October 11, 2024 Newsletter

The Rev. Wayne Reid hails from Mandeville, Manchester, Jamaica. He is currently the minister of St. Stephen’s Presbyterian Church in Peterborough, Ontario. He was ordained a minister in the Moravian Church in Jamaica in 2004, after completing studies at the University of the West Indies and the United Theological College of the West Indies. Wayne also studied at the Vancouver School of Theology and the Haggai Institute (School of Evangelism) in Hawaii. Rev. Reid was ordained a Minister of the Presbyterian Church in Canada in 2012, shortly after immigrating to Canada.

He became a minister after experiencing an unrelenting sense that God was calling him to the ministry. Rev. Reid has done extensive work in mission and evangelism and is considered to be a gifted preacher by his peers. He is always seeking to proclaim the loving, transforming, redeeming message of hope to all God’s people. He and his wife Dawn are the proud parents of two daughters, Kemorine and Maya.

Paul Mason and his wife Tracy recently moved from Aurora, where they lived for 15 years. They currently reside in Janetville with their two dogs and two cats. Tracy grew up in the schoolhouse in Lotus and attended I.E. Weldon Secondary School.

They are excited to have returned home and are looking forward to getting to know all of us. Paul and Tracy have two grown children, Hailey and Jordan.

Over the years, Paul has been a passionate performer and educator and currently runs a music academy in Aurora. Most recently, Paul served as Music Director at St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church in Nobleton. In his downtime, Paul enjoys reading, nature, travelling and spending time with family, especially his amazing Irish mother in law, Maura. Paul is thrilled to join us at St. Andrew’s and use his musical abilities to serve God, and help us to build His community.

MINISTRY CONVENORS

Christian Education: Cathie Caverly

Finance: June Widdis

Outreach & Missions: Maureen Beaton

Pastoral Care: Linda Rutherford

Personnel: Vern Avery

Presbytery Rep: Susan Wallace

Property: Ron Hutchinson

Roll Clerks: Linda Rutherford/June Widdis

Sustainability: Ian McKechnie

Worship: Susan Wallace

WHAT IS THE SUSTAINABILITY MINISTRY?

This group will be designing creative ways to fundraise while fostering community engagement and environmental sustainability. Ideas from this ministry will be taken to Session for approval and then presented to the appropriate committee for implementation.

Those who are new to St. Andrew’s – and even those who have been attending services here for many years – can be forgiven if they assume that a big pipe organ graces the back of our choir loft. After all, one can count almost two dozen slender pipes of varying heights encased in the ornate woodwork that lends such aesthetic beauty to the east end of our sanctuary.

But wind hasn’t passed through these pipes for nearly six decades. The organ that once led worship services and enthralled local residents at well patronized concerts was removed in 1967 after almost 70 years of continuous use. With 2024 being the 125th anniversary of the organ’s inaugural recital, the time seems right to reflect on this often unheralded part of the St. Andrew’s story.

For the first twelve years after our church opened in 1887, music was provided by a foot-pumped – or possibly hand-pumped – reed organ. By 1899, sufficient funds had been raised to install a proper pipe organ. The organ was built in the shops of the Karn-Warren company of Woodstock, Ontario. (Only a few years earlier, D.W. Karn had acquired the assets of S.R. Warren & Sons, once Canada’s preeminent organ builder, and noted for its exquisite craftsmanship.) The new organ cost $2,000.00 and sported two keyboards and approximately 1,127 pipes – all controlled by mechanical linkages from a console located immediately behind what is now the back row of chairs in the choir loft.

The inaugural recital, which took place in the evening of October 2, 1899, apparently attracted almost 1,000 people. William Reed, organist of St. Andrew’s Church, Toronto, was invited to perform and was praised for having “displayed wonderful execution on both manuals and pedals, and showed himself to be a master of the instrument.” For many years thereafter, St. Andrew’s was blessed with a number of skilled musicians who used the instrument to its fullest potential.

In 1927, at the recommendation of then-organist Sidney F. Chamberlain, the organ was substantially enlarged by C. Franklin Legge, of Toronto. In doing this job, Legge recycled many parts from other organs – resulting in an instrument that might have sounded great, but which would become increasingly unreliable as the years wore on. The original console was removed at this time, and the resulting cavity in the bottom of the organ case was covered over with a polished wooden panel that remains in place to this day.

Complete with new workings, the pipe organ served St. Andrew’s for another four decades before ongoing maintenance issues forced the congregation to look for a replacement. Evidence in our church archives suggests that everything from a complete rebuild to a brand-new pipe organ was considered. Ultimately, a Rodgers 35D electronic organ was acquired and the old pipe organ was gutted, leaving only a barren chamber behind the elaborate case we see today.

While the Rodgers organ has served St. Andrew’s well over the years, it pales in comparison to the bright and rich tones that first sounded forth from the pipe organ 125 years ago.

The full story of the St. Andrew’s organ can be found in Reflections on Old Victoria County.

Ian McKechnie