Rose Hill Baptist glad to get pipe organ back after $80,000 repair

The first notes played drew applause in the sanctuary.

The members of Rose Hill Baptist Church in Columbus were thrilled to have their pipe organ back and sounding strong.

At a cost of more than $80,000, repairs were made to the instrument that had been damaged by lightning in February of last year.

A rededication service will be held at the church the morning of Oct. 30, and Brenda Duncan will be at the keyboard the way she has been for 13 years. Pianist Jan Luquire will also play at the service.

“It is the focal point of worship,” said the Rev. Edward Kvietkus of the organ. “I love hearing Brenda play it. She is excellent.”

It is not the biggest or oldest pipe organ in Columbus, but it has long been cherished by those attending Rose Hill.

The instrument was purchased in 1980 to replace an organ that had been in use since 1922. It was built by the Wicks Organ Company of Highland, Ill. A dedication recital was held Aug. 16, 1981.

The first number performed then was Prelude in G major by Johann Sebastian Bach, who had Soli Deo Gloria — “To God Alone the Glory” — regularly inscribed on his scores of sacred music.

On that dedication day, the pastor, the Rev. William J. Smith, said that from the earliest times men have built instruments to glorify God and to assist in worship. He said the modern organ is the culmination of centuries of instrument building. It is one of the most ancient and venerable of all musical instruments essentially ecclesiastical in its traditions.

Some pipes and chimes from that organ were used in the production of the new instrument.

The current Rose Hill organ consists of 1,704 pipes of varying size and material.

The organ pipes are divided into four general types: principal, flutes, strings and reeds.

According to the 1981 dedication program, the principal is the primary organ tone and varies considerably in speaking volume. The flutes are normally soft spots with charming and colorful tones. While string stops do not attempt to imitate orchestral string sounds, they are rich and vibrant. Reed stops provide both power and brilliance to the organ.

Larry Duncan, Rose Hill’s music worship leader and Brenda’s husband of 50 years, said work had to be done to the pipes and the console.

For a while, the organist could play around some of the trouble, but eventually work had to be done in Atlanta and the organ had to be completely shut down for six to eight weeks.

“That was tough,” Larry Duncan said.

The repair work was done by the A.E. Schlueter Pipe Organ Company, a leader in the industry that has worked on organs at Morehouse College and the Ida Cason Callaway Chapel in Callaway Gardens.

Brenda Duncan first discovered that something was wrong with the instrument.

“I would play one note and hear two,” she said. Brenda Duncan has played the organ in services at different churches since she was 12 years old. “It just did not sound right.”

The lighting had also affected telephone lines and an overhead projector.

Larry Duncan said that while it is a pipe organ blowing air, the console is electronically controlled.

Insurance covered some of the cost.

The organ was not only repaired, but also it was enhanced. A musical instrument digital interface, known as a MIDI, was added, allowing the organ to produce the sounds of other instruments.

“It is something people like these days,” Larry Duncan said.

While there might be new sounds from the organ, do not expect to see guitars and drums on the pulpit as you do in many other churches that are more contemporary than Rose Hill.

“We are traditional,” said Kvietkus. “It is great to hear our people sing hymns as our organ plays.”

Asked about how the organ sounds now, Larry Duncan remarked, “ I could sit and listen all day. It creates the worship atmosphere. It commands the room.”

This story was originally published September 30, 2016 at 5:59 PM with the headline "Rose Hill Baptist glad to get pipe organ back after $80,000 repair."