Worship
Music, liturgy, sacred space, and visual art make room for prayer, proclamation, reflection, and praise, week after week.
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First United Methodist Church Tuscaloosa
Music & Worship Arts
Worship · Formation · Community · The Arts.
Music & Worship Arts at First United Methodist Church Tuscaloosa is a ministry of worship, formation, education, hospitality, and community engagement, visible each week in music, liturgy, sacred space, and congregational song, yet reaching well beyond any single service.
As Director of Music & Worship Arts and Organist, Amir Zaheri shapes the worshiping life of the congregation and leads the program gathered here: choirs and handbells, concerts and guest artists, the sanctuary's stained glass and its pipe organ, and the cultivation of gifts in singers and players of every age.
"Music is not added to worship. Music is one of the ways worship happens."
The ministry
Four threads, one purpose
To help people encounter God, grow in faith, discover their gifts, and belong to one another.
Formation
The arts as partners in learning: a hymn that carries Scripture into memory, an anthem that deepens reflection, a building that teaches by its beauty.
Community
Music as common ground: members and students, lifelong musicians and first-time singers, gathered into one voice.
The Arts
Concerts, recitals, and guest artists that carry hospitality and beauty into the wider community.
Ensembles & programs
Where the music is made
01
The Chancel Choir
The church's primary choral ensemble, drawing on many centuries and traditions.
Leads the 11:00 Traditions service
02
The Fellows Program
A distinctive community of learning, service, and artistic leadership for students and emerging artists.
Music & Worship Arts Fellows
03
Handbells & Instrumental
Bell and instrumental ensembles that color worship across the Christian year.
Seasonal & festival worship
04
Congregational Song
At the heart of it all, helping the whole congregation sing its faith, in the Wesleyan tradition.
Every voice, every Sunday
Music & Worship Arts Fellows
The Fellows Program
A community of learning, service, and artistic leadership.
The Music & Worship Arts Fellows are singers, instrumentalists, composers, conductors, technologists, and liturgical artists who offer their gifts in worship while being formed by the work itself. The program is a ministry of mutual offering: the church receives their creativity and leadership, and the Fellows receive mentorship, experience, and belonging.
They are not "staff singers" or "paid ringers." They are relational ministers, drawn from the University of Alabama and the surrounding community, who anchor the Chancel Choir, strengthen congregational song, and extend the church's reach through concerts, education, and creative projects across the year.
"Most importantly, the program recognizes that gifts are given to be shared."
The program is open to all. It welcomes the emerging and the established alike, professionals and non-professionals, across vocal and instrumental performance, composition, conducting, worship leadership, technology, and the visual and movement arts. No prior church-music experience is required, and all are sincerely welcome, whatever your background and whatever you believe.
Each Fellowship carries a financial award. Curious whether it might be for you?
In worship
The life of the program
There is always room for another voice
Whether you sing, ring, play, or simply show up faithfully, the invitation to participate remains open.