Commonly Asked Questions
When are your services?
Sunday mornings:
8:30am & 11am - Traditional Worship Service
8:30am, 9:45am & 11am - Genesis Service (contemporary) - Lee Fellowship Hall
Where are you located?
First Presbyterian Church of Orlando,
106 East Church Street, Orlando, FL 32801
Click here to view a map and directions.
What should I wear?
There is no dress code for our traditional services – you can come in your “Sunday best” or in casual attire. The Sanctuary does tend to be chilly, so please consider a sleeve.
There is no dress code for the Genesis worship service – you can come in your “Sunday best” or in casual attire, but the Lee Fellowship Hall does tend to be warmer than the Sanctuary.
What is there for my children?
Early Childhood Ministry
Children's Ministry
Middle School
High School
How many people does the Sanctuary seat?
1200
When do you hold Communion?
First Presbyterian Church of Orlando celebrates communion on the first Sunday of each month, and at times, adjusted for the start of liturgical seasons and special holidays. When communion is celebrated, it occurs in all five worship services. Most often, but not always, communion is served by intinction (rip and dip) in Genesis, and via passed trays in Traditional.
What is a Presbyterian?
Most people do not even know how to spell Presbiterian(Presbyterian), let alone know what one is. Therefore, over the last 500 years, Presbyterians have spent a lot of time explaining themselves. The word Presbyterian describes a particular type of church government, and not our theological beliefs; our theological beliefs are reformed. The word Presbyterian derives from the Greek word presbuteros, which means elder. Presbyterians elect members of the church as officers who represent the congregation in church affairs and polity, thus we have a representative form of government. In fact, America’s representative democracy was based on this model. At least fourteen signers of the Declaration of Independence were Presbyterians.
Other denominations are organized in different ways. In a "congregational" form of church government, the entire congregation makes important decisions. Unlike the Presbyterian form of government that elects or chooses its leaders, this is a pure democracy. Congregational church government has its roots in New England town meetings.
Bishops govern churches whose form of church government is "episcopal." The word bishop comes form the Greek word episcopas which means overseer. Methodist and Episcopalian churches have this type of government.
The "papal" form of government describes the Roman Catholic Church, giving authority to a single individual. In a papal government, one individual – the pope – has supreme authority over the church.
Each of these denominational structures has its Biblical and theological reasons for their style of church government. But one may ask, "Do denominations matter? Is one denominational system better or more scriptural?" Some claim that the true church – the ekklesia – are those who believe in Jesus Christ. Thus, denominations are structures that organize the ekklesia. God does not see individual denominations but one "Church." As the Apostles’ Creed states, "we believe…in the holy catholic (universal) Church". God may not really care how the community of Jesus Christ organizes itself, but only that they confess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and trust in Him.