Bowne Street Community Church - Flushing (Queens), NY
 
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Bowne Street Community Church
 (Reformed Church in America and United Church of Christ)  

143-11 Roosevelt Avenue
Flushing (Queens), N.Y. 11354
http://thebscc.org


Organ Specifications:
143-11 Roosevelt Avenue (since 1892)
► III/47 Skinner Organ Company, Op. 813 (1929); rev. (c.1988)
► III/30 Skinner Organ Company, Op. 813 (1929)
• II/ Reuben Midmer & Sons (<1917)
Prince and Washington Streets (1843-1892)
• Geo. Jardine & Son (<1869)



The Protestant Reformed Dutch Church of Flushing was organized on May 20, 1842. In 1843 construction began on a building at the corner of Prince and Washington Streets overlooking the Flushing Creek in the heart of what was then the finest residential district of Flushing. By 1890 the membership of the church had reached 300 and another new building was planned. The congregation borrowed money from the Collegiate Church in Manhattan and began construction on the present building which was completed in 1892. The church contains beautiful stained glass windows by Louis Comfort Tiffany.

1909 Postcard of The Congregational Church in Flushing, NY  
1909 postcard – Congregational Church in Flushing
 
In 1851, a number of persons withdrew their membership and joined with others in forming the first Congregational Church of Flushing. The Congregational Church was located just across Bowne Street where the high-rise Flushing House retirement home is now located. In 1974, one hundred and twenty-three years after they split, the two congregations merged back together and formed The Bowne Street Community Church – associated with both the United Church of Christ and the Reformed Church in America. Shortly after the two congregations had started meeting together but before the final incorporation of The Bowne Street Community Church, the Congregational Church was destroyed by fire (December 1970). The reason the two churches merged was the changing character of Flushing. During the 1930s through the 1950s, the neighborhood had been predominantly white Anglo-Saxon Protestant and both churches had large, active congregations. During the sixties and seventies, Flushing began to become home to what is now one of the largest Asian populations in the United States. The resulting decline in membership of both congregations was the stimulus for the merger.

In 1978 a group of immigrants in Flushing from Taiwan formed the Zion Christian Church with services in Taiwanese. Zion Christian Church began meeting in Bowne Street Community Church about 1983 and in 1988 officially merged with BSCC to form a unified, bilingual, congregation.

See also the web page for First Congregational Church of Flushing.
           

E.M. Skinner Organ, Op. 813 (1929) at Bowne Street Community Church - Flushing (Queens), NY
Skinner Organ Company
Boston, Mass. – Opus 813 (1929); rev. Peter Batchelder (c.1988)
Electro-pneumatic action
3 manuals, 44 stops, 47 ranks


Around 1988, the 1929 Skinner organ was tonally revised and enlarged by Peter Batchelder of New York City. A new Great division was installed, and the Skinner Choir division was replaced by an unenclosed Positiv. The specifications that follow were recorded by Larry Trupiano in November, 1999.
               
Great Organ (Manual II) – 61 notes
16
   Quintadena
61
2 2/3
  Quint
61
8
   Principal
61
2
   Super Octave
61
8
   Rohr Bourdon
61
     Mixture V ranks
305
8
   Gemshorn
61
8
   Trumpet
61
4
   Octave
61
     Chimes  
4
   Wald Flute
61
        
 
     
 
     
Swell Organ (Manual III) – 61 notes, enclosed
16
   Bourdon
73
4
   Block Flute
73
8
   Open Diapason
73
     Sesquialtera II ranks
122
8
   Rohr Flute
73
     Mixture III ranks
183
8
   Salicional
73
16
   Contra Oboe [unit]
85
8
   Voix Celeste
73
8
   Trumpet
73
4
   Octave
73
8
   Oboe
—
4
   Flute
73
     Tremolo  
               
