A couple of weeks ago, Pastor Rick received an email from our Presbytery office stating that Westminster Presbyterian Church in Wilmington had agreed to sell their building to Christ the King Presbyterian Church (PCA), and that their church organ was up for sale. The organ was a Rodgers "Trillium Masterpiece" electronic organ, for which the church had paid $80,000 just nine years ago (2009), as a replacement for their aging pipe organ. They were willing to make it available to another PC (USA) congregation in the Presbytery of Coastal Carolina for just $15,000, even though it had recently been appraised by Rodgers at $35,000.
So- Pastor Rick found this video of the same model organ being played at the PC (USA) General Assembly a few years ago. Wow!
Rick, Mary Beth (Director of Music) and Karen (Organist) realized that this was an exceptional opportunity for Westminster, Fayetteville to upgrade our instrument, and we made a quick call to Wilmington to see if the organ was still available. It was- although there was a lot of interest, no church had committed to it yet. Time was of the essence, so Pastor Rick polled the Worship Committee and Session by email. We had the money in a designated "organ fund", and the committee and Session were unanimous that we should "jump all over it". And we did! In the midst of Springfest 2018, we drove down to Wilmington and picked it up. Here's a video of the organ being removed from the balcony/choir loft in Wilmington, just last week.
Westminster's new organ (console) is currently sitting in the church narthex, and will be installed this Summer (2018) during the renovation of our sanctuary/worship center. It will first be heard in worship this coming September.
The sweet folks at Westminster, Wilmington are thrilled that their beautiful organ will continue to be used for the Glory of God at "our" Westminster in Fayetteville. As Joe Dixon, one of the elders there, said to Rick: "It'll be part of our legacy." Thanks be to God!