Last week, Bill Barnsdale completed framing the opening for the new organ’s swell chamber, allowing the large components of the old organ to be removed. Chris Johns worked with volunteers from the Pipe Organ Foundation to get the last of the huge wooden pipes down (the largest one took six of us!) and loaded into a truck. Apparently, one set of pipes is already being installed in an existing instrument. Our thanks to the Pipe Organ Foundation for this repurposing of our old instrument.

The opening for the swell chamber and the remaining scars from the removal of the organ leave an unattractive backdrop for worship, so we have printed three banners to hang behind the altar. The central banner is an image of a Celtic Cross. The left image is Christos Pantocrator, an ancient icon of Christ, the Sustainer of the World. The right image is an icon of our own St. Dunstan. Our hope is that these banners will provide an appropriate backdrop for worship and a visual division between the construction and our worship space.