‘Gorgeous and beautiful’ Kansas City church shares its restored organ in free concert

St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in downtown Kansas City, completed in 1887, was designed in the neo-Gothic style. That was a hallmark of the 19th century Oxford Movement, which sought to restore the rituals and splendor of the earlier church to what had become a rather austere, no-frills Anglican style of worship.

But the Oxford Movement wasn’t just interested in bells and smells. It was also committed to serving the poorest of the poor. It made a point of opening beautiful churches in London’s poorest slums to provide much-needed beauty to people surrounded by poverty and ugliness.

St. Mary’s has remained committed to that Oxford Movement ideal, the belief that the poor are not only nourished by bread and water alone but also by great music and art.

The church will dedicate the renovation of its organ on Sept. 11 with a free concert featuring some of Kansas City’s finest organists. Three wonderful choirs will also perform, and there will be a reception afterward. Geoff Wilcken, St. Mary’s organist, will give a lecture beforehand explaining all of the organ’s renovations.

Unbelievably, there are still elements of the original Pilcher and Sons organ that was installed when the church was built. But a mostly new organ was built on those Pilcher remains by the Lawrence-based Reuter Organ Co. in 1927. Reuter has made other repairs to the instrument over the years, including rebuilding the Great division in the 1990s.

But Charles Everson, St. Mary’s rector, says the organ had fallen into disrepair and needed to be restored.

“We wanted to keep our existing instrument, but we wanted it to be like new,” Everson said. “On top of that, we wanted to enhance a few things. So this is not a substantially new instrument, it’s the same beautiful instrument that we had, but it’s no longer causing problems during the service. It’s nice to be in the room for an hour and 15minutes and not be interrupted by honking and screeching.”

The total cost of the renovation was $500,000. Of that, $100,000 went to a new HVAC system to help preserve the organ’s integrity for years to come. The William T. Kemper Foundation provided a $264,000 matching grant to help cover the cost of the renovation.

Everson says that Wilcken was the primary person who consulted with Reuter on all of the technical issues, with Reuter also providing important input.

“They suggested we move the swell division from inside the bell tower to behind the high altar in the northeast corner of the church,” Everson said. “Now the organ can be used to accompany the choir in a way that was not really possible when that grouping of pipes was in the choir. Moving an entire rank of pipes, building a new chest for them and wiring all of the electrical work was a big project.”

Paul Pattison, who has been a member of St. Mary’s for 34 years, is pleased with the results.

“I have witnessed the evolution of the organ over the years,” he said. “It is now a powerful and bright instrument with a robust sound. Sometimes it can even sound a bit too robust for my taste, but the parishioners seem pleased with its power. I’m excited to hear how all of the performers for this dedication will employ the stops and registers.”

The church has lined up some of the area’s finest organists for the rededication recital. In addition to Wilcken, Ann Marie Rigler, Ron Krebs, Joshua Hearn, Meribeth Risebig, Paul Meier and Jan Kraybill will perform.

“Organ folks used to be hesitant to play a recital at St. Mary’s before the restoration because the instrument was in such bad repair,” Everson said. “Now I think people are excited about it. It’s no longer frustrating for them to play. They can actually use it to its full extent.”

The recital will also include choral music provided by the Songflower Chorale led by Wilcken, as well as the William Jewell College Concert Choir and the church’s own choir, St. George’s Choristers, led by its director Anthony Maglione.

“I think we have one of the best church choirs in Kansas City,” Everson said. “And I say that not to brag, but we think that’s part of offering to God an act of worship is that it is unashamedly beautiful. In the same way, we do the best with the vestments we wear and not just wear old rags.”

St. Mary’s has been a treasured part of Kansas City’s arts community for decades. The atmospheric church is a popular place for local musicians to give their recitals.

A dedication to high art and high church ritual while serving the poor might seem antithetical to puritanical types, but the Oxford Movement saw no contradiction. St. Mary’s, for example, has a strong tradition of serving the community’s needy while also upholding the highest aesthetic standards.

“St. Mary’s has received a glorious building from our ancestors that was built upon the foundation of the Oxford Movement,” Everson said. “It is gorgeous and beautiful and exudes holiness out of every brick and every piece of marble and every window. Our commitment to helping the needy among us is also something that we’ve inherited from our Oxford forebears. Beautiful, holy worship and also serving the poor go hand in hand.”

6 p.m. Sept. 11. St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, 1307 Holmes St. Free. stmaryskcmo.org. Geoff Wilcken, St. Mary’s organist, will give a lecture at 5:30 p.m.

You can reach Patrick Neas at patrickneas@kcartsbeat.com and follow his Facebook page, KC Arts Beat, at www.facebook.com/kcartsbeat.

This story was originally published September 2, 2022 at 5:00 AM.