History of First Christian Church Pipe Organ
by E. Rodney Trueblood & Paul Miller
While vacationing on Outer Banks of NC, Arthur Lawrence, a friend of Joe Pool, stopped by his Pipe Organ Shop in Nags Head. During their conversation, Joe Pool learned that First United Methodist Church in Lexington, NC was planning to install a new, larger pipe organ for their sanctuary. Their old organ would be given to any church who could use the organ and would be responsible for the removal of same from church in Lexington.
At that time Rodney Trueblood was working with Joe as a part time helper in the pipe organ maintenance field. When Rodney was asked if he knew of a church looking for a pipe organ, he immediately thought of First Christian, which had an outdated Allen electronic installed when the church was built. Rodney then approached Margaret Anderson Scott, the church organist, who was elated to learn of the availability of the organ. Church officials agreed to accept the organ as a gift, with Joe retained to remove organ from Lexington and install in Elizabeth City. This would become Elizabeth City’s first three manual church organ.
The organ was built by A.B. Felgemaker Pipe Organ Co. of Erie, PA, builders of 1289 organs during the years 1875-1918, before they went out of business. Opus 1052 was installed in First UMC, Lexington, July 16, 1910. The last service played on this organ in Lexington was on Easter Sunday 1987. The crew of volunteers then went to Lexington in May to remove the organ. Joe Pool supervised the group which included Rodney Trueblood, Bland Mercer, Charles Hines and Jimmy Flowers. On arrival in Elizabeth City, James Gibbs, Gibby Gibbs and Clinton King also assisted in unloading and storing the organ.
Some physical alterations to the church had to be made to accommodate the organ. These included removing the balcony walls for greater projection of sound in the room, building small walls above baptistry for façade pipes and for the two expression boxes. All of this work was done by volunteers from the church. Eugene and Murlene Williams had the original white console refinished to match church furniture in honor of their son, Mark. Rev. Bill Roberts is to be thanked for his efforts to keep the project moving.
On August 13, 1989, Mark Williams was visiting his parents and played for the morning service at which time he surprised the entire congregation and his grandmother, Julia Tuttle Williams, a former organist celebrating her 80th birthday, by being the first one to play the pipe organ for a service. At that time only a few stops were in operation.
The organ was dedicated at the 71st annual Homecoming Sunday, October 13, 1991, during the morning worship service. Nina Scott Gregory was the organist, having assumed the position of organist by that time, following in her mother’s footsteps, who had recently retired. A new Trumpet stop of 61 pipes added through memorial or honorariums by members of congregation was dedicated at the same time. These are the pipes you see at the front of organ chamber placed in an inverted V formation. At a later date after the dedication, a set of 25 Chimes was added to the organ and given by Julian and Portia Copeland in memory of his parents, Grover and Gentry Copeland.
Following the Homecoming meal, a 3 PM public recital was presented by three “Timothys” of the church to a full congregation.. E. Rodney Trueblood of Elizabeth City, Carl Lee Anderson of Tucson, AZ, and Mark L. Williams of Trenton, NJ were the recitalists. A special guest for the day’s activities was Sandra Shoaf, long time organist at the Lexington Church and her husband. Sandra had come to hear the organ resound in its new location. She sat at the console before the recital began and played the organ for one last time.
Since the installation and passing of Joe Pool, Mark Thompson of Seaford, VA has been maintaining the organ. During this period the action of organ has been converted to direct electric. Mark Thompson has valued the organ at this writing in 2010 to be $280,000.00.
We are indeed blessed to have this magnificent 3 manual pipe organ in our church. The organ celebrated its 100th birthday on July 16, 2010. Much credit is also due Joe Pool for his ingenuity in installing the organ in space available above the baptistry. Upon entering the church, one would think the organ was custom built for First Christian Church.
The Allen electronic organ was given to a church in the Raleigh area, thus continuing the spirit of giving one to another.
During the Spring of 2011 the Cornel Zimmer Organ Builders of Denver, North Carolina was contracted by First Christian Church, Elizabeth City, North Carolina to upgrade the 100 year old console from analog technology to digital technology. The cost would be approximately $40,000. This was the first and only upgrade done to the console since it was built by the Felgemaker Organ Company of Erie, Pennsylvania back in the early 1900s. The console was physically removed from the church and transported by truck to the Zimmer Shop in Denver, North Carolina to undergo refurbishment of the consoles keyboards and the upgrade to digital technology. The digital upgrade involved installing new switching, new stop tabs, new multi-level combination action, new pistons and MIDI. The entire upgrade process took approximately 75 days to complete. The organ was then returned to First Christian Church, Elizabeth City, North Carolina and reinstalled. The Sunday after reinstallation the entire congregation noticed the sound, it was absolutely phenomenal, what an organ! Zimmer Organ Builders loaned First Christian Church an electronic organ until the work on the Felgemaker console was completed. Additional stop tabs were added to the console for digital voices to be added at some time in the future.
