A SOUND IDEA

Western Reserve UMC pipe organ project will preserve parts of heritage

Assemblers estimate the value of the completed instrument at $375,000.

By LINDA M. LINONIS

religion@vindy.com

canfield

The Rev. Russ Adams and Mark Halls have faith. Faith in God and in the value of heritage motivated them to initiate the Pipe Organ Chancel Project at Western Reserve United Methodist Church.

The Rev. Mr. Adams, pastor, describes himself as a “history person” and Halls, minister of music at the church, is the music man.

They appreciate the rich history organ music has played in the church and were disturbed at the thought of organs deteriorating in closed houses of worship. Western Reserve UMC currently is using an electric organ that Halls said “has seen better days.”

Mr. Adams, born and raised in the Mahoning Valley, admitted distress at seeing pieces of history vanish.

“We’ve sold off some of who we are,” he said, citing the Idora Park carousel, which was rescued and refurbished but is in New York. “People of Youngstown have appreciated the finer things,” he said. “This is our chance to preserve something.”

“Saving a part of history” is how he describes the project to reclaim organ parts from First Christian Church, now Butler North; Pilgrim Collegiate Church; and Epworth Methodist, which was mostly recently Greater Friendship Baptist Church.

“It will be a hybrid of three organs and save pieces of heritage,” Mr. Adams said.

In a way, merging pieces from three organs mirrors the background of Western Reserve UMC, which resulted from merger of Epworth and Cornersburg Methodist churches in the 1960s. The merged congregations built a new church, complete with a new name at 4580 Canfield Road (Route 62).

“Pivotal parts will be put together to form an instrument,” Halls said.

He said “the heart of the organ” will be from First Christian. Ornate carvings in mahogany and an English drawknob console detail the Gothic-style Hillgreen Lane dating to the 1930s. Ranks of pipe from Epworth and tubular chimes from Pilgrim Collegiate also will be used.

Halls said the finished organ will have 23-25 ranks of pipe and 1,200-1,300 pipes. There will be 61 pipes in a rank.

“Ranks produce various sounds,” Halls said, noting flute, wind instruments, strings and bass sounds are options.

Mr. Adams and Halls said Vic Marsillio of Victor Organ Co. in Austintown will be assembling the pipe organ.

The two estimated the value of the completed instrument at $375,000, which is comparable to the cost of a new pipe organ. Buying a new pipe organ would be too much of a financial strain, but rescuing and refurbishing is doable.

The cost is about $100,000, Mr. Adams said, and the 650-member church is backing the project.

“The church has a lot of energy,” Mr. Adams said of membership. And, he added, they support a traditional style of worship and a pipe organ would be a wonderful addition.

The current sanctuary would be modified to a degree by renovating the chancel area. This change also would make the chancel a barrier-free performance area.

Mr. Adams said the church will be sponsoring fundraisers and has Pies for Pipes planned March 21. He said that’s a church choir effort of selling homemade pies after services, which are 8:30, 9:15 and 11 a.m. He also noted he’s exploring grant possibilities from the history standpoint.

Mr. Adams said he believed in the project. “It takes a feeling of optimism,” he said.

“It’s a leap of faith,” Halls said, adding that he envisions the effort as community-oriented.

He said many seniors live nearby and it would be nice if the church would eventually present musical programs.