Dr. Donna Whited, Acting Organist and Chapel Choir Director

Our Gress-Miles pipe organ was installed in 1978.

When the sanctuary was dedicated in 1967, we had a much smaller organ, with seven ranks of pipes. The church organist at that time, Howard Wolvington, remarked that not only was that too small a number of pipes, but the pipes weren’t even of the right kind.

The desirability of replacing that organ became increasingly apparent over the years, and in 1977 the Organ Fund Campaign was established. Many in the congregation love music and find it to be a deeply spiritual aspect of worship. Their generosity exceeded expectations, and by November of 1977 more than half of the new organ’s $90,000 cost had been pledged.

The Gress-Miles Organ Company of Princeton, New Jersey won the contract, and the new organ was designed and built in that company’s shop. It was then disassembled and trucked to our church for installation. Installation began on December 4th of 1978, and the organ was ready for dedication on the third Sunday of Advent.

There’s more to an organ than meets the eye. Those magnificent 66 pipes you see in front are just a fraction of the pipes you hear. This organ has a total of 1861 pipes! The rest of them are behind the façade, in the space that extends back over the coat racks to the Narthex wall. To produce the variety of sounds you hear every Sunday, there are pipes in a variety of shapes and sizes. The largest are 16 feet long. The smallest are just an inch or two in length.
Not all pipes are shaped like the principals you see in the front. They come in different shapes and materials to produce different sounds. Some widen at the top, like ice cream cones, while others get narrower, like upside down ice cream cones. The reed pipes have strip of metal that vibrates when the pipe is sounded giving them a distinctive sound reminiscent of an oboe or bassoon. Not all of the pipes are even made of metal! Some are made of wood. An assortment of pipes is enclosed in large box that can be gradually opened and closed with a set of louvers – it looks a bit like a set of vertical blinds. This is called the Swell Organ, and it allows a gradual increase or decrease in volume.

Here are the specifications for the real organ aficionado:

Gress-Miles Pipe Organ
Installed December 1978

Great Organ (I)
Gedecktpommer 16’
Principal 8’
Rohrfloete 8’
Octave 4’
Rohrpfeiffe 2’
Mixture IV-V 1-1/3’
Dulzian T.C. (Swell) 16’
Trumpeter (Swell) 8’

Positiv Organ (II)
Montre 8’
Holzgedeckt 8’
Flute Conique (Swell) 8’
Principal 4’
Rohrfloete 4’
Octave 2’
Quint 1-1/3’
Scharf III-IV 2/3’
Cromorne (Swell) 8’
Tremulant

Swell Organ (III) Enclosed
Bourdon 8’
Viole de Gambe 8’
Voix Celeste T.C. 8’
Spitzfloete 4’
Octave Viole 4’
Octave Celeste 4’
Nasat T.C. 2-2/3’
Principal 2’
Blockfloete 2’
Terz T.C. 1-3/5’
Quinfloete 1-1/3’
Octave 1’

Zimbel III 1/3’
Basson 16’
Trompette 8’
Cromorne 8’
Clarion 4’
Tremulant
Octave Graves

Pedal Organ
Acoustic Bass II 32’
Subbass 16’
Principal 8’
Rohrgedeckt 8’
Quintfloete 5-1/3’
Octave 4’
Schwiegel 2’
Mixture III-IV 2’
Basse de Cornet III 32’
Bassoon 16’
Trompoette 8’
Cromorne 4’
Zimbelstern

Couplers
Swell to Positiv
Swell to Great
Positiv to Great
Swell to Pedal
Positiv to Pedal
Great to Pedal

Combinations and Accessories
32 memory levels – solid state capture system
10 General Pistons, duplicated by toe studs
Numbers 9 and 10 duplicated under treble end of Swell
6 Pistons per division
All pedal and numbers 5 and 6 of each division duplicated by toe studs
Name Plate cancels for each division
General Cancel Piston
Setter Piston
Tutti reversible – duplicated by toe stud
Reversibles for all 6 couplers – duplicated by toe studs

3 Manuals, 34 ranks, 47 stops, 1861 pipes