The yawning gap in the choir loft of Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church is a sight that hasn’t been seen in more than six decades, ever since the congregation acquired an Austin Opus 1029 pipe organ from a church in Atlanta in 1958.

Now, that organ is the subject of a capital campaign, begun in September 2021 when it was determined that safety concerns necessitated a replacement for the 101-year-old musical instrument.

“The current wiring is wrapped in cotton,” Keith Ellard, the church’s development director, said in early April. “We’ve had two or three instances with electrical issues that we have had to address before they became a fire hazard.”

Days later, Ellard’s warning and fundraising efforts would prove prescient when the organ caught fire on Palm Sunday, April 10, forcing its removal from the loft. By mid-May, with a signed contract in hand, a crew from the Hartford, Conn.-based Austin Organs, Inc., was in the Cullman church, removing dozens of organ pipes and other equipment in preparation for a new instrument.

Because building and installing a pipe organ will be a yearlong process — Sacred Heart hopes to have a new organ in place by May 2023 — Ellard said the decision was made to take advantage of the downtime to make much-needed renovations to the choir risers, duct work and aged wiring.

Today, the choir loft is gutted as work proceeds, with salvaged pipes and other components filling nooks and crannies and even part of the nave throughout the church. It’s an emptiness that belies the optimism, hope and anticipation that Ellard said fills the entire parish community as it works toward completion of the nearly $800,000 project.

“We’ve talked to Austin about our goal, and they said it’s reasonable we could have a dedication service in conjunction with Mother’s Day,” Ellard said. “That would be really nice.”

Want to help?

Anyone who has a love of fine music and Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church in Cullman is welcome to contribute to the organ fundraising campaign by contacting the church office at (256) 734-3730, the church said in a statement. Memorial of loved ones can be attributed to their name with a plaque being made to honor their memory.

Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church’s Austin Opus 1029 pipe organ, a timeline

The history of the Austin Opus 1029 pipe organ goes back to its original construction by the Austin Organ Company of Hartford. Originally built for the Second Baptist Church of Atlanta, at a cost of $14,300, the organ components were moved to the Second-Ponce DeLeon Baptist Church of Atlanta in 1937 and serviced the church for two decades. At that time, the Austin Organ Company lost track of the instrument until it was contacted in 1988 by the organ’s third owner, Sacred Heart of Jesus in Cullman.

It was 1958 when Dr. Max Richard, choir director and organist for Sacred Heart of Jesus, learned that the pipe organ was for sale in Atlanta and began negotiations. According to preserved letters, Richard worked tirelessly to attain the organ. Mary Ellen Schlosser became an avid supporter of the project, and all parishioners together raised the needed $5,000 for the purchase. Richard and Father Timothy Harrison, OSB, of St. Bernard Monastery, completed the work, with two visiting members of the Atlanta church, of reassembling the organ.

In 1988, Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church contacted the Austin Organ Company about refurbishment. The company was able to restore the organ at a cost of $123,923.40 in 1991. The current pastor at the time, Father Cletus Meagher, OSB, conducted a blessing of the refurbished instrument.

In September 2021, Sacred Heart began a $600,000 capital campaign to replace the organ, whose wiring presented a fire hazard to the church.

In March 2022, a contract was signed with the Austin Organ Company for a new organ, with installation expected to begin in June.

On April 10, 2022, a fire, contained to the historic organ, necessitated removing it from the church's choir loft.