“Be filled with the spirit as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts, giving thanks to the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Ephesians 5:18b-20
Music is integral to worship at First Presbyterian. Ours is largely traditional, with time-honored hymns and new favorites accompanied by organ or piano and the flourish of a trumpet. Services are bookended with a prelude and postlude, inviting contemplative prayer or joyful exultation, and a special anthem offers a new perspective on the week’s lectionary. We often bring in UNT students and other guest musicians to share their talents in worship.
Because our church is located in such a talent-rich area, we often host music events, including the Denton Bach Society and recitalists from UNT.
Music Leadership
Beverly Hoch, Music Director
Mike Steinel, Trumpeter
Dr. Joan Hubbard, Organist
Our Organ
Inaugurated in 1983, the Schudi organ in the rear gallery is a seventeen-stop, two-manual tracker organ. The organ incorporates pipework from the previous instrument: a Pilcher electro-pneumatic instrument built at the turn of the twentieth century.
Today, the instrument’s pipes are housed in a solid oak case with the pipes of the Swell Organ directly above the console and the Great Organ behind the façade pipes above; the pedal organ stands in the rear in a separate case. Over 4,200 hours of labor went into designing, building, and installing the instrument, designed with the express purpose of leading our church in the worship of God. In 2002, the organ underwent necessary repairs. With the exception of the tremulant and some pipework in the upper mixtures, the organ remains in full working order over forty years later.
