Pioneers from Salinas, Members Since 1886
In 1882 a small band of pioneers drove their wagons south from Salinas, California and settled in the flat country that would become the community of Easton, just south of Fresno. Four years later, in 1886, twenty-six of those settlers gathered as charter members of Easton Presbyterian Church. Their founding values were simple: focus on Christ, be guided by the Bible, and love people. The same three commitments still shape the congregation today, expressed in the motto posted at the top of the church's online home - Where Christ is the Center, the Bible is our guide, and people matter.
The church sits at 5895 South Elm Avenue and remains one of the oldest continuing congregations in the area. While the building and the surrounding landscape have changed, the congregation describes its work as a kind of pioneering of its own - carrying the same timeless values into a new century.
A Blended Sound in Worship
Sunday worship begins at 9:30 a.m. The music program is led by Minister of Music Mark Lanford and is, in the church's own words, a blended style that pulls from both contemporary and traditional sources. On any given Sunday the congregation might hear the pipe organ, a praise band, guitars, the chancel choir, vocalists, and instrumentalists all working together. Congregational singing is part of the rhythm, and the team includes sound and projection technicians who support the service behind the scenes. The Scripture undergirding the ministry is Ephesians 5:19: speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord.
The service is livestreamed, so members who are traveling, ill, or homebound can follow along. Visitors considering a first visit are welcomed to come as they are and join in the singing, the prayers, and the preaching.
Children and Youth at the Center
Easton Presbyterian takes the call to bring children to Jesus literally. During the Sunday worship service, Children's Church is offered for children up through third grade, so that younger kids can hear the gospel at their own level while parents worship in the main sanctuary.
From September through May, Sunday School meets at 11:00 a.m. Preschool and kindergarten children gather in the Kindergarten room, while first through sixth graders meet in the Beginners room. The youth of the church - both junior high and senior high - also gather at 11:00 a.m. for their own Sunday School class, meeting upstairs in the Jr. High room. Volunteers who want to help with any of these classes can reach out through the church office.
One of the church's most practical outreaches is the Children's Clothes Closet, which opens every Wednesday at 2:00 p.m. to provide clothing to children in need from the wider community. It is a quiet, steady ministry that has become a regular weekly touchpoint for families beyond the congregation.
What We Believe
Easton Presbyterian is one of more than 600 member congregations of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC), a denomination that holds two identities at once: evangelical in its zeal for the gospel, and Presbyterian in its rootedness in the Protestant Reformation and the theology of John Calvin. The church embraces the Westminster Confession of Faith as its doctrinal standard and is governed by spiritually mature elders connected regionally to other EPC congregations.
The EPC grants each member church liberty on non-essential questions - such as the ordination of women or the practice of charismatic gifts - while keeping the central truths of Christianity binding. When regional and national EPC gatherings happen, the focus is on worship and fellowship rather than argument, a tone the Easton congregation echoes.
The church summarizes its core values around seven commitments: gratitude to Christ for freeing believers from sin; the worth of every person; worship as the highest priority; discipleship through biblical, Christ-centered teaching; earnest prayer as individuals, families, and a church; discovering and using spiritual gifts in ministry; and faithful stewardship of time, abilities, and finances. Its mission statement frames the work in four movements: bring people to Jesus, welcome them into the church family, develop each to Christlike maturity, and equip all for ministry in the church and mission in the world.
Music, Sermon, and Adult Education
The 11:00 a.m. Christian Education Hour serves as adult Sunday School for the congregation and runs from September through May. Recent sermon series have walked through books of the Bible - including 1 Samuel, Hebrews, and a current journey through Ephesians - alongside topical series such as Summer in the Psalms, Questions Jesus Asked, Sermon on the Mount, and seasonal series for Advent, Easter, Palm Sunday, and Mother's Day. Sermon recordings are archived online for anyone who wants to follow along during the week.
Visiting Easton Presbyterian
Worship is held every Sunday at 9:30 a.m. at 5895 South Elm Avenue, Fresno, CA 93706. Sunday School and the Christian Education Hour follow at 11:00 a.m. The church office is open Monday through Thursday from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., closed for lunch, and can be reached at (559) 266-0695 or info@eastonpres.com. Pastor David J. Abdo can be reached at david.abdo@eastonpres.com. Music ministry inquiries go to Mark Lanford, and Children's Ministry questions to MariAnne Spearman at marianne@eastonpres.com. The Children's Clothes Closet is open Wednesdays at 2:00 p.m. for anyone in the community who needs children's clothing.