In January of 1952, the church, with a great effort by Nita Akin, began raising money for an organ renovation. In 1953, the Aeolian-Skinner Organ Company of Boston, Massachusetts, began to rebuild the Reuter organ, utilizing some of the old Reuter main windchests, the old Reuter pedal stops and offset chests, and some of the old pipes. It was designed by G. Donald Harrison, president of Aeolian-Skinner, and installed by T. J. and Jimmy Williams of New Orleans. Roy Perry of Kilgore, Texas, representative of Aeolian-Skinner, installed the new console. This renovation was completed in 1954. The Echo division was retained, but the rest of the old organ chambers and pipes were moved into the chancel area, with the Swell and Choir divisions placed on the east side, and the Great, Solo, String, and Pedal division on the west side of the chancel. The old organ chambers were closed off, and new stained glass windows were installed to replace the old organ grills. (The space used for the old organ chambers would become our Heritage Room in 1975.) The cost of this project was $50,257; $5,000 was taken from the budget, and 53 different people gave the rest. The organ was valued at $100,000 when completed. This 81-rank organ had 5,242 organ pipes with a beautiful 4-maunal Aeolian-Skinner organ console. On February 20, 1955, Nita Akin gave the dedication concert.

SPECIFICATIONS:

81 Ranks, 5242 Pipes
4 Manuals, 95 Speaking Stops

The Stoplist

GREAT (17 Ranks; Unenclosed)
SOLO (5 Ranks; Enclosed)
16 Quintaten 8 Grosse Flute
8 Principal 8 French Horn
8 Spitz Principal 8 English Horn
8 Clarabella 8 Trompette en Chamade
8 Bourdon (Unenclosed)
4 Principal 8 Trompette Harmonique
4 Flute Harmonique 4 Clairon Harmonique
2-2/3 Quint Tremulant
2 Super Octave Chimes (Great)
III-V Furniture Solo 16
III Cymbel Solo 4
Chimes
Carillon (Outside) ECHO (8 Ranks; Enclosed)
8 Violin Diapason
SWELL (20 Ranks; Enclosed)
8 Gedeckt
16 Bourdon 8 Muted Viole
8 Geigen 8 Erzahler
8 Bourdon 8 Erzahler Celeste
8 Gedeckt 4 Fern Flote
8 Salicional 8 Corno d’Amour
8 Viole Celeste 8 Vox Humana
8 Dolce Flute Tremulant
8 Unda Maris Echo 16
4 Prestant Echo 4
4 Flute Courte
2-2/3 Nazard
STRING (7 Ranks; Enclosed)
2 Spillflote 8 Viole d’Orchestre
V Plein Jeu 8 Viola da-Gamba
16 Contra Fagotto 8 Viole Celeste
8 Trompette 4 Violina
8 Fagotto III String Mixture
4 Clairon String Tremulant
8 Vox Humana
Tremulant
PEDAL (7 Ranks; Unenclosed)
Swell 16 32 Resultant
Swell Unison Off 16 Open Bass
Swell 4 16 Principal
16 Bourdon
CHOIR (17 Ranks; Enclosed) 16 Gamba (Choir)
16 Gamba 16 Lieblich Gedeckt (Swell)
8 Viola Pomposa 8 Principal
8 Viole Celeste 8 Flute
8 Concert Flute 8 Lieblich Bourdon (Swell)
8 Stopped Diapason 4 Principal
8 Dulciana 4 Flute
8 Unda Maris 4 Dolce Flute (Swell)
4 Montre III Mixtur
4 Koppel Flote 16 Ophicleide
2-2/3 Nasat 16 Fagotto (Swell)
2 Blockflote 8 Trompette
1-3/5 Terz 4 Clairon
III Cymbel Chimes (Great)
8 Clarinet
4 Hautbois
Tremulant
Harp

MANUAL LOCATION

I Choir, String II Great, String
III Swell, String IV Solo, Echo, String

COUPLERS

Swell To Great Sub, Unison, Super Great to Pedal Unison
Choir to Great Sub, Unison, Super Swell to Pedal Unison, Super
Solo to Great Sub, Unison, Super Choir to Pedal Unison, Super
Swell to Choir Sub, Unison, Super Solo to Pedal Unison, Super
Solo to Choir Sub, Unison, Super Echo to Pedal Unison

PISTONS

General 12 (Thumb and Toe)
Great 8 and 0 (Thumb)
Swell 8 and 0 (Thumb)
Choir 6 and O (Thumb)
Solo 5 and 0 (Thumb)
Echo 3 and 0 (Thumb)
Pedal 6 and 0 (Toe)
General Cancel
Coupler Cancel
Setter Button

REVERSIBLES

Great to Pedal (Thumb and Toe)
Swell to Pedal (Thumb and Toe)
Choir to Pedal (Thumb and Toe)
Solo to Pedal (Thumb and Toe)
Swell to Great (Thumb)
Choir to Great (Thumb)
Solo to Great (Thumb)
Swell to Choir (Thumb)
Solo to Choir (Thumb)
Full Organ (Thumb and Toe, with Indicator Light)

MISCELLANEOUS CONTROLS

All Swells (Thumb Piston, with Indicator Light)
Crescendo Pedal (with Indicator Light)
Expression Pedals: String, Choir, Swell, Solo
Control Swiches (Piston): Orchestral and Regular Crescendo; Echo, Solo, Both, 0 (on Manual IV)
Signals: Altar (left and right sides), Rear of Sanctuary, Entrance to Cancel Area

ACCESSORIES

Console lighting
Solid State Logic Multilevel Capture System (8 Memory Levels with Settable Full Organ)

For more information about FUMC Pipe Organs, contact
Dr. Kiyo Watanabe, Organist: 940-766-4231, x231.