Mark’s Lutheran Church Foundation of Marion, Iowa is pleased to have restored a historic 1928 Ernest M. Skinner pipe organ. On November 11, 2012 Skinner Organ Company Opus 695 played Sunday services for the first time in many years. It was immediately evident to all in attendance that the instrument was a perfect match for its new home in the Faith Worship Center at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church. One
week later internationally acclaimed organist Ken Cowan played two dedicatory concerts for over five hundred parishioners and other organ enthusiasts from near and far. Originally installed at St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Bronx, New York, Opus 695 was purchased by the St. Mark’s Foundation early in 2011. The instrument was dismantled and shipped to the workshop of organ curator JL Weiler, Inc. Over the next year-and-a-half, Jeff and his associates lovingly restored the instrument to pristine playing condition. All parts were meticulously dismantled, cleaned, refinished, and rebuilt. Opus 695 was re-leathered and extensively rewired to insure its viability for decades to come. The organ is wholly original and intact as conceived and built in the Massachusetts workshops of the Skinner Company. Opus 695 speaks with such clarity, quality, and vitality that it has already acquired a reputation as one of the finest Skinner restorations in the nation. The success of this project is a tribute to the brilliant craftsmanship of the Weiler team, the conceptual qualities of the space created by Gary Landhauser, architect for Design Associates of Cedar Rapids, and to the organ expertise and superb acoustical services of Scott Riedel & Associates of Milwaukee.
