HCC Organ Fund: Restoring the Harmonious Hymns

We need your support to restore our cherished church pipe organ! Over the years, this majestic instrument has filled our sanctuary with ethereal melodies, enhancing our worship and touching countless lives. However, time has taken its toll, and the organ now requires urgent repairs. With your generous donation, we can breathe new life into its worn pipes, restore its enchanting resonance, and continue regular maintenance. Your contribution will ensure that the soul-stirring music of our pipe organ continues to inspire and uplift our community for generations to come. Join us in preserving this treasured musical heritage and keeping the harmonious hymns alive in our sacred space. Donations can be made directly to the church, too. Be sure to specify "Organ Fund" with your donation.

Organ History

In 1994, the congregation installed the eMoller/Humpe pipe organ. The organ had been in a Catholic church in Pennsylvania. When the church closed, the organ was sold to the Hare Krishna community of New Vrindaban near Moundslville, West Virginia. There, the organ was revised by Joe Humpe of Steubenville, Ohio, who added pipe ranks in the pedal division.

The New Vrindaban community put the instrument up for sale when their congregation decided to return to traditional bhakti music. The HCC congregation purchased the organ with the assistance of Joe Humpe, who installed it in the Sanctuary using a console purchased from Emmanual Lutheran Church in Warren, Ohio. Although the Organ Committee had researched similar-sized new organs for prices starting around $500,000, we were able to purchase this previously-built instrument for $85,000, replacing the Hammond Grand 100 which the congregation had used since the 1960s.

Jeffrey Clark Smith of New York played the Dedicatory Recital on October 9, 1994.

The organ resides in two chambers above the Chancel. The north chamber contains the Swell division and part of the Pedal division. This chamber has louvers which open and close to control the volume. The south chamber (over the Deaconess' kitchen) contains the Great division and the remainder of the Pedal division. The organ is controlled at the console, which has two keyboards (Swell and Great) and a pedalboard (Pedal). Each division has several tabs or "stops" that control which pipes are played on each keyboard.

At the time of the installation, it was suggested that an organ maintenance fund be established with funds added from the Unified Budget each year. Unfortunately, it was deemed financially inadvisable at that time.