Positiv Organ (Manual I) – 61 notes
8
   Gedeckt
61
     Scharff IV ranks
244
4
   Principal
61
16
   Musette
61
4
   Koppel Flute
61
8
   Cromorne
61
2
   Octave
61
     Tremolo  
1 1/3
  Quint
61
        
               
Pedal Organ – 32 notes
32
   Contra Bass [resultant]
—
4
   Octave
—
16
   Contra Bass [unit]
56
     Mixture IV ranks
128
16
   Bourdon [unit]
44
32
   Contra Bombarde [unit]
56
16
   Lieblich Gedeckt
SW
16
   Bombarde
—
8
   Principal
—
16
   Contra Oboe
SW
8
   Bourdon
—
8
   Bombarde
—
8
   Still Gedeckt
SW
        
               
Couplers
    Great to Pedal 8'   Positiv to Great 8'
    Swell to Pedal 8', 4'   Swell to Positiv 16', 8', 4'
    Positiv to Pedal 8', 4'   Swell 16', 4'
   
Swell to Great 16', 8', 4'
   
           
Skinner Organ Company
Boston, Mass. – Opus 813 (1929)
Electro-pneumatic action
3 manuals, 36 stops, 30 ranks, 1,976 pipes


Following are the original specifications of the Skinner Organ, Op. 813, that was installed in 1930 at a cost of $22,800.
               
Great Organ (Manual II) – 61 notes
16
   Bourdon [ext. PED]
17
8
   Tuba *
61
8
   First Diapason
61
8
   French Horn *
61
8
   Second Diapason
61
     French Horn Tremolo  
8
   Clarabella
61
     Chimes  
4
   Principal
61
        
    Grave Mixture II ranks
122
     * enclosed with Choir  
 
     
 
     
Swell Organ (Manual III) – 61 notes, enclosed
16
   Bourdon
73
4
   Octave
73
8
   Diapason
73
     Mixture III ranks
183
8
   Rohrflute
73
16
   Contra Oboe [unit]
85
8
   Salicional
73
8
   Trumpet
73
8
   Voix Celeste
73
8
   Oboe
—
8
   Flauto Dolce
73
8
   Vox Humana
73
8
   Flute Celeste [TC]
61
     Tremolo  
               
Choir Organ (Manual I) – 61 notes, enclosed
8
   Concert Flute
73
8
   Clarinet
73
8
   Dulciana
73
     Tremolo  
8
   Unda Maris [TC]
61
    
Harp
preparation
4
   Flute
73
    
Chimes
preparation
               
Pedal Organ – 32 notes
32
   Resultant
—
8
   Still Gedeckt
SW
16
   Contra Bass [unit]
44
16
   Trombone [unit]
44
16
   Bourdon [unit]
44
16
   Contra Oboe
SW
16
   Echo Lieblich
SW
8
   Tromba
—
8
   Octave
—
     Chimes
GT
8
   Gedeckt
—
        
           
Previous organ:

Reuben Midmer & Sons
Brooklyn, NY (<1917)
Unknown action
2 manuals


Specifications for this organ have not yet been located.
           
Previous organ in church at Prince and Washington Streets:

George Jardine & Son
New York City (<1869)
Unknown action


Specifications for this organ have not yet been located.
 
Sources:
     Aeolian-Skinner Archives web site: http://aeolian-skinner.110mb.com/
     Bowne Street Community Church web site: http://thebscc.org
     George Jardine & Son Opus list, compiled by Sand Lawn; courtesy David Scribner.
     Kinzey, Allen, and Sand Lawn, comps. E.M. Skinner/Aeolian-Skinner Opus List. New Rev. Ed. Richmond: The Organ Historical Society, 1997.
     Nelson, George. Organs in the United States and Canada Database. Seattle, Wash.
     Trupiano, Larry. Stoplist of the organ in November, 1999.

Photos:
     Bowne Street Community Church web site: http://thebscc.org. Exterior and Skinner organ case.
     eBay.com. 1909 postcard of First Congregational Church.
 

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