For over 50 years, our Reuter Pipe Organ has graced the Sanctuary of First Baptist Roswell every Sunday, leading faithfully in worship, offering all those who enter our sacred space the gift of its voice and music. After half a century of continuous usage, we’ve arrived at a critical juncture, where, like any instrument, with extensive usage over time comes the expected aging and wear and tear on its elements. Since its original completion and installation in 1971, we have avoided any major repairs through meticulous routine maintenance. However, the time has come for an extensive repair and refurbishment to help restore and renew its condition for another half century of faithful service. In our stewardship and care of this magnificent instrument we have been entrusted with – a monumental investment from within our congregation given by the faithfulness of God’s people for God’s church – the Music & Worship Committee presents: the Reuter Pipe Organ Renovation Project.
The Reuter Pipe Organ Renovation Project is a comprehensive fundraising and renovation campaign of our Sanctuary’s pipe organ, designed to fund the necessary work of our proposed renovation plan, secure its maintenance and care over the next 20 years, and build capital for the financial support of the organ for decades to come. We invite you to join us in this important effort of stewardship in our church!
Fundraising Team
In October of 2024, An Organ Fundraising Team was approved by Budget and Finance Committee, to work under the leadership of the Music and Worship Committee, to direct and coordinate the fundraising efforts of the Renovation Project. Rev. Jerry and Maryann Tyler were named co-chairs of this fundraising team, to work alongside Rev. David Warren, Nancy Tolbert-Yilmaz, and Rev. John Condra.
The fundraising team is tasked with working to identify major donors, seeking outside grants and funding, communicating our renovation project goals and needs, tracking gifts and donations offered in honor or memory of loved ones, and organizing fundraising events.
Goals and Events
Initial Goal: At present, we have identified a King-sized goal for the “King of Instruments” in an initial signing goal to raise $500,000 before November 31st, 2025. *(Note: The proposed organ renovation “Legacy Program” will not be brought to the congregation for a final vote or signature of church officers entering into an official agreement until we have met this initial signing goal. This sum to be initially raised is not a requirement of R.A. Colby, Inc.; rather, it is a requirement offered by the Budget and Finance Committee of First Baptist Roswell to help us fund and invest half of the renovation cost upfront, adding to our financial peace and stability and mitigating the need for any loan of any kind to support the project.
Completion Goal: Once we have raised the initial signing goal of $500,000, we will continue to raise the remaining balance ($571,600.00) of our project total ($1,071,600.00) over the next 20 years at the completion of the “Legacy Program” contract.
Fundraising Events: Check back for updates on upcoming fundraising events at our church and around our community.
(Click Image to Enlarge)
Ways to Give
We are excited to offer to you the opportunity to give towards this important cause for the music and worship of our church. There are several ways that you plan your gift towards the Reuter Pipe Organ Renovation Project.
- Click HERE to give online today! Please designate your gift to the “Organ Fund.” Gifts may be received in a number of forms and financial vehicles.
- If you wish to make a pledged gift or a recurring pledge over a period of any time, please email the Organ Fundraising Team at music@fbroswell.org.
- In any gift, we offer to you the opportunity to honor or memorialize someone. At the completion of the Organ Renovation Project, we will create a tribute display to honor those who have given so generously in honor of or in memory of someone.
Over 50 years ago, our congregation boldly committed to the significant investment of a pipe organ that would serve the musical needs of not just our church, but all those who would draw near to our church and her mission. They committed and offered of themselves beyond their regular tithes and offerings to something that would outlive them and would be left to the next generation. Five decades later, we, “the next generation,” have the opportunity to give of ourselves to something that will outlast us, and leave a grand instrument, re-crafted and cared for, for the generations to come after us – to the glory of God and God’s church here in Roswell. Would you prayerfully consider joining us in this important effort today?
The Cause for Renovation
The video presentation below was prepared for our congregation about the need and desire for this renovation.
Bidding Process & Selection
The video presentation below was prepared for our congregation and outlines the process our Music & Worship Committee followed and how they arrived at a proposed plan for renovation.
Why Renovate the Organ Instead of Repairing the Basic Needs?
In the bidding and selection process, the Music and Worship Committee explored a variety of ways to fix and repair the organ. In the immense work to compare and understand the scope of repair work and processes offered, cost structures, and the completed guarantees and serviceability of the instrument, the Music & Worship committee selected the bid offered from R. A. Colby, Inc., as the option that best met the immediate needs of the organ, helped us enhance the instrument for easier and greater use in our context, and offered prompt and guaranteed service and maintenance for the entire organ over the course of the next two decades, and beyond!
Of the five major bids we collected, R. A. Colby’s work stood out to us from the beginning. Apart from their direct and open communication, their obvious desire to help support and care for the music-making of our church’s worship, and their unsurpassed corporate intentionality and flexibility, R. A. Colby’s bid offered to us a repair option that no other bid could match. Through their Legacy Program, they offered an affordable and guaranteed option to fix the immediate needs of the organ, enhance the music and sound abilities of the instrument, and guarantee a comprehensive plan for tunings, routine maintenance, and any additional work that would not be addressed in the initial repairs, but would could be predicted and expected across the entire organ. In their bid, the Legacy Program, the option to fix, enhance, and care for the organ is offered to us with an immediate fix, minimizing our time without the instrument, and allowing us to enjoy the full benefits of a repaired and enhanced organ, without the immediate financial burden.
