The Austin organ in Northminster Baptist Church, Jackson, MS 39211
THE SELECTION OF THE INSTRUMENT
The joyful adventure of choosing an appropriate organ for the Northminster
sanctuary was rooted in the rich soil of past events. The dream of having
such an instrument was present from the beginning days of the congregation,
but it took the life and death of a unique individual and the generous
response of many people to bring this dream to actuality . In response to
the Christian life of Roger Stribling, Jr., and his dream for his church,
his wife and children, his parents, his sister, and his business partner,
Ben Puckett, Sr., saw the dream of the organ as a fitting øpportunity
to memorialize their loved one. Their major gifts, added to the modest sum
already contributed by others to an Organ Fund, were the impetus that made
possible the adventure of search to determine the organ for Northminster's
future ministry. Once again, in God's ingenious hands, an event of tragedy
was transmuted into an event of joy for people now and generations yet unborn.
Four leading American organ builders were considered. After much investigation
and trips to Hartford, CT, Washington, D.C., Asheville, N.C., Atlanta, GA,
and Lawrence, KS, the Committee recommended to the congregation that the
Austin Company be awarded the contract. The Committee felt that the Austin
Company offered a quality product with a unique sound which would best serve
the needs of the church at worship as well as the community at large.
One attraction to Austin Organ Company of Hartford, Connecticut, was the
skill of Alfred Isaacson, Design Engineer. When the Committee showed him
pictures of the existing sanctuary and space, creative ideas flowed freely.
The group decided that the pipes would suggest the Holy Trinity to the
discerning viewer, and a slender cross on the front wall would add to the
visible witness of the instrument.
While the crafting of the organ was
underway in Hartford, a process which took one and a half years, significant
changes began in the sanctuary. Under the capable supervision of Lucian
Harvey, Jr., several contractors prepared for the installation of the
instrument. Northminster was garbed in scaffolding for about three
months as Bernard Higgins and Zoltan Zsitvay worked their own special magic by
placing each pipe in its pre-designed position. They performed this task like
old-world craftsmen with speciaJ skills which many felt had become antiquated
long ago.
Committee members who served were: Jonathan Sweat, Chairman; Karen Gilfoy,
Sherry Stribling Greener, Lucian Harvey, Jr., Nancy McDaniel, Alan Perry,
Bill Pharr, Linda Shelton, and Billy Trotter.
This work of love has both a long history and even a larger future. When none
of us present today are still alive, we have good reason to believe that the
sounds of this instrument will still be calling human beings to the best that
is within them and beyond them. For such a memory and prospect, thanks be to
God!
(from the Dedication of the Organ, March 22, 1981)