Click on most images to enlarge. 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/30 Skinner Organ Company, Op. 813 (1929); rev. • 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   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 webpage for First Congregational Church of Flushing.             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, which was installed in 1930 at a cost of $22,800. The organ has since been revised, including a new Great division, and a Positive to replace the Choir division.                 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 73 8   Salicional 73 8   Trumpet 73 8   Voix Celeste 73 8   Oboe [ext.] 12 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 32 16   Trombone 32 16   Bourdon 32 16   Contra Oboe SW 16   Echo Lieblich SW 8   Tromba [ext.] 12 8   Octave [ext.] 12   Chimes GT 8   Gedeckt [ext.] 12                                 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: Geo. Jardine & Son New York City (<1869) Unknown action Specifications for this organ have not yet been located.                   Sources:      Aeolian-Skinner Archives website: http://aeolian-skinner.110mb.com/      Bowne Street Community Church website: http://thebscc.org      Jardine 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. Photos:      Bowne Street Community Church website: http://thebscc.org (exterior and Skinner organ case)      Postcard of First Congregational Church found on eBay.com   | NYC AGO Home Page | Back to NYC Organs List |