Organ, Kitchen at United Church of Christ Get Needed Updates

"It's great," David Fisher, organist for the , said of the church's recently renovated, massive pipe organ.

Like many musicians, he lets his music do the talking. Fisher had just finished a brief performance on the organ for an audience of three: UCC Pastor David Pattee; Kerry Glann, director of music; and this writer.

"One of the reasons I wanted this job when I interviewed was because they had plans to renovate," Fisher said.

The organ was updated, along with the church's kitchen, as part of an ongoing $226,000 capital improvement program. So far, the congregation has raised $209,000 toward the goal.

Few in the church's nearly 600 active members and close to 900 total community members have heard the organ since its renovation, which replaced worn-out parts and increased its playable range. Before, organists were limited in its playability.

In one example, the "pistons," or adjustable preset tones on the organ, did not work, Fisher said. So the organist would have to set the tones while playing — limiting the musician to simpler melodies and tunes.

"This opens up this organ to a grand performance instrument," Fisher said.

Pattee likened the tones and pipes available to colors on the color wheel. Before, only a handful of colors were available to the artist. Now, nearly the entire color wheel is at the musician's fingertips — allowing him to paint a more extravagant picture.

"Now there's the whole palette of colors available," Pattee said.

The organ has yet to be played during service. In summer months, the congregation meets in the smaller chapel. The organ will debut on Sept. 11, when church service returns to the larger sanctuary where the organ resides.

Pattee said they are organizing a rededication concert for Oct. 16 at 4 p.m. This was likely the first renovation for the Holtkamp organ, which is estimated to be about 50 years old.

The other element of the church's renovation is its kitchen, which has needed an upgrade for decades.

Barbara Donaho, chair of the church's properties and finance committee, said they wanted to update the kitchen for a number of reasons.

"One was we want to look to the future to be able to do things for the community," she said. "And we can’t do that unless our kichen meets (city) codes … and it didn’t as it stood.

"We’re looking to do things, for example, there’s a lot of students over at who are vegetarians," Donaho said. "We would like to consider having an after-school program, and that means serving the kids a bite to eat. We would like to look at periodically having dinners for people in the community. We have had some community dinners, but they have brought the food in already prepared. This would allow us to prepare the meals here and feed people."

The plumbing, the first phase of the kitchen work, is done. The entire project is expected to finish in September. Already many of the new kitchen appliances, including a new stove, convection ovens, refrigerators and cabinets have arrived.

The church studied both renovations for about 18 months. Church leaders talked to congregation members and donors to get their feedback and suggestions for both projects.

Pattee said the renovation projects, both of which have needed doing for some time, will allow the church to expand its outreach programs.

"It's all about mission," he said. "Food and music are central to our vision of a just and loving community ... And hospitality and what we have to share with other people."