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Bowne Street Community Church
(Reformed Church in America and United Church of Christ)
143-11 Roosevelt Avenue
Flushing (Queens), N.Y. 11354
http://thebscc.org
The Protestant Reformed Dutch Church of Flushing was organized on May 20, 1842. In 1843 construction began on a building at the corner of Prince and Washington Streets overlooking the Flushing Creek in the heart of what was then the finest residential district of Flushing. By 1890 the membership of the church had reached 300 and another new building was planned. The congregation borrowed money from the Collegiate Church in Manhattan and began construction on the present building which was completed in 1892. The church contains beautiful stained glass windows by Louis Comfort Tiffany.
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| 1909 postcard – Congregational Church in Flushing |
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In 1851, a number of persons withdrew their membership and joined with others in forming the first Congregational Church of Flushing. The Congregational Church was located just across Bowne Street where the high-rise Flushing House retirement home is now located. In 1974, one hundred and twenty-three years after they split, the two congregations merged back together and formed The Bowne Street Community Church – associated with both the United Church of Christ and the Reformed Church in America. Shortly after the two congregations had started meeting together but before the final incorporation of The Bowne Street Community Church, the Congregational Church was destroyed by fire (December 1970). The reason the two churches merged was the changing character of Flushing. During the 1930s through the 1950s, the neighborhood had been predominantly white Anglo-Saxon Protestant and both churches had large, active congregations. During the sixties and seventies, Flushing began to become home to what is now one of the largest Asian populations in the United States. The resulting decline in membership of both congregations was the stimulus for the merger.
In 1978 a group of immigrants in Flushing from Taiwan formed the Zion Christian Church with services in Taiwanese. Zion Christian Church began meeting in Bowne Street Community Church about 1983 and in 1988 officially merged with BSCC to form a unified, bilingual, congregation.
See also the web page for First Congregational Church of Flushing. |
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Skinner Organ Company
Boston, Mass. – Opus 813 (1929); rev.
Electro-pneumatic action
3 manuals, 34 stops, 46 ranks
From
1977-1984, the 1929 Skinner organ was tonally revised
and enlarged by Peter Batchelder of New York City.
Batchelder replaced the water-damaged chests of the
Great and Choir divisions with new slider chests; he
then installed a new Great
division, and replaced the Choir division with an unenclosed
Positive. From 1984-1988, John Wessel changed and added
to the specification including the Pedal Mixture, installed
Peterson electronic extensions for the two 32' stops, and modified the
console. |
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Great Organ (Manual II) – 61 notes
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16 |
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Quintadena |
61 |
2 2/3 |
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Quint |
61 |
8 |
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Principal |
61 |
2 |
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Super Octave |
61 |
8 |
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Rohr Bourdon |
61 |
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Mixture V ranks |
305 |
8 |
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Gemshorn |
61 |
8 |
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Trumpet |
61 |
4 |
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Octave |
61 |
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Chimes |
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4 |
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Wald Flute |
61 |
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Swell Organ (Manual III) – 61 notes, enclosed
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16 |
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Bourdon |
73 |
2 |
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Block Flute |
61 |
8 |
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Open Diapason |
73 |
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Sesquialtera II ranks |
122 |
8 |
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Rohr Flute |
73 |
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Mixture III ranks |
183 |
8 |
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Salicional |
73 |
16 |
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Contra Oboe |
85 |
8 |
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Voix Celeste |
73 |
8 |
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Trumpet |
73 |
4 |
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Octave |
73 |
8 |
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Oboe (fr. 16') |
— |
4 |
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Flute |
73 |
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Tremolo |
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Positive Organ (Manual I) – 61
notes
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8 |
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Gedeckt |
61 |
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Scharff IV ranks |
244 |
4 |
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Principal |
61 |
16 |
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Musette |
61 |
4 |
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Koppel Flute |
61 |
8 |
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Cromorne |
61 |
2 |
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Octave |
61 |
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Tremolo |
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1 1/3 |
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Quint |
61 |
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Pedal Organ – 32 notes
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32 |
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Contra Bass (ext. 16') |
dig |
4 |
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Octave (fr. Contra Bass) |
— |
16 |
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Contra Bass |
44 |
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Mixture II-III ranks |
84 |
16 |
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Bourdon |
44 |
32 |
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Contra Bombarde (ext. 16') |
dig |
16 |
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Lieblich Gedeckt |
SW |
16 |
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Bombarde |
44 |
8 |
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Principal (fr. Contra Bass) |
— |
16 |
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Contra Oboe |
SW |
8 |
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Bourdon (fr. 16') |
— |
8 |
