After more than a century of making music, First Congregational Church of Wiscasset United Church of Christ is bidding farewell to its 1909 vintage organ and preparing to welcome a new modern replacement.

While the beloved Estey organ could no longer meet the musical demands of the congregation, parts of it will continue to resonate elsewhere. Several of the organ's functioning pipes have found a new home in Connecticut, where they’ll be repurposed and become part of another church’s musical life. Meanwhile, in a creative effort to raise funds for the new organ, the Wiscasset church is considering selling individual keys from the old instrument—offering congregants and supporters an opportunity to own a piece of the church’s musical history.

The Rev. David C. Meyer, who has served as interim pastor since March 2023, told Wiscasset Newspaper that two church committees are sharing the responsibility of replacing the organ: the Worship and Music Committee, co-chaired by Linda Wallace and Libby Mooney, and the Property and Finance Committee, co-chaired by Beth Maxwell and Deb Meyers. 

Together the groups’ research led them to buy the new organ from Rodgers Instruments Corporation, renowned for the quality of its instruments and based in Hillsboro, Oregon where its manufacturing plant is. The organ features an AGO Standard Pedalboard, three manuals, and 59 stops. However, as the search committees pointed out, it’s six organs in one, including French, German, Theatre, and more – all of which can be cycled through from the instrument’s main operating screen. This puts the total number of possible stops in the hundreds. 

All of this is music to the ears of Joel Pierce, the church’s music director, organist and choir director. “Not only will this instrument aid us in worship through hymn playing, but it has the capability to play absolutely any organ repertoire,” he said. In an email to the newspaper, Pierce wrote a team from Rodgers Instruments working out of Needham, Massachusetts will begin setting up the new organ in July. “Ogletree and his team will be responsible for installing the organ console and also the speakers, both at the front and in the rear of the sanctuary,” he wrote. The organ was bought through the church’s Endowment Fund, and through several very generous private donations. The cost of the instrument, plus installation, is about  $70,000. Another $6,300 was spent to acquire the antiphonal speakers, i.e., the speakers in the rear of the church. 

This past Thursday morning, Rev. Meyer, Maxwell and Dewey Harris, chair emeritus of the church trustees, were in the sanctuary to meet Alan D. McNeely, owner McNeely Organ Company based in Waterford, Connecticut. McNeely and son Alan were there to remove parts from the old organ, including what remains of its interior pipes. Meyer said the components would be installed in an organ at a church in Stonington, Connecticut. 

Maxwell said the large, golden pipes facing the congregation will be staying put, although moved a little further back to allow more room for the choir. These pipes, she added, would be just for "aesthetic purposes" and not a part of the new organ, which will be a bit closer to the pulpit. Plans are to have the new organ installed and most of the other renovations completed by the latter part of July. 

“This church has always cherished music, and has been blessed to have been served by several high-quality musicians and choir directors over the years,” added Rev. Meyer.  “Music is a priority in our worship because it brings people together,” he continued.  “Singing, working, and worshipping together they witness harmony to make a gift to God and to the gathered congregation.  It has been said, ‘Those who sing, pray twice!’" 

Rev. Meyer has pastored for over 50 years in churches in three states, and the District of Columbia. “I have experienced exceptional music in nearly every one of those churches, including some very large churches with full-time church musicians. The First Congregational Church of Wiscasset is extremely fortunate to have Joel Pierce as its music director and organist," he wrote in an earlier email to the newspaper.  “Not only is he a most incredible keyboardist, but also a music arranger, composer, and perhaps one of the best choir directors I have ever had the privilege of working with.”  

Pierce and his wife make their home in Topsham. He both performs and teaches music. Originally from Vail, Arizona, he spent a good deal of his childhood in New England before moving to Maine. He began filling in as First Congregational Church’s organist in November 2021 and became its regular organist and choir director a few months later. He received both his bachelor of music degree in piano performance and master of music degree in organ performance and church music from the University of Arizona.

Following the completion of the organ’s installation the First Congregational Church is planning an organ recital. In the meantime Pierce will be working the keyboard of the church’s Yamaha Clavinova.   

At its peak in the late 19th century, Estey Organ Company based in Brattleboro, Vermont manufactured hundreds of church organs. The one in use for decades at First Congregational Church was purchased by the Ladies Organ Society following a devastating fire in 1907. The fire which occurred just a few days before Christmas completely destroyed the church including the organ in use then, and the Paul Revere bell in the steeple.