God Hears Our Prayers

We are a praying church and have a team of people working diligently to pray for the needs of our congregation, community and world. If you would like to have our team praying for particular needs, please fill-out the form with your information and requests.

Your message will go to a leader of our prayer team. It will be kept private within the membership of the prayer team and will not be made public to the entire congregation. Depending on the nature of the request, it could be brought to the attention of one of our pastors.

If your request requires only individual attention, please make an appointment with one of our pastors at 559-485-6460.

Music Ministries

Sing praise to the Lord!
Ps. 68:32

We invite you to join us as we worship the Living God through Jesus Christ in services led by our beautiful pipe organ, piano, and Chancel Choir. We praise Him using the great hymns of the church, contemporary Scripture choruses, Scripture readings and sermon, and the classic creeds. The Lord’s Supper is celebrated on the first Sunday of each month.

  • Coordinator of Worship and Music: Dr. Julie Carter, staff@fpcfresno.org

  • Kids Praise Director (K-3 grades): Roger Harabedian

  • Full Court Pres Director (4-6 grades): Daphne Saul

  • Bell Choir Director: Carol Dice

  • Brass Ensemble Director: Bill Barbour

  • Organist: Dr. Margaret Licon

Dr. Julie Carter, Director of Worship and Music

Worship

“Sing Praise to God!”
At FPC we believe that all worship is practice for heaven. The scriptures tell us that every believer in Christ will spend eternity praising God! It is in that spirit that we invite you to worship with us in song, cultivating a lifestyle of worship that will last forever.

Congregational Choir

Consisting of nearly 800 worshipers every weekend, the Congregational Choir is made up of everyone who participates in worship.  Following the Apostle Paul’s encouragement to “continually praise the lord with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs,” we join together for an inclusive intergenerational and Christ-centered hour of worship at each of our services.  To participate, please visit our church Sunday mornings at 8:30 and 11:00 a.m.

Dr. Julie L. Carter, Coordinator of Worship and Music, (559) 485-6460, staff@fpcfresno.org

Dr. Margaret Licon, Organist

Choirs At FPC

Chancel Choir
This 35-voice ensemble provides worship leadership for all our Heritage services throughout the year as well as for several holiday services.  Under the leadership of Dr. Julie Carter, FPC’s Coordinator of Worship and Music, the Chancel Choir continues to bring an extraordinary variety of music to our worship services.

Children’s Music
Approximately 55 students are enrolled in this dynamic program of music. Rehearsals incorporate vocal training, music theory, sight singing, ear training, as well as the use of the hymnals to learn the great hymns of our faith. The choirs sing several times a year in our worship services.

We offer several choirs for students from kindergarten through 6th grade. These choirs rehearse weekly on Sunday mornings. In addition to teaching musical skills, participation in choir reinforces the student’s growing Christian faith, already introduced in Sunday school and at home.

We believe that choir is a real and solid event for the Children here at FPC. They learn the basics of music, correct vocal production and, most importantly, how to minister to our church family through the songs that they sing. We believe that our singers are not just the church of the future, but are the church of the now. Our calling, through the medium of music, is to teach biblical truths in a way that builds commitment, confidence and spiritual strength in the hearts and lives of our singers. We wish to give them an understanding of the importance of their participation in worship within our church. Joining education in any way recognizes that the most influential power on a student’ ability to learn is his/her parents. An interested parent is the key factor in a student’s development-both musically and spiritually.

Kids Praise Singers (Grades K-2)

Kids Praise Singers meets on Sundays at 11:00 a.m., in Room 202.  Please contact Roger Harabedian, at 226-7737, for more information.

Full Court Pres (Grades 3-6)
Full Court Pres is a Children’s Choir for children from third through sixth grades. We meet on Sunday mornings from 11:00 a.m. until 12 noon, in Room 202.  Our goal is to worship God by singing music. We emphasize working as a group, proper tone production, and some basic music and rhythm skills. Full Court Pres sings in church four times a year, and also performs occasionally at local nursing homes. Please contact Daphne Saul (252-4064) for more information.

Brass and Bell Ensembles

Joyful Ringers
The Joyful Ringers share Christ through music at First Presbyterian Church and in community events. We learn bell ringing techniques and music fundamentals. Our rehearsals are Wednesdays, from 5:00 pm - 6:30 pm in the Patio Room. For more information call Carol Dice at (559) 226-5174.

Brass Ensemble
The Brass Ensemble at First Presbyterian Church consists of interested trumpet, French horn, trombone, baritone, euphonium, and tuba players. The players in the ensemble come from the church membership, as well as from the local musical community. The regular rehearsal time is from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. each Sunday morning in the Choir Room.

The repertoire focuses on the standard brass literature from the Renaissance Period through the contemporary sacred music, including spirituals, and even some gospel influenced jazz pieces, set for brass ensemble.

The ensemble performs five or six times each semester, performing as special music during worship services, as accompaniment to the Chancel choir on special selections, and as part of the annual Easter and Christmas musical presentations. The brass also play on the annual Music Appreciation Concert in the spring. While the primary focus is on the worship services at the Church, they have also performed at other venues, most recently playing Christmas music at the Fresno Metropolitan Museum of Art.

We welcome any interested brass players to join us. Please email Bill Barbour at staff@fpcfresno.org.

Worship Team
The worship teams lead the congregation at the 11:00 service. Our worship leaders, instrumentalists, vocalists, and sound technicians all share a common vision: to enable and encourage the whole congregation in worship, supporting our pastors as they preach and teach. In facilitating worship we are called to lead with musical excellence, always remembering that God is our “audience of one.” Teams and technicians are coordinated by Dr. Julie Carter, Coordinator of Worship and Music.

The Organ at FPC

Psalm 150 speaks of a variety of instruments used in King David’s time to lead worship. This has been the role of the pipe organ and the organist in the church for hundreds of years. Today’s pipe organ, sometimes called an orchestra, is able to uniquely provide the appropriate sounds and support for the various musical needs of the church: worship, communion, weddings, memorial services, and more.

As the times and needs of the church have changed over the years, the organ, with its versatility, has been able to adapt and remain a relevant instrument for creatively leading worship.

FPC’s pipe organ, a Rodgers Trillium Masterpiece 968 combination pipe and digital organ, is one of Fresno’s largest pipe organs with 27 ranks of pipes, and is one of the tools FPC considers essential in leading worship Sunday mornings. Its wonderful majestic sounds support the congregation as they enthusiastically sing their praises to God, and its softer, lusher sounds lead the congregation in meditatively expressing their love and gratitude to their Lord. It also accompanies the choir, soloists, and other instrumentalists as they provide their musical contributions to FPC’s worship services. The music that emanates from the organ prior to and in conclusion of any particular worship service contributes to the theme and focus of that service.