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Bombarde (fr. 16') |
— |
8 |
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Stille Gedeckt [sic] |
SW |
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Couplers
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Great to Pedal 8' |
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Positiv to Great 8' |
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Swell to Pedal 8', 4' |
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Swell to Positiv 16', 8', 4' |
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Positiv to Pedal 8', 4' |
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Swell 16', 4' |
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Swell to Great 16', 8', 4' |
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Adjustable Combinations
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| Swell Organ |
Pistons 1-2-3-4-5-6 (thumb) |
| Great Organ |
Pistons 1-2-3-4-5-6 (thumb) |
| Positive Organ |
Pistons 1-2-3-4-5-6 (thumb) |
| Pedal Organ |
Pistons 1-2-3-4 (thumb & toe) |
| Generals |
Pistons 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8 (thumb & toe) |
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General Cancel (thumb) |
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Setter (thumb) |
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Reversibles
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Great to Pedal (thumb & toe) |
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Positive to Pedal (thumb & toe) |
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Swell to Pedal (thumb & toe) |
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Sforzando (thumb & toe) |
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Mechanicals
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Balanced Swell Pedal |
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Memory Up (thumb) |
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Crescendo Pedal |
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Memory Down (thumb) |
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Skinner Organ Company
Boston, Mass. – Opus 813 (1929)
Electro-pneumatic action
3 manuals, 27 stops, 30 ranks
In 1929, the Skinner Organ Company of Boston was commissioned
to build a new organ at a cost of $22,800.
Following are the original specifications of the Skinner
organ. |
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Great Organ (Manual II) – 61 notes
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16 |
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Bourdon (ext. PED) |
17 |
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Grave Mixture II ranks |
122 |
8 |
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First Diapason |
61 |
8 |
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Tuba * |
61 |
8 |
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Second Diapason |
61 |
8 |
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French Horn * |
61 |
8 |
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Clarabella |
61 |
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French Horn Tremolo |
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4 |
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Principal |
61 |
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Chimes |
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* enclosed with Choir |
Swell Organ (Manual III) – 61 notes, enclosed
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16 |
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Bourdon |
73 |
4 |
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Octave |
73 |
8 |
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Diapason |
73 |
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Mixture III ranks |
183 |
8 |
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Rohrflute |
73 |
16 |
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Contra Oboe |
85 |
8 |
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Salicional |
73 |
8 |
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Trumpet |
73 |
8 |
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Voix Celeste |
73 |
8 |
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Oboe (fr. 16') |
— |
8 |
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Flauto Dolce |
73 |
8 |
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Vox Humana |
73 |
8 |
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Flute Celeste (TC) |
61 |
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Tremolo |
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Choir Organ (Manual I) – 61 notes, enclosed
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8 |
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Concert Flute |
73 |
8 |
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Clarinet |
73 |
8 |
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Dulciana |
73 |
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Tremolo |
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8 |
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Unda Maris (TC) |
61 |
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4 |
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Flute |
73 |
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Pedal Organ – 32 notes
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32 |
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Resultant |
— |
8 |
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Still Gedeckt |
SW |
16 |
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Contra Bass |
44 |
16 |
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Trombone |
44 |
16 |
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Bourdon |
44 |
16 |
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Contra Oboe |
SW |
16 |
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Echo Lieblich |
SW |
8 |
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Tromba (fr. 16') |
— |
8 |
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Octave (fr. Contra Bass) |
— |
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Chimes |
GT |
8 |
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Gedeckt (fr. Bourdon) |
— |
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Previous organ:
Reuben Midmer & Sons
Brooklyn, N.Y. (c.1892)
Unknown action
2 manuals
Specifications for this organ have not yet been located. |
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Previous organ in church at Prince and Washington Streets:
George Jardine & Son
New York City (<1869)
Unknown action
Specifications for this organ have not yet been located. |
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Sources:
Bowne Street Community Church website: http://thebscc.org
Kinzey, Allen, and Sand Lawn, comps. E.M. Skinner/Aeolian-Skinner Opus List. New Rev. Ed. Richmond: The Organ Historical Society, 1997.
Trupiano, Larry. Stoplist of the organ in November 1999.
Illustrations:
AJWB Collection. Photos (2015) of interior
and organ console.
Bowne
Street Community Church website: http://thebscc.org.
Exterior and Skinner organ case.
eBay.com. Postcard (1909) of First Congregational Church. |
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