It was no secret that our organ at St. Stephen's was on its deathbed. The upper manual hadn't worked in several years, and the rest of it was in its final throes. Even the little chime used at Baptisms and the Consecration oftentimes didn't work. When Fr. John said to get him some ballpark figures on a new organ, we didn't waste any time in searching out a new organ. The day after his phone call we had representatives from Rodgers and Allen organ companies. David Streep of Central Florida Organs, representing Rodgers organs, became our consultant and helped us make our decision. He also played a vital part in the installation of the new organ and has helped us with the nuts and bolts of the organ since then.

Once the order had been placed, David had the new one delivered to St. Stephen's the very next day. The first order of business was to remove the back of the old organ for some electrical connection. However, we didn't have the key to the back and since none was available, Rich had to remove it forcibly with a crowbar. Since the organ was well beyond the "able to be repaired stage," we had no qualms with this method. With much cracking and splitting of wood, the back finally came apart, exposing the inner workings of the now defunct organ. Built at the tail end of the large mother board circuitry, it was now completely obsolete and replacement parts were no longer available, as was the company that made it originally. Eventually the electrical connections were taken care of and the old organ was moved out of the way to make way for the new one.

In these photos, the back is completely exposed and the pedal board is standing on end. It was full of cobwebs underneath.

The biggest part of the organ installation process was the removal of the old speaker system and its replacement with brand new, state of the art speakers. Many of you may not have known, or not noticed, the speakers we had prior to our new organ. In the photo on the right you can see the wall behind the choir. There is an identical corresponding wall on the other side of the altar, both of which house the speakers. If you look carefully you can see the mesh rectangles. In all the years I have been a member of St. Stephen's, I have never seen a light on behind that speaker cloth. It was very eerie seeing and hearing voices in it for the first time. It looked like a ghost in the wall and the voices behind it sounded very creepy, too.

In the photo below, David is about to go into the chambers to help Sid (the ghost) with the removal of the old speakers. Some were extremely difficult to take out and had to be left in place to be used as stands for the new speakers.

 

At long last the new organ console is brought into the church in the approximate position where it will be placed. Sid is still working with the speaker system, as he will be for the remainder of the week. Rich is shown here assembling small parts that he will place inside. The next photos are of the old organ being taken from St. Stephen's to its final resting place. Note that it is being given St. Stephen's blessing - "Send Forth."

 

 

 

After the speakers behind the speaker cloth wall were installed, 2 new antiphonal speakers were added in the rear of the church. Rich and Sid crawled along the top of the pillar area to string the wire.

The installation is finally complete, all of the wires are connected, and the pedal board is attached to the organ console.

Sid, Betty Lacey, Rich, and David

Bill came from Miami to voice the organ.	Da Boss finally gets to try out the new organ

The week following the installation, the organ was "voiced." Each note and each stop was checked to ensure that it could be heard equally well throughout the church. Also, any vibrations were spotted and checked. There were many vibrating areas or items that vibrated when certain frequencies were played on the organ.

Thus is the story of the new organ. Thank you Fr. John! It should outlast us all.

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