I am delighted to
report to you that at a called meeting of the IPC Session Tuesday night,
several motions of great significance were passed.
The first motion was
to authorize IPC to contract with the Dobson Pipe Organ Builders of Iowa
to design and build the Joseph
W. Schreiber Memorial Organ. The new organ was made
possible by an initial lead gift from the Barbara and Winfield Baird
Family and a recent lead gift from the White/Shannon Family, given by
Mrs. Elizabeth O'Neal White Shannon. We are extremely grateful to
these two generous families for choosing to glorify God through the gift
of a memorial organ that will serve God, this congregation, and the
larger community for generations to come.
An additional motion passed
unanimously to conduct a congregational-wide campaign to raise $1.5 million dollars
to prepare the Sanctuary to receive the new organ. The campaign
will begin soon and will be conducted through the end of the year.
Session's action is the culmination
of many years of study by the Organ Task Force and the diligent and
careful work of a number of committees including Finance, Stewardship and
the Sanctuary Project Oversight Task group (SPOT).
This ongoing project
can now move forward from the successful completion of replacing the
slate roof, to the interior preparations, and the final installation and
voicing of a magnificent musical instrument built to praise
God.
For the next several weeks, final
details of the organ design will be underway, and special giving
opportunities are available. Soon thereafter, the capital campaign
will begin, and over the next few months you will be hearing increasingly
more about the plans and how each of you can participate in these
important events in the life of the church.
As we continue to
proclaim Christ,
Our Cornerstone and seek to serve our Lord through Living in the Spirit, Living in
Community and
Living in Service to Others let us
"Praise God in
his sanctuary; Praise him with strings and pipe. Let everything that
breathes praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!" Psalm
150.
In His Service,
