Second Church of Christ, Scientist - Brooklyn, NY
 
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Second Church of Christ, Scientist

516 Bay Ridge Parkway at 75th Street
Brooklyn, N.Y. 11209

Organ Specifications:
516 Bay Ridge Parkway at 75th Street
• unknown
340 67th Street, between 3rd and 4th Avenues
► III/46 M.P. Möller, Op. 5475 (1930)
Park Place, near Nostrand Avenue (1898-?)
• unknown


The Second Church of Christ, Scientist was established in 1893 by a society of about eighteen members. A small hall was rented for Sunday services and used as a Reading Room during the week. In January 1897, the society moved to a larger hall, and a month later was legally incorporated as the Brooklyn Church of Christ, Scientist. Mrs. E.B. Hulin was the First Reader of the society. Property was purchased on Park Place, near Nostrand Avenue, and architect F. R. Comstock of Hartford, Conn., was hired to design a new edifice. Construction began on the two-story chapel that would adjoin a church edifice sometime in the future. Built of pink brick over a granite base, with a white marble logia and tiled gable roof, the chapel provided rooms for the society and one to be used as a public reading room on the ground floor. On the second floor was an auditorium that was to be used for public services; it would be used for the Sunday School when the main edifice was finished. The granite cornerstone, laid on September 10, 1897, was the gift of the Sunday School children, and came from Concord, N.H., the home of Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science. On January 9, 1898, the completed edifice was dedicated in three services held throughout the day. It has not been determined if the planned church edifice was ever built.

Original Second Church of Christ, Scientist - Brooklyn, N.Y. (1945 photo from Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Brooklyn Public Library, Brooklyn Collection)  
Edifice at 340 67th Street
In 1900, the general body representing all Christian Science churches in the United States passed a resolution by which all churches were to change their names so they will be designated by numbers. Accordingly, the Brooklyn Church of Christ, Scientist, was renamed "Second Church of Christ, Scientist, of Brooklyn."

About 1930, the society moved to 340 67th Street, between Third and Fourth Avenues.

In 2005, Second Church moved to Bay Ridge Parkway at 75th Street, and closed a few years later.
             
Organ installed at the edifice located on 67th Street

M.P. Möller, Inc.
Hagerstown, Md. – Opus 5475 (1930)
Electro-pneumatic action
3 manuals, 58 stops, 46 ranks
               
Great Organ (Manual II) – 61 notes (6" wind pressure)
16
   Diapason One [unit]
73
2
   Fifteenth
61
8
   Diapason Two
61
     Mixture III ranks [15-17-19]
183
8
   Diapason One
—
16
   Tuba [unit]
73
8
   Grossfloete
61
8
   Tuba
—
8
   Melodia
61
4
   Clarion
61
8
   Viola da Gamba
61
8
   Harp
CH
4
   Octave
—
8
  
Chimes [Deagan]
25 tubes
4
   Flute Harmonic
61
4
   Harp
CH
2 2/3
   Twelfth
61
        
               
Swell Organ (Manual III) – 61 notes, enclosed (6" wind pressure)
16
   Bourdon
73
     Mixture III ranks [12-15-17]
183
8
   Diapason
73
16
   Oboe [unit]
85
8
   Stopped Flute
73
8
   Cornopean
73
8
   Clarabella
73
8
   Oboe
73
8
   Aeoline
73
8
   Vox Humana
73
8
   Salicional
73
     Tremulant  
8
   Voix Celeste
73
8
   Harp
CH
4
   Flute d'Amour
73
8
   Chimes
GT
4
   Fugara
73
4
   Harp
CH
2
   Flautino
61
        
               
Choir Organ (Manual I) – 61 notes, enclosed (6" wind pressure)
16
   Dulciana [unit]
85
8
   French Horn
73
8
   Violin Diapason
73
8
   English Horn
73
8
   Dulciana
—
8
   Clarinet
73
8
   Unda Maris [TC]
61
     Tremulant
8
   Quintadena
61
8
  
Harp [Deagan]
49 bars
8
   Concert Flute
73
8
   Chimes
GT
4
   Flauto Traverso
73
4
   Harp
—
2
   Piccolo Harmonique
61
        
               
Ancillary String Organ (floating) – 61 notes, enclosed in Choir chamber (6" wind pressure)
8
   Viole d'Amour
73
8
   Viole d'Orchestre Celeste
73
8
   Viole Celeste [TC]
61
4
   Viole d'Amour
—
8
   Viole
73
     Tremulant  
8
   Viole d'Orchestre [unit]
73
        
               
Pedal Organ – 32 notes (6" wind pressure)
32
   Resultant
—
16
   Bourdon
SW
16
   Diapason [unit]
44
8
   Diapason
—
16
   Diapason One
GT
8
   Violin Diapason
CH
16
   Dulciana
CH
8
   Bourdon
—
16
   Violin Diapason
CH
16
   Tuba
GT
16
   Bourdon [unit]
44
8
   Tuba
GT
               
Sources:
     The American Organist (Nov. 1930). Stoplist of M.P. Möller Organ, Op. 5475 (1930). Courtesy Jonathan Bowen.
     "Church Names Changed," Brooklyn Eagle (Apr. 14, 1900).
     "Corner Stone Laid," Brooklyn Eagle (Sept. 11, 1897).
     "New Church Dedicated," Brooklyn Eagle (Jan. 10, 1898).

Illustrations:
     Brooklyn Daily Eagle; Brooklyn Public Library, Brooklyn Collection: 1945 photo of exterior.
     Google Street View: exterior of present church.