed a building which was an ornament to the town of Airdrie and far surpassed any other churches in the area.

Due to the expansion of church organisations in the latter part of 1927, the buildings were extended by the addition of a suite of small halls connected to the original hall. In 1934 due to structural defects, the height of the tower had to be reduced to what it is today. In 1969/70 the original large hall was extended by the addition of a stage with associated lighting and sound systems to allow the development of dramatic work within the church.

Between August 2002 and April 2003 major refurbishment was carried out to the buildings. The work consisted of:
1.  Felting/re-slating roofs. 12,000 slates were reused plus 32,000 new slates.
2.  Renewing gutters and downpipes for rainwater system.
3.  Stone cleaning, indentation and re-pointing.

Seven hundred and thirty four (734) stones were replaced — total weight 95 tons.
The lineal length of pointing around all stones was 4.5 miles approx.
Building disabled toilet facilities in church vestibule and rear entrance area.

Following the Union between Broomknoll and Flowerhill to form Cairnlea in 2016, major fund raising was undertaken to upgrade the Sanctuary, Kirk House and the Large Hall. This work was completed in 2021. Follow this link for information on the refurb.