Due to the coronavirus, our building is closed for worship services and all activities until governmental and health authorities permit large gatherings of people. This includes funerals and weddings. Please join us in the comfort of your home for pre-recorded worship on Sunday mornings at 10:00 a.m.
Sunday Service Time - Word & Sacrament: 10:00 a.m. | Church School: 8:45 a.m.
Our worship services are greatly enhanced by our pipe organ comprised of 5,219 pipes. From leading congregational singing to providing exciting voluntaries, organ music is at the heart of Pine Street’s worship.
Opus 506
E.M. Skinner | Original Organ Built in 1926
Opus 506 - A
Æolian-Skinner | Releathered and Cleaned in 1954
Opus R-706
M.P. Möller | Rebuild & Enlargement in 1963
Opus R-1212
M.P. Möller | Rebuild & Enlargement in 1991
The contract for Pine Street Presbyterian Church’s organ was signed in 1924, when design and construction began on the instrument. The Skinner Organ Company of Boston, Massachusetts, installed the organ in 1926 as opus 506. At the time, E.M. Skinner was the premier organ builder in the United States.
In 1954, the Æolian-Skinner company, a merger of the pipe organ division of the Æolian Company and the Skinner Organ Company in 1932, completely cleaned and re-leathered the instrument, but did not make any major tonal changes. This process helped ensure the reliable functioning of the organ for many decades.
The organ served faithfully and virtually unchanged from its original construction for 37 years. In 1963, the M.P. Möller Company of Hagerstown, Maryland enlarged the instrument. During this rebuild, the best of the Skinner pipework and virtually all of the chestwork were saved, renewed, and reinstalled. Of particular importance was the retention of the fully enclosed Solo Organ, with its magnificent state trumpet, colorful solo strings, and French horn.
In the 1980s, the organ was in need of repair, restoration, upgrades, and enlargement. Under the direction of tonal director Daniel Angerstein, Möller performed this work. They installed the Nave Organ, which speaks from the two grilles surrounding the choir loft; the dazzling Trompette en Chamade; and updated the console. Donald L. Clapper, Pine Street’s organist at the time, who served for 43 years, carefully guided this project, helping maintain the continuity of the beauty and character of the original organ with the new additions and advancements in organ technology.
In 2000, the 32-foot stops were failing and needed to be replaced. Walker Technical Company of Zionsville, Pennsylvania, made the replacements. Walker used state-of-the-art digitally sampled voices, which give the needed underpinning to the organ in this large space. This workwas made possible by a generous gift from the estate of Albert Herbert.
For more information or to schedule a tour of the organ, contact the office at (717) 238-9304.
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