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[Back to index of February 2008 articles] The Organ Has Landed
St. John’s, Norwood, had something big to celebrate on Nov. 25 when its new organ, which has been three years in the planning, arrived at the church in two semi trailers. After the Sunday service, parishioners processed out onto the church steps, where they sang a song of praise and the rector, the Rev. Susan Flanders said a prayer. “Then everybody cheered,” said Cynthia Stroman, who headed up the Organ Purchase Committee. “It was a great day because the parish came out and everybody put on their gloves and unloaded the trucks,” she said. “We had a big roast beef dinner that night in the parish hall.” Crafted by the Berghaus Organ Company in Bellville, Ill., the organ has been under construction since January 2007, and the voicing process is now under way. The instrument, a 3-manuel organ with 63 ranks and 3,380 pipes, will be dedicated during an April 20 service, Stroman said, and an inaugural concert is set for May 10. A capital campaign, which set out to raise $1.5 million for the project, also is well on the way to meeting that goal, she said. The project began, Stroman said, when St. John’s did an assessment of its musical instruments and learned “our organ was ailing – to put it mildly.” While doing its research, her seven-member committee learned that to get the greatest benefit from the new organ, it would need to be moved from its current location in chambers on either side of the chancel to a position at the front. This called for a large-scale renovation project, which parishioners met with “a combination of excitement and anxiety,” she said. Renovation work began last summer and was “largely finished by Christmas Eve.” “It’s been a labor of love from many people in the parish,” Stroman said. “What we will have when this is all said and done is an enhanced worship experience and space.”
[Back to index of February 2008 articles]
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