Moeller Pipe Organ

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Father Walter Wilson and Kenneth Nash

This organ is dedicated to the glory of God
with special thanksgiving for Fr. Walter and Mary Wilson

On December 4, 1946, Ernest White devised specifications for the M. P. Moeller Organ Company's Opus 7536 for Holy Innocents' Episcopal Church in Beach Haven, New Jersey. Holy Innocents' used the organ until it vacated its building in 1974 leaving the organ behind. A few years later the city purchased the building for a museum. In 1994, the organ was dismantled and stored in Trenton, New Jersey. In August 1995, St. Stephen's purchased the organ with funds appended to the mortgage on the new church building in construction at the time. Georgeanna Gould and Ken Nash travelled north to pack and bring back the treasure to Athens.

While visiting St. Stephen's in 1996, Walter Wilson of Colorado Springs, Colorado, offered to install the organ. Mr. Wilson (now Fr. Wilson, St. Luke's ACA, Colorado, Springs, CO), holds a music degree from Indiana University, built and maintained organs for Casavant and Moeller in Colorado, Wyoming, South Dakota and New Mexico for over forty years including the organs at the U.S. Air Force Academy. St. Stephen's welcomed his offer. In December 1997, assisted by parishioners, Ken Nash, John Bennett, David Haimes, and Robert Corder, he reconfigured the organ. Fr. Wilson designed chambers for the swell, great and pedal divisions.

Beginning in late January 1998, Fr. Wilson re-leathered the swell wind chest, repaired and restored the leather in the great and pedal wind chests, installed magnets in the console to drive the coupler slides, installed solid-state electronic relays and an electrical swell engine, added reed and celeste stops, and wired and winded the wind chests.

After being dormant for over 20 years, the organ was tested a few days before Easter. As Fr. Wilson feared, extensive water damage to the swell wind chest had caused air to bleed internally from one channel to another. Consequently Fr. Wilson replaced the leaky pneumatics with electro-mechanical action and rebuilt the swell wind chest. He also reduced the wind pressure from 3-1/2 inches throughout to 2-1/2 inches on the great division, 2-3/4 on the swell division and 2-7/8 on the pedal division.

After tonally finishing the organ, Fr. Wilson remarked that the organ sounded perhaps nicer than originally. The organ has enhanced the musical offerings at St. Stephen's from that time forward..

As is true of all pipe organs constant maintenance and tuning is required. Ken Nash, in addition to playing the instrument as our Director of Music also is the chief maintenance engineer. In late 2008 Ken began a project to rebuild the wind chest for the pedal division, switching the pneumatic action to an electrical magnetic action similar to the swell division. The work is still in progress. Upon completion, the great division may also be retrofitted.

Plans are to add a 2 foot principal to the great division in the future and perhaps a 25 note chime also. Only four of the other many churches in Athens have pipe organs and many believe this instrument to be among the best in the area, We are so thankful for Fr. Wilson's tireless efforts to make our pipe dream a reality and the continued loving care and attention given to its maintenance by Ken.

	The 1998 Reconfiguration of the Organ
Stop	Great	Pipes
Spitzflote 8'	(50-2/3 scale; tapered, spotted-metal hybrid; pipes 1/12 zinc)	61
Principal 4'	(58 scale; spotted-metal, principal organ tone)	61
Gedeckt 4'	(58 scale; capped, spotted-metal flute)	61
	Swell
Salicional 8'	(52 scale; spotted-metal, string tone; pipes 1-12 zinc)	61
Celeste 8'	(Dulciana; geigen tone; begins at Bass F)	56
Rohrflote 4'	(66 scale; spotted-metal flute with inverted or internal chimneys)	61
Mixture III	(spotted-metal; pitches 1', 2/3' & 1/2' breaking at every octave)	183
Fagotta 8'	(bassoon reed; Bass C bell=3-1/2")	61
	Pedal
Subbass 16'	(#2 Pedal Bourdon; stopped, wooden flute)	32
Spitzprincipal 8'	(46-1/2 scale; tappered, spotted-metal hybrid)	32
Koppelflote 4'	(56 scale; cone-capped, spotted-metal flute)	32
	Full compliment of couplers	701
	Zimbelstern


The rebuilding in progress, 1998		Ken Nash at the console

a Parish Ministry of the Missionary Society of St. John the Evangelist
providing a traditional Anglican presence in Athens, Texas
committed to growing its witness of God's love
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