The Members of Tellico Village Community Church have approved the building of a high-quality pipe organ to be installed in our new Sanctuary. The well-attended Membership meeting on November 15th heard a report from the Musical Instrumentation Team (MIT) which was charged with the tasks of surveying the musical needs of the congregation, exploring alternatives for meeting those needs, and making recommendations about which alternatives seem best for our church. The team has been working on these tasks for over a year.

Along with a recommendation to include a Clavinova and a concert grand piano in the new worship area, the MIT also endorsed a very creative organ concept. Unlike a previous organ proposal which called for a “tracker-action” pipe organ, the new instrument in our sanctuary will use an electronic console to activate the pipes. In this way, the organ will make full use of the beautiful pipes rescued from a marvelous 1862 Henry Erben instrument, and yet avoid the extremely high cost of mechanical linkages. The cost savings is over $300,000.

The new organ will be built and installed by Cornell Zimmer Organ Builders of Denver, North Carolina. The cost is $295,000 of which $200,000 is already factored into the construction budget. The balance is expected to be made up through Memorial Gifts and other donations. If you would like to memorialize or honor loved ones by contributing to the organ project, please contact church accountant Joyce Peterson at 458-1516.

In recommending this new organ, the MIT pointed out that a similarly sized (to our sanctuary) digital organ would be priced at nearly $200,000, but have a limited life span. The new pipe organ will virtually last forever and be a gift to future generations who will worship in our sanctuary.

The Membership voted by an overwhelming margin to approve the recommendation of the MIT.