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Peace and Jubilation

New Organ Inspires Redlands Church

Photos by Monte L. Stuck.	With the trompette en chamade installed, the first piece played was John Cook’s Fanfare.   “Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day.” Fanfare is based on Psalm 81:1-3.
	Organist Carol Cutler Berard at the console of new organ, a 50-rank instrument with 3130 pipes.

“There’s Only One Redlands.”

That’s the motto of this town of 65,000 on the eastern edge of the Los Angeles megalopolis.

Why in the world today would the First Congregational Church here spend $450,000 on a new pipe organ?

Look at the churches which are letting their good organs sit idle and are disbanding their choirs in place of rhythm guitar praise bands and microphone vocalists.

Secondly, isn’t it our Christian duty to put that kind of money into outreach to the needy?

Third, if you want an organ, why not do it cheap with one of the great electronic models on the market today?

Meet the church faced with these decisions. First Congregational Church is the oldest church in Redlands, founded in 1880 and sitting on what is affectionately known in town as “The Lord’s Corner” (the adjacent corners shared with First United Methodist, First Baptist, and the YWCA Alliance).

Redlands itself is an historic town, founded by moneyed gentry from the East escaping winter blasts—people who cared about and supported the arts. Also, First Congregational, a familiar sight with its old red bricks and prominent clock tower, is the downtown church which was left standing when the adjacent historic Methodist and Presbyterian churches both burned to the ground in an unsolved case of arson on the same night in 1967.

In addition to being the oldest church in town and escaping the fires, the church traditionally emphasizes its Congregational roots, from frequent references to Scrooby, England, where the Pilgrims originated, to the annual children’s Thanksgiving portrayal of the Pilgrims. Today’s membership of some 680 individuals includes many Redlands civic leaders and those supportive of United States, California and Redlands heritage.

So when church organist Carol Cutler Berard came to the church board of directors in 1996 to say that more than $10,000 was being put into the organ annually to keep the old leathers and electrical/mechanical relays operating, a committee was formed to investigate total renovation.

Trying to update a horseless carriage.

“Some folks thought we could continue to repair our organ,” said Monte Stuck, who chaired the fund raising. “We pointed out to the congregation that this Austin organ was installed with the technology and engineering of the day—1903, the same year that Orville and Wilbur Wright first flew at Kitty Hawk. It was like trying to update a horseless carriage of those days to driving on today’s freeways. We needed a reliable organ for today’s worship.”

Purchasing a church organ is a long-term project. The committee of a dozen interested members met for three years, inviting organ salesmen and builders in for presentations and extensive information gathering.

The committee visited other churches in the San Bernardino/Los Angeles area to hear the sounds that various organ builders were able to accomplish. One Sunday after church, a busload of church members visited two Los Angeles churches for demonstrations by their builders/salesman.

First Congregational’s music program has always been an essential part of worship in this university town, employing top long-term organists and choral directors leading a 40-member sanctuary choir, children’s choirs and handbell performers in traditional, quality music.

Thus, the question right from the start for the organ committee, and gradually the church membership when the decision came to a vote, was whether to settle for a new Rodgers electronic for $125,000, or continue the traditions of this historic church as a religious center in historic Redlands, for $425,000 for console and pipes and another $50,000 to renovate the pipe loft.

“We had a pipe organ that had lasted a hundred years, and we wanted another to last another hundred years,” said Monte Stuck. “Would an electronic organ last a hundred years? We felt in this computer age that digital organs would mean constant updating of amplifiers and speakers.

It was a case of what you are driving out of the showroom—a pipe organ for 100 years, or electronic organ needing overhaul every 10 or 20 years?”

“One of the reasons for our decision was the traditional aspect of a pipe organ in our church and community,” said Dr. Richard Rau, who chaired the organ selection committee. “People wanted that sound because we had had it traditionally, and it should be continued into the future.

We wanted something that would last another 100 years and that we would be proud to pass on to future generations. We knew we could get an electronic organ cheaper, but the congregation wanted the pipe organ kind of quality.”

First Congregational chose Robert M. Turner of Hacienda Heights, Calif., to build the 50-rank instrument (3,130 pipes) for $376,000 in pipe work plus $51,000 for the new three-manual console. The sanctuary seats 550.

The fund raising received an initial boost from a $140,000 bequest. Some 30 families donated $5,000 or more each. Two families then contributed additionally for the 61-pipe trompette en chamade mounted at the back of the sanctuary.

“Through this organ project, the members of this congregation have shown what can be accomplished when people come together in one mind and heart seeking to worship the Lord,” said Bruce McClurg, minister of music.

Source of peace and jubilation.

“The new organ is a source of peace and jubilation to all who enter our Sanctuary for refreshment.”

Congregational organist Berard was instrumental in working with Turner on the overall selection of organ pipe voices and ranks. “I wanted an organ that could complement the congregation while singing the great hymns of faith, which could make one robustly sing ‘Amen’ at the end of ‘Holy, Holy, Holy,’ but could also make one’s heart sigh when he heard the organ softly play ‘The Old Rugged Cross.’ Our new organ can do all this and more.”

Robert Turner and his builders took about two years to complete the work, during which time the congregation accepted piano accompaniment. A series of three organ dedicatory concerts the first year has been followed by a second three-part series for Sunday afternoon recitals in spring 2004.

God speaks through music.

One Redlands member of the local chapter of the American Guild of Organists who has played on most of the organs in town, summed up what the pipe organ means today. “Recitalists never choose electronic organs, and some of them refuse to play on electronic organs,” said Mary Jane Auerbacher. “Pipe organs are important for those who care about the real artistic side of the church. It’s very, very important to present the artistic. It takes a real super human effort to keep this artistic level. It dissolves too quickly. There are so many focuses in the world that are anti-artistic. It even splits churches. If the church is committed to good music, it will draw people. God speaks through music. Good music is so important to many people as an integral part of their worship service. You can play more authentically if you play on a fine instrument. I know I feel invigorated when I do, and music does this for people. It’s terribly important. It was the scholars, the artists, the musicians, the writers, who kept the human spirit alive in the Dark Ages and times of oppression.” The Rev. Dr. Lowell Linden, First Congregational pastor since 1976, and minister of longest tenure in Redlands, recalls that the church’s original Austin Organ, installed in 1903, was the first Austin to be installed in California. “It lasted for almost one hundred years,” he said. “When I was told that a digital organ sounded almost like a pipe organ, I thought that we should replace one pipe organ with another.

“When we were able to incorporate about 70 percent of the pipes from the Austin organ into the new organ built by the Turner Organ Company, I knew that we had done the right thing. It is a glorious instrument and adds much to our traditional worship services,” Dr. Linden concluded.

A member of the Music Committee at First Congregational Church, Redlands, California, Nelda M. Stuck retired after 22 years as Community and Arts Editor at the Redlands Daily Facts.

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