Episcopal Church of the Atonement - Brooklyn, N.Y. (1920s Postcard)
Church of the Atonement
(Episcopal)

239 17th Street near Fifth Avenue
Brooklyn, N.Y. 11215


Organ Specifications:
Second building (1890-?)
► II/22 Reuben Midmer & Son (1891)
First building (until 1890)
• unknown






It is unknown when the Protestant Episcopal Church of the Atonement was founded, but there are newspaper accounts of its existence in 1867. The first church was of brick and measured 35 by 85 feet. In the late 1880s, plans were made for a new church building that would adjoin the original building, and the original church would be used as a Sunday School. On Ascension Day, May 15, 1890, the cornerstone for the new edifice was laid in impressive services performed by the Rt. Rev. Abram N. Littlejohn, bishop of Long Island. Among the items Included within the stone was a phonographic cylinder incased in tin upon which the Rev. Albert C. Bunn, rector, recorded a message to those who shall at some future time uncover the stone. Architect George B. Chappel designed the new church in the early Gothic or Norman style of architecture, and it was built of Philadelphia pressed brck and trimmed with Lake Superior sand stone. A 64-foot-tall square tower anchored one corner of the facade and contained the rector's study on the upper level. The dimensions of the building are 55 by 100 feet, and the capacity was about 700 persons. Altogether, the building and furnishings cost $25,000 and the congregation was virtually free of debt what all was completed; all that remained to be done was the placing of the organ and the laying of the carpet. The church was opened on December 21, 1890 with several services throughout the day.

At an unknown date, the building was acquired by a Pentecostal congregation.
               
Reuben Midmer & Son
Brooklyn, N.Y. (1891)
Mechanical action
2 manuals, 22 stops, 22 ranks


The two-manual organ by Reuben Midmer & Son was installed shortly after the new church was dedicated on December 21, 1890.
               
Great Organ (Manual I) – 58 notes, unenclosed
8
   Open Diapason
58
4
   Flute Harmonique
58
8
   Melodia
58
2 2/3
   Twelfth
58
8
   Viola d'Gamba
58
2
   Fifteenth
58
8
   Dulciana
58
8
   Trumpet
58
4
   Octave
58
   
               
Swell Organ (Manual II) – 58 notes, enclosed
16
   Bourdon Bass *
12
2
   Flageolet
58
16
   Bourdon Treble
46
  Cornet II ranks
116
8
   Open Diapason
58
8
   Bassoon
12
8
   Stopped Diapason
58
8
   Oboe
46
8
   Salicional
58
  Tremulant
8
   Dolce Celeste **
46
 
* 12 pipes, mounted behind Swell box
4
   Violina
58
    
** 1-12 from Stopped Diapason
               
Pedal Organ – 27 notes
16
   Bourdon
27
        
8
   Violoncello
27
        
               
Couplers (on manual pistons)
    Great to Pedal          
    Swell to Pedal          
    Swell to Great          
               
Sources:
     "Bishop Littlejohn Encourages It. Applauding the First Steop of the Church of the Atonement Toward a New Edifice," The Brooklyn Eagle (Apr. 19, 1890).
     "Has a New Home. Rev. A.C. Bunn's Congregation in a Larger Church," Brooklyn Eagle (Dec. 22, 1890).
     "Have Broken Ground. Work Begun on the New Church of the Atonement in South Brooklyn," The Brooklyn Eagle (Apr. 17, 1890).
     "Pent in Stone," The Brooklyn Eagle (May 16, 1890).
     Trupiano, Larry. Specifications and notes for Reuben Midmer & Son organ.

Illustration:
     Brooklyn Collection, Brooklyn Public Library. Postcard (1920s) of church.