Other repair bids we explored would require immediate payment and a quick due payment schedule throughout and at the completion of the repair project, which would require our congregation to fundraise and acquire the entire cost of the repair prior to beginning any work. A repair of the “immediate needs” would require a significantly more demanding and immediately due payment schedule (one we currently are not prepared to pay), one in which a percentage of the cost is due at signing, a percentage is due during the work, and then the remaining balance is due at completion. Because of the scope of work and time involved in removing the entire organ to make these repairs and re-install it in its current build configuration, when the time comes to make any additional renovations, all the work we will have just paid for will have to be redone – rather undone – and further altered, or even removed to make accommodations for a re-designed chamber layout and replacement of pipes. For the cost, we would commit to fixing the immediate needs of the organ in its current state, and an additional cost would come later to undo the repair work we would have just fixed in order to prepare for further renovations. All of this results in even more money spent to segment the project, more time without the instrument, and further repair of the instrument, all without the protection of some sort of dedicated service contract for a multi-year term.
In the case of the Legacy Program from R. A. Colby, Inc., upon our signing of the contract, they could begin the work of repairing and renovating the organ while we continue to fundraise over not just the timeframe of the repair, but over the length of the 20-year service contract. In summary, this repair option is more bang for our buck, it protects not just the parts that need to be repaired, but the entire organ, alleviating any burden of worry or concern across the complete instrument; it helps us enhance the organ for greater use in our church’s worship and music ministry; and it does so all at an affordable and predictiable cost that is not due all at once – which helps us be greater stewards of God’s gifts here at our church over time and not burdening the congregation with a strict cost due immediately. For these reasons, the Music & Worship Ministry feels that the Legacy Program from R. A. Colby, Inc., is in the greatest stewardship of the church and protection of the organ, not just now, but well into the future. We feel that it is in the best practice of our finances and the care of the organ to repair what is immediately necessary with further renovations all at the same time in order to minimize cost and repair time.
Renovation Partner: R.A. Colby, Inc.
The Music & Worship Committee has identified R. A. Colby, Inc., a nationally sought-after and recognized, multi-generation organ-building firm based in Johnson City, TN, offering a unique and comprehensive bid for the overall repair and renovation of our pipe organ, as the best bid we solicited and received in keeping with our church’s financial stewardship and stewardship of the instrument.
The Legacy Program is a 20-year service contract in which the immediate and emergency needs of our organ will be addressed: the complete overhaul and re-leathering of the organ’s winding and pipe system, the replacement of the obsolete electrical relay and power systems, and the electrical action of the entire organ. Additionally, the Legacy program also includes additions and enhancements to the organ through the addition of digital speaking pipes, a revoiced stoplist to make better use of the sounds and tonal colors the organist has to play on, a chamber overhaul to re-configure the cramped and logistically tight layout of the pipe chambers to allow for greater accessibility and serviceability and a rebuilt, moveable console with digital MIDI and playback abilities.
Unique to the Legacy Program, the premium First Baptist Roswell will pay includes “white-glove,” organ rebuild, installation, and maintenance plan for the next 20 years. This provides a financially manageable, all-inclusive proposal to repair the organ and further enhance the instrument, all at once, for a single cost. The congregation will see the changes of this complete proposal without the immediate financial impact. Under the legacy program, R. A. Colby will complete the entirety of the organ repair and renovation project for our use immediately. Under the Legacy program, R. A. Colby will guarantee all work and the complete playability of the instrument for the next 20 years (contract length) and the current state and equipment of our organ will become covered under the care of this agreement, and in the need of any replacements or further repairs, the cost is covered without any additional bills. Additionally, the legacy program covers 24/7 temperature and humidity monitoring of our instrument and Organist placement assistance, which helps provide a replacement or new organist when needed (or the premiums of our program are suspended until a replacement organist is found and playing). This proposal covers all future tunings (twice a year), maintenance, repairs, cleaning, and electrical work needed to restore our instrument, and any further renovations offered in this bid, without additional cost – all covered in the annual premium payment of the program.
Presently, until December 31st, 2025, the quoted cost of the Legacy Program is $1,071,600 ($53,580 annually per year over the next 20 years). This bid, like most bids and quotes for labor and parts, is valid until the end of 2025, when an industry-mandated cost must be recalculated and a new bid cost issued. An initial bid was offered to the church in 2024, yet, because the church did not vote to approve the renovation in 2024, a revised bid was offered to the church for the calendar year of 2025 under the Legacy Program.
To learn more about R. A. Colby, Inc., click HERE.
Frequently Asked Questions
You can find answers to common questions in our FAQ section HERE
The Music & Worship Committee (Music Council)
Rev. David Warren, Rev. Jane Martin, Suzanne Ivey, Katie Warren, Rita Loadholt, LuAda Malcom, Jim Hermance, Penny Kilpatrick, Russ Johnson
If you don’t see what you’re looking for, feel free to reach out – we’re happy to help! Please contact the Music & Worship Ministry at music@fbroswell.org