ORGAN OUTREACH

This has been in the form of:

● Inviting external musicians

● Changing the type of songs sung

● Purchasing a Hammond, without the full support of the music department.

These incremental changes were brought in however the church members always pushed for retaining the traditional elements.

In 2021 in the wake of church building reopening after the pandemic we discovered that the digital organ was not working. Upon inspection from the technician, we were told that the instrument would not be viable for repair due to its age and we as a church should replace the instrument. For the best part of a year the church was just using the piano and sometimes with the Hammond. While we had this option something was missing. Individuals near to the Leslie speaker would complain that the organ is too loud while others around the back of the building would complain that the organ was not loud enough. Musical pieces that would’ve been played on the organ just did not sound right on the Hammond. Our church has lost its uniqueness, the ‘Hampstead' sound was no more.

Restoration

News had spread within the Adventist circle that our organ was out of action. I began to be invited to play other Adventist churches more regularly which I was grateful for as this kept my skills up. When I visited my home church Members shared with me how much they missed the sound of the classical organ and likewise I too missed playing at my church.