The History and Tradition of the South Granville Congregational Church
As the early pioneers in South Granville increased and permanent homes were established, plans were formulated to establish the first church there. On December 22, 1789 an Ecclesiastical Council was called and a list of proposed members was submitted to the meeting for consideration. There were nine charter members of the church. A house of worship was erected in 1789 or 1790 when the church was first established.
The original house of worship, was one mile west of South Granville in Hillsdale, at the intersection of Route 149 and Lee Road until it was outgrown and a new larger house of worship was built in its present location in 1806 then a razing and construction of the present building was in 1847. It was placed on the New York State and the National Historical Registry, March 12th 2005.
Pastor Bob Flower (pictured above) served until June 30, 2017 when he retired to spend time with his family and loved ones.
Our beautiful pipe organ (above) was manufactured in 1915 by the Barnes & Buhl Organ Co., Utica, NY. Today there are only three known to exist. It’s specifications were 2 manuals, 9 ranks, with 326 pipes, from huge 16’ wood bourdons down to tiny metal pipes smaller than a pencil. It was built for a small church in Cleveland, NY. After serving them well for 65 years, their church closed and the organ was silent for 25 years. The ravages of time, neglect and water damaged the organ. It was removed just before the building had to be razed. We discovered it was for sale, finding it to be the perfect size and fit for our church, the sale was made. During the next four years, as a labor of love, Ralph Krueger, who has a B&B the Organbarn http://organbarn.com/index.html and is one of our devoted church members, rebuilt the thousands of individual pieces. The oak woodwork, façade, console and pipes were refurbished to their original new condition. In 2006 with the help of the Carey Organ Co. of Troy, NY, we added an additional rank of pipes, installed the latest computer controlled operating system, MIDI, record and playback feature plus an auto bass pedal coupler. Building our own instrument was the only way we could afford to have a magnificent new pipe organ, yet saving a historic antique pipe organ. No longer silent, this grand instrument once again leads our congregation with beautiful music played by our organist Geoffrey Gee. http://www.vitalartsmedia.com/Play/geoffreygee.html
The original house of worship, was one mile west of South Granville in Hillsdale, at the intersection of Route 149 and Lee Road until it was outgrown and a new larger house of worship was built in its present location in 1806 then a razing and construction of the present building was in 1847. It was placed on the New York State and the National Historical Registry, March 12th 2005.
Pastor Bob Flower (pictured above) served until June 30, 2017 when he retired to spend time with his family and loved ones.
Our beautiful pipe organ (above) was manufactured in 1915 by the Barnes & Buhl Organ Co., Utica, NY. Today there are only three known to exist. It’s specifications were 2 manuals, 9 ranks, with 326 pipes, from huge 16’ wood bourdons down to tiny metal pipes smaller than a pencil. It was built for a small church in Cleveland, NY. After serving them well for 65 years, their church closed and the organ was silent for 25 years. The ravages of time, neglect and water damaged the organ. It was removed just before the building had to be razed. We discovered it was for sale, finding it to be the perfect size and fit for our church, the sale was made. During the next four years, as a labor of love, Ralph Krueger, who has a B&B the Organbarn http://organbarn.com/index.html and is one of our devoted church members, rebuilt the thousands of individual pieces. The oak woodwork, façade, console and pipes were refurbished to their original new condition. In 2006 with the help of the Carey Organ Co. of Troy, NY, we added an additional rank of pipes, installed the latest computer controlled operating system, MIDI, record and playback feature plus an auto bass pedal coupler. Building our own instrument was the only way we could afford to have a magnificent new pipe organ, yet saving a historic antique pipe organ. No longer silent, this grand instrument once again leads our congregation with beautiful music played by our organist Geoffrey Gee. http://www.vitalartsmedia.com/Play/geoffreygee.html