On December 5th, 2011 the Church Board voted to again enter into a contract with Cornell Zimmer Organ Builders to add the Digital Voices. This project was completed February 8th, 2012. There are only two other churches in Elizabeth City that have the same capability as First Christian Church's Felgemaker Organ, they are, First United Methodist Church and Christ Episcopal Church. A rededication service of this wonderful instrument built in 1910 but now containing 21st century technology was held in the Summer of 2012 when the organ was 102 years old.
by E. Rodney Trueblood & Paul Miller
While vacationing on Outer Banks of NC, Arthur Lawrence, a friend of Joe Pool, stopped by his Pipe Organ Shop in Nags Head. During their conversation, Joe Pool learned that First United Methodist Church in Lexington, NC was planning to install a new, larger pipe organ for their sanctuary. Their old organ would be given to any church who could use the organ and would be responsible for the removal of same from church in Lexington.
At that time Rodney Trueblood was working with Joe as a part time helper in the pipe organ maintenance field. When Rodney was asked if he knew of a church looking for a pipe organ, he immediately thought of First Christian, which had an outdated Allen electronic installed when the church was built. Rodney then approached Margaret Anderson Scott, the church organist, who was elated to learn of the availability of the organ. Church officials agreed to accept the organ as a gift, with Joe retained to remove organ from Lexington and install in Elizabeth City. This would become Elizabeth City’s first three manual church organ.
The organ was built by A.B. Felgemaker Pipe Organ Co. of Erie, PA, builders of 1289 organs during the years 1875-1918, before they went out of business. Opus 1052 was installed in First UMC, Lexington, July 16, 1910. The last service played on this organ in Lexington was on Easter Sunday 1987. The crew of volunteers then went to Lexington in May to remove the organ. Joe Pool supervised the group which included Rodney Trueblood, Bland Mercer, Charles Hines and Jimmy Flowers. On arrival in Elizabeth City, James Gibbs, Gibby Gibbs and Clinton King also assisted in unloading and storing the organ.
Some physical alterations to the church had to be made to accommodate the organ. These included removing the balcony walls for greater projection of sound in the room, building small walls above baptistry for façade pipes and for the two expression boxes. All of this work was done by volunteers from the church. Eugene and Murlene Williams had the original white console refinished to match church furniture in honor of their son, Mark. Rev. Bill Roberts is to be thanked for his efforts to keep the project moving.
On August 13, 1989, Mark Williams was visiting his parents and played for the morning service at which time he surprised the entire congregation and his grandmother, Julia Tuttle Williams, a former organist celebrating her 80th birthday, by being the first one to play the pipe organ for a service. At that time only a few stops were in operation.
The organ was dedicated at the 71st annual Homecoming Sunday, October 13, 1991, during the morning worship service. Nina Scott Gregory was the organist, having assumed the position of organist by that time, following in her mother’s footsteps, who had recently retired. A new Trumpet stop of 61 pipes added through memorial or honorariums by members of congregation was dedicated at the same time. These are the pipes you see at the front of organ chamber placed in an inverted V formation. At a later date after the dedication, a set of 25 Chimes was added to the organ and given by Julian and Portia Copeland in memory of his parents, Grover and Gentry Copeland.
Following the Homecoming meal, a 3 PM public recital was presented by three “Timothys” of the church to a full congregation.. E. Rodney Trueblood of Elizabeth City, Carl Lee Anderson of Tucson, AZ, and Mark L. Williams of Trenton, NJ were the recitalists. A special guest for the day’s activities was Sandra Shoaf, long time organist at the Lexington Church and her husband. Sandra had come to hear the organ resound in its new location. She sat at the console before the recital began and played the organ for one last time.
Since the installation and passing of Joe Pool, Mark Thompson of Seaford, VA has been maintaining the organ. During this period the action of organ has been converted to direct electric. Mark Thompson has valued the organ at this writing in 2010 to be $280,000.00.
We are indeed blessed to have this magnificent 3 manual pipe organ in our church. The organ celebrated its 100th birthday on July 16, 2010. Much credit is also due Joe Pool for his ingenuity in installing the organ in space available above the baptistry. Upon entering the church, one would think the organ was custom built for First Christian Church.
The Allen electronic organ was given to a church in the Raleigh area, thus continuing the spirit of giving one to another.
During the Spring of 2011 the Cornel Zimmer Organ Builders of Denver, North Carolina was contracted by First Christian Church, Elizabeth City, North Carolina to upgrade the 100 year old console from analog technology to digital technology. The cost would be approximately $40,000. This was the first and only upgrade done to the console since it was built by the Felgemaker Organ Company of Erie, Pennsylvania back in the early 1900s. The console was physically removed from the church and transported by truck to the Zimmer Shop in Denver, North Carolina to undergo refurbishment of the consoles keyboards and the upgrade to digital technology. The digital upgrade involved installing new switching, new stop tabs, new multi-level combination action, new pistons and MIDI. The entire upgrade process took approximately 75 days to complete. The organ was then returned to First Christian Church, Elizabeth City, North Carolina and reinstalled. The Sunday after reinstallation the entire congregation noticed the sound, it was absolutely phenomenal, what an organ! Zimmer Organ Builders loaned First Christian Church an electronic organ until the work on the Felgemaker console was completed. Additional stop tabs were added to the console for digital voices to be added at some time in the future.
On December 5th, 2011 the Church Board voted to again enter into a contract with Cornell Zimmer Organ Builders to add the Digital Voices. This project was completed February 8th, 2012. There are only two other churches in Elizabeth City that have the same capability as First Christian Church's Felgemaker Organ, they are, First United Methodist Church and Christ Episcopal Church. A rededication service of this wonderful instrument built in 1910 but now containing 21st century technology was held in the Summer of 2012 when the organ was 102 years old.