Organ

Listen to a presentation by George Zack, chair of the Organ Capital Campaign Committee on 6/19/11

A New Organ for Good Shepherd
There is an unbreakable connection between our worship together and our experience of the Risen Savior at The Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd, Lexington.

Worship is the center of the corporate life of the followers of Jesus Christ. Worship is the place of surprise and discovery. In worship, we discover the Savior . . . we discover our faith . . . we discover one another . . . we discover our mission . . . and we discover our voice to witness and praise.

Integral to worship at Good Shepherd is the organ. It is central to both the music of the church and our traditional Anglican worship. Music is an essential and prescribed element in our worship, not just on Sundays, but at weddings, baptisms, funerals, and special commemorations. Music plays a most vital part in our sense of worship and it takes us to heights not reachable without the glory of instrumental and vocal sounds.

A situation many decades in the making
Good Shepherd has maintained this great musical tradition to the glory of God and to the spiritual benefit of its communicants since the present building was consecrated in 1927. The present Holloway organ was built in 1970, reusing some pipes from a 1920s Pilcher organ.  In 1970 the parish was under severe financial limitations, and the Holloway firm built this organ for a very meager price, cutting many corners along the way to stay within budget.  In the ensuing decades, the organ has deteriorated to the point of needing serious attention and extensive repair.

• The organ's electrical components are now outdated, badly worn, and are not functioning reliably.
• The cantilevered chest for the exposed organ pipes on the north wall of the church over the choir is pulling away from the wall to which it is anchored.
• The chamber housing the unexposed organ pipes behind the north wall also contains extraneous plumbing and ducts, has holes in the walls, and is impossible to keep dust-free, which is essential to the proper functioning of the organ.

These formidable problems are not readily apparent to the ears of the congregation partly because our musicians have had to become very skilled at working around them. They ingeniously make up for these shortcomings of the organ by avoiding the malfunctioning stops and by adjusting singing volume.

A study commissioned by the Vestry
In recent months, a committee was appointed by the Vestry to study the organ situation and make a recommendation. Five different organ builders were consulted to evaluate the Good Shepherd organ.

As these experts examined the deterioration of the present organ, they also pointed out several facets of our organ's basic design, which make it less than desirable for our church.

• The placement of the pipes and their loudness do not take advantage of the excellent acoustics of the building and consequently, the sound does not adequately support singing in the nave.
• The expressive division of the organ (a box surrounding an unexposed group of pipes with venetian blinds that open and close to allow changes in volume) is too small to permit the best choral accompaniment in line with Anglican tradition.
• The unenclosed portion of the organ has too many high-pitched stops to allow for a balanced sound.
• The number of pipes is too small for the organ's three objectives - congregational, choral and solo music.

Further, the experts consulted recommended an ideal number of pipes for Good Shepherd based on the cubic space of the building, the excellent acoustics of the nave, and the best traditional models of instruments in English churches for which most of our hymns and liturgical music were composed.   

The recommendation of the organ committee  
After studying reports from the five different organ builders consulted, the organ committee concluded that the best plan is to replace the current organ with an entirely new instrument. The committee based this recommendation on the following facts.

Basic repairs on the organ would cost an estimated $200,000 to $250,000 and would simply perpetuate the tonal defects of the present instrument and postpone the inevitable replacement. Repairing and updating the organ with a new console and adding a few ranks of pipes in the space available would cost approximately $900,000. Even if upgraded, the outdated style of the organ (a mid-20th century effort to copy tonal schemes from Bach's time), with its poorly balanced and limited stop-list, would make it difficult to attract first-rate organists in the future.

Before making their recommendation, the members of the organ committee asked several questions.
Why are organs so expensive? Real organs, not electronic copies, are handmade to fit a specific site, and the materials and the team of highly skilled craftsmen and designers (often also organists themselves) rightly demand appropriate wages.

Can we find a cheaper instrument? Yes, we can find a builder cheaper than the one chosen if we are willing to accept thinner metal pipes that are not built to last and if we are content to settle for sleek, modern cabinet work that does not match the style of the carvings in the church. But in view of the importance of music in our tradition, and in Good Shepherd in particular (as the Holy Conversations made abundantly clear), it is essential to obtain the best possible instrument that we can afford - one that will enhance the beauty of the sanctuary and will, at last, produce a balanced sound created for the size of the building. The five recommended builders interviewed - four of the best in America and one Italian company - presented designs that range from $900,000 to $1.6 million, not including the cost of alterations to the building.

Why not use an electronic organ and/or a piano as other denominations do? Since the early 18th century, our Anglican congregational music and choral singing have been based on organ accompaniment, and a real organ is required for best realization. Ours is a noble tradition universally admired for the beauty of its literature and forms of musical expression.

Will the congregation hear the difference between the old and the new organ? Yes. An instrument designed to make maximum use of the acoustics of Good Shepherd's edifice will produce a far richer, more refined, and more substantial sound - not a louder one - and will support and encourage congregational singing. Committee members who visited churches that own well-built instruments, especially those with a division of the organ positioned behind the congregation, insist that the difference is palpable.

Will the new organ spoil the appearance of the church? No. It will be encased in carved grilles and cabinets that match the superb woodwork of the chancel.

Will the console plaque dedicated to Clarke Bloomfield be removed? No. It will be incorporated into the new instrument and the memorial plaque retained.

The task at hand
The Vestry unanimously accepted the recommendation of the organ committee to replace the current organ with an entirely new instrument. Further, the Vestry has directed that a campaign be conducted to secure gifts for this purpose to cover the purchase and installation of a new organ.

The Vestry has also directed that the campaign take place during the interim period between rectors in order to maintain the forward momentum the church has experienced for the past many years. The interim rector enthusiastically accepted this directive as part of his calling to Good Shepherd.

The campaign will run through October 2014. This time period will enable pledges to be fulfilled over a thirty-six month period and in four different tax years.

Gifts and pledges are to be secured from members of the Good Shepherd extended family - members, other communicants, former members who have moved away, surviving family of deceased members and friends of the congregation who value the rich tradition of music at Good Shepherd.

Naming opportunities are available for lead gifts to this project. Appropriate recognition will be provided, noting the gift made in honor or in memory of named individuals.

Any funds received in excess of the purchase and installation of the organ will be placed in an organ fund for future maintenance and repair of the new instrument.

The organ is very important to the central mission and vision of Good Shepherd. However, it is crucial that no funds be deflected to the organ fund from the annual support of the ongoing ministry of the church. Gifts for the organ should be given above and beyond the needed support of the church's annual operating budget.

Goulding & Wood Organ Company from Indianapolis has been selected as our builder.  The price of our new organ is $1,242,423.  We will need to allow for a $150,000 cushion for construction cost and room preparation, bringing our target goal to $1,400,000.  Additional money raised for this project will be kept in a maintenance fund for the new instrument.

A legacy for the futureReplacing the organ at Good Shepherd is a great undertaking, which will positively impact worshippers for years and years to come. It is the right thing to do. And now is the right time to do it. Those who give toward this project will be providing a legacy for future generations such as current worshippers at Good Shepherd have received from those who have gone on before us. And most importantly, gifts to this project will strengthen the very core mission and vision of the church and will glorify God - Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  

A table of gifts needed to successfully fund the $1.4 million organ project
One lead gift of $350,000 or more                                   
Three lead gifts of $100,000 or more                                   
Five gifts of $50,000 or more                                                     
Eight gifts of $25,000 or more
Ten gifts of $10,000 or more                                                     
Twenty gifts of $5,000 or more
One hundred gifts of $1,000 or more