Celebrating 150 Years
Stained Glass Windows
Take a moment to enjoy this beautiful booklet put together by our own Mina Moessen in 2002. She took the time to sketch out and annotate the meanings of each stained glass window inside St. James church. We are proud to show off this wonderful book. Simply click below to see more.
The Towers and Bells of St. James
On September 10, 1978 St. James Episcopal dedicated the newly built Patton Memorial Tower and its bells in a festive Eucharist service attended by notable personages from the fields of religion, politics, education and campanology (bell ringing.) These bells are still used today to help proclaim the glory of God during our services with the help of our volunteers! If you are interested in learning more about the history of the St. James bells, simply click below.
Harrison & Harrison Organ
The organ at St. James is a Harrison & Harrison from Durham, England. The genesis of the new instrument began in June 1993 when Mark Venning visited St. James and imagined how a new instrument might look and sound. Once the decision had been taken in April 1997, there followed many months of discussion, planning, and design work, during which the specification and layout of the organ gradually took shape.
Construction in the Durham workshop began in March 1998, and during that period a parallel operation was undertaken at St. James with the removal of the old organ, improvement of the organ chamber, and major alterations to the church floors and ceiling. The acoustics were greatly improved thanks to the acoustical work of Scott Riedel.
The organ arrived in Hendersonville early in 1999 and was completed in time for Easter services. The two oak cases are based on a nineteenth-century English style; the front pipes and many of the interior pipes are made of a 50% tin-alloy known as spotted metal. The Choir Organ is on the right hand side and the rest of the organ is in the chamber on the left; the console can be moved to any part of the chancel.
The organ has 2573 pipes with slider chests and traditional wind reservoirs. The use of electro-pneumatic actions was indicated by the divided layout. The reeds of the organ have a distinctly romantic flavor, with 6” wind for the Swell and Pedal chorus reeds and 10” for the copper Orchestral Trumpet, which is placed horizontally within the north case. The voicing style combined clarity with English warmth to suit the live acoustic of St. James. In 2012, additional memory levels were added bringing the total number of memory levels to 256.
Other Information
Case Designer: Didier Grassin
Designers: Didier Grassin, John Richardson, Alan Howarth
Works Manager: Duncan Matthews
Installation Team: Roy Palmer, Michael Whitfield, Dale Sudder, Alex Oliver
Head Voicer: Peter Hopps
Administrator: Katherine Venning
Managing Director: Mark Venning
You may view the complete specifications sheet for the organ by clicking here.