Who We Are
Our Church
First Missionary Baptist Church of Fresno was organized in 1952. The church has been blessed over the years with consistent growth, with a dedicated membership, and dynamic pastoral leadership, most notably, the thirty-two years the late Dr. Burel G. Burnes served the church.
The church has met in various locations through the years, and the current facilities were dedicated in 1987. The church has continued to grow in membership and has a continuing commitment to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ and stand for the truths of an infallible and inerrant Bible.
The worship services are conducted in such a way as to glorify God as their highest goal. In addition to the lifting up of God's name in praise and spiritual singing, the greater portion of the worship services are given to the expository preaching of God's Word.
Dr. David Butimore, Sr. began serving our church as pastor on August 11, 2001. Dr. and Mrs. Butimore are the parents of three children and have two grandchildren.
Dr. Butimore
earned the degree of Doctor of Theology with Highest Honors in 1990 from
California Missionary Baptist Seminary. Before returning to California in
2001, Dr. Butimore pastored in California from 1975-1996 and Washington state
from 1996-2001. He has served as an Instructor and Administrator of
California Missionary Baptist Seminary for seven years, as Chancellor of
Washington Missionary Baptist Seminary, as well as a Christian school Principal
and Administrator. He has served in various leadership roles in the
California and Washington Missionary Baptist Associations. He is a past
President of the American Baptist Association, a worldwide fellowship of some
4,000 churches, in which he now serves as one of its Parliamentarians. He
also serves as Parliamentarian of the local and state associations of churches.