Westminster
Presbyterian Church Receives New Bond
(August, 2002)
Bond Organ Builders’ Opus 31 is now in place in Westminster Presbyterian Church in Eugene, Oregon. Thanks to the church’s successful fundraising efforts, the organ, originally contracted to include prepared stops, has been installed "in it's entirety".
This two-manual, eighteen-rank instrument is placed in a chamber at the front of the church. The shallow depth of the layout and the sloping ceiling of the chamber combine to give the organ’s sound the excellent projection characteristic of Bond’s encased instruments. Removal of the acoustic cloth from the elaborate wood grillwork also aids projection and will help the organ to stay in tune and at pitch. The polished display pipes, from the Great and Pedal Principals, are visible through the grille. Also visible are the lowest thirteen pipes of the 16’ Posaune, made of flamed polished copper and arranged in a "fan" design. Two string ranks in the Swell and the chimes were carried over from the church’s previous instrument.
Manual windchests are Bond’s customary slider chests, fitted in this case with an electro-pneumatic key action of Blackinton type for remote operation. Stop action is electric, coupled to an eight-level combination action. Connection to the console is by multiplex data processor. A record/playback system has also been provided for the organist’s use.
The console itself has a low-profile design and is of quarter-sawn white oak with a hand-rubbed finish. For contrast, myrtle wood contributed by church members was incorporated into the music rack, the keydesk and the side jambs.
Tonal finishing was completed in early August and the organ was first heard in worship on August 4. A festival dedication will take place on September 29.