Music

The main thrust of the music program at the First Baptist Church is to provide music for the Sunday morning worship services. Anyone is invited to join the Cathedral Choir. A basic ability to read music and follow direction and a love for good church music are essential. Participating in these groups gives an opportunity to help lead in worship and broadens your own personal worship experience. They also can become a social experience for members, with various social activities planned during the year.

Cathedral Choir: Rehearses on Sunday mornings from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. and again from 10:30 to 11:00 a.m. in the Music Center. Led by Music Director Sandra Rogers, the Cathedral Choir sings at every Sunday morning worship service at 11:00 a.m.

Volunteer singers are always needed and welcome. For more information, please call or e-mail Music Director Sandra Rogers.

Children's music: As part of the Church School program, the children are led in song by a teacher of the Church School. The children will sing during the 11:00 a.m. worship service approximately every other month.

"There is a ministry which music provides more powerful in effect than the spoken word or the visual arts. One reason for this is the capacity of music to linger in the human mind long after other experiences have been forgotten. The great music of Christian worship readily fits this desription and for many, is inseparable from their lives of faith.

"Representative of that music is the music provided by our music department. It is an integral part of worship at First Baptist, Los Angeles -- a congregation appreciative of the rich meaning and tradition embodied in such works. The choir members who sing and the staff which provides direction and instrumental leadership enable worshippers to make a joyful noise unto the Lord, to come into His presence with honor and gladness.

"The services and programs provided by the Music Department are expressions of First Baptist Church's commitment to sharing the good news of Christian faith in meaningful and inspirational ways. They are offered in the hope that lives will be enriched and spirits strengthened. Above all, may God be praised!"

- John H. Townsend, Pastor Emeritus

Festival of Lights

Our Annual Christmas program, patterned after the famous University of Redlands "Feast of Lights," is held a Sunday before Christmas—this year (2008), December 21—at 7:30 p.m. in the Sanctuary. Ask many people at First Baptist Church what "makes" Christmas for them and they will answer, the Festival of Lights. This annual Cathedral Choir presentation includes a dramatic portrayal of the spreading of light throughout the world, using the darkened sanctuary and the light of one initial flame followed by many additional flames. Our service first took place in 1962 and has been repeated every year since.

Mr. Gordon McMillan was choirmaster in the 1960's; a graduate of the University of Redlands, he sought to duplicate the rich experience of that school's holiday program here. When Mr. James Craven became Music Director in 1967, he continued the tradition. Mrs. Sandra Rogers, the present Music Director and also a graduate of the University of Redlands, has been responsible for the Festival each Advent season since 1989. Again this year, for the 46th time we shall have the privilege of hearing and seeing this beautiful presentation.

The service is constructed in two sections. The first section includes the Old Testament prophecy of the coming of the Savior, the fulfillment of the prophecy, and the singing of carols and anthems heralding the sacred birth in the stable at Bethlehem. The concluding section is devoted to the Candlelighting Ceremony, the Adoration, and Nativity Tableau. The narrator's text is made up of a commentary on man's need for the light of the Christian gospel from early times to the present, and stresses the Christian doctrine of love as the solution to the way of peace among men and nations. The Candlelighting Ceremony is an adaptation of an ancient rite symbolizing the spreading of the light of the Christian gospel from Christ through the twelve apostles to all the world.

Sanctuary Organ

The Sanctuary organ was built in 1926 by W. W. Kimball of Chicago, Illinois, and rebuilt in 1964 by Ken Simpson of Los Angeles. It was one of the largest pipe organs that Kimball ever built and at the time was the largest pipe organ in Los Angeles, and remained so until 1969. The 90-rank instrument has over 5,000 pipes, housed in five separate chambers, plus a balcony echo organ. The pipes range in size from one inch to 32-feet in length.

Organist Kyle Irwin plays every Sunday for Worship at 11:00 a.m. In addition to Sunday morning worship services, the organ may be heard during organ recitals scheduled periodically. Many of the finest organists in the world have performed on our organ, including Virgil Fox, Robert Plimpton, Pierre Cochereau, John Weaver, Audrey Jacobsen, Irene Robertson and Frederick Swann. It remains in demand as a concert instrument.