Christ Church United Methodist has gotten back half the pipe organ it sold in 1914.

Now the downtown congregation wants to rebuild the organ and install it in the church's sanctuary - which already has one working pipe organ.

In 1904, the congregation of what was then called State Street Methodist Church bought its first organ, paying $1,750 to the Moller Pipe Organ Company, which shipped the instrument from Maryland and oversaw the installation here.

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Lawrence Pierce

The organ pipes are in storage now, but David Donathan wants to bring them back to life and recapture a part of Christ Church United Methodist’s history.

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The Moller organ stayed at the Y until the historically black congregation of  Simpson Memorial United Methodist Church bought it in 1914 for its new building on Shrewsbury Street.

There the Moller stayed, used by a congregation that had 750 members in the 1950s but lately has struggled to attract 40 or 50 on a Sunday morning. Meanwhile, the organ fell into disrepair, and the Simpson trustees, not having the $50,000-plus needed for repairs, looked for a buyer.

David Donathan, Christ Church's organist and director of music ministries, looked at the distressed organ. He called in David and Chris Nagorka of Kanawha Organ Works to offer their opinion.

"I said I'd take it, even though I didn't have a dime in my hand," Donathan said.

Donathan persuaded a church member descended from someone involved in the 1904 purchase to put up the money. Christ Church took just the pipes, which were in good shape. That was in 2005.

Chris Holtkamp, president and artistic designer of the Holtkamp Organ Company of Cleveland, took a look the next year. He said the pipes could work as part of an antiphonal organ. An antiphonal organ, a second organ placed in the rear of large sanctuaries, assists congregants in their singing.

Christ Church United Methodist has gotten back half the pipe organ it sold in 1914.

Now the downtown congregation wants to rebuild the organ and install it in the church's sanctuary - which already has one working pipe organ.

In 1904, the congregation of what was then called State Street Methodist Church bought its first organ, paying $1,750 to the Moller Pipe Organ Company, which shipped the instrument from Maryland and oversaw the installation here.

The congregation moved temporarily to the YMCA on Capitol Street in 1908, taking the organ with it. When the new building opened at the corner of Quarrier and Morris streets in 1911, it had a bigger organ, paid for in part with the anticipated proceeds from the sale of the old one.

The Moller organ stayed at the Y until the historically black congregation of  Simpson Memorial United Methodist Church bought it in 1914 for its new building on Shrewsbury Street.

There the Moller stayed, used by a congregation that had 750 members in the 1950s but lately has struggled to attract 40 or 50 on a Sunday morning. Meanwhile, the organ fell into disrepair, and the Simpson trustees, not having the $50,000-plus needed for repairs, looked for a buyer.

David Donathan, Christ Church's organist and director of music ministries, looked at the distressed organ. He called in David and Chris Nagorka of Kanawha Organ Works to offer their opinion.

"I said I'd take it, even though I didn't have a dime in my hand," Donathan said.

Donathan persuaded a church member descended from someone involved in the 1904 purchase to put up the money. Christ Church took just the pipes, which were in good shape. That was in 2005.

Chris Holtkamp, president and artistic designer of the Holtkamp Organ Company of Cleveland, took a look the next year. He said the pipes could work as part of an antiphonal organ. An antiphonal organ, a second organ placed in the rear of large sanctuaries, assists congregants in their singing.

Such organs are common in big city churches, with their traditional long, narrow cathedral shape, Donathan said.

In Christ Church's square sanctuary, the antiphonal organ would create surround sound, Donathan said. The old Christ Church sanctuary, lost in a 1969 fire, had surround sound. That's because the pipe organ there had an echo division with several ranks of pipe in the ceiling.

Holtkamp created a design for an antiphonal organ that could be played from the console of the sanctuary's existing 40-rank that his company bought in 1975. The organist could choose for sound to come from the first organ, the second organ, or both simultaneously. (In all but a few churches, antiphonal organs are tied in to a single console. National Cathedral in Washington is installing a second organ that can be played by a second organist or tied into the main organ.)

The antiphonal organ would cost $200,000 to $300,000, money that would have to be raised. "The goal is for someone to step forward and say I'll do this in memory of parents or grandparents," Donathan said. "Then we could start right away."

Otherwise, fundraising will begin later this year or early next year, Donathan said.

Christ Church has 1,200 members and three Sunday worship services. The 9 a.m. contemporary service doesn't use an organ. The 9:45 a.m. short traditional service in the chapel uses the small pipe organ there. The 11 a.m. traditional service relies extensively on the organ.

The 1904 organ was consecrated to the glory of God, Donathan said. "It's historically significant. Something like that shouldn't be thrown away. But the main reason to do this is that it will enhance the way we do worship at Christ Church.

"It will add a whole new dimension that is unique in Charleston. You have to experience it before you can understand it."

To contact staff writer Bob Schwarz, use e-mail or call 348-1249.