The Need

Refurbish Our Pipe Organ

$225,000

Underpinning nearly all our worship, our neoclassical Baroque organ is perfectly suited to the exceptional acoustics of our sanctuary. Our choir, which is composed primarily of students from the LSU School of Music, combines with the organ to fill the chapel with singularly beautiful music in the Anglican tradition. The instrument is used not only by our organist but also by LSU organ students for training and practice. For many years, it has enriched the choral experiences of our choir members and directors of music who are completing degrees in music at LSU.

However, key components of our pipe organ are reaching the limits of their useful life. Everyone will soon experience the deterioration in the form of dead notes and, eventually, the loss of whole sections. If the organ were no longer usable, our ministry would suffer immensely. If the organ were to go silent, it would necessitate a major shift in direction of this mission. Baton Rouge and the university community would suffer as well, given the unique position our chapel holds in the religious and musical landscape of our city.

Through the Legacy campaign, we will refurbish and enhance our organ for fifty more years of use. Removing the organ for the required repairs presents a perfect, low-cost opportunity to upgrade the console and replace several key pipes. The upgrades will significantly improve playability for decades to come as well as make several reasonable enhancements to the organ’s musical palette, much like adding more instruments to an orchestra.

A fully-functioning organ will support not only the future worship of this congregation. It will also solidify our ministry of outreach and hospitality on this campus. We believe that this investment in our music program will result in more people encountering our Lord Jesus Christ through the ministry of St. Alban’s Chapel.

Repair and Maintain Our Buildings

$270,000

From weekly worship services and student events to concerts, weddings, funerals, and community group meetings, our chapel and student center are used extensively throughout the year. Yet being good stewards of our architecturally unique buildings is a challenge. From time to time, more extensive maintenance is required. Though no structural issues exist, a number of key maintenance issues exist in both our chapel and adjoining student center.

It would be irresponsible to refurbish our organ only to return it to a space where it may become compromised. First and foremost, necessary repairs to the exterior tile roof and interior sanctuary ceiling trusses will be completed. We will also continue the ongoing work to control building moisture problems, including: regular, required resealing of exterior walls; redirecting rainwater and drainage away from the building walls and footings; and repairing exterior and interior moisture damage, including doors, windows, and interior plaster. We will also take steps to enhance the building’s interior humidity control. Obsolete elements of our electrical system must also be updated. Accessibility issues also require our attention.

Some of these issues required immediate action using funds from our endowment. The Legacy campaign will repay our endowment for the funds we borrowed and fully fund the remaining projects. Through the campaign, we will safeguard our facilities for a future of undiminished use.

Campaign Goal:

$536,000

The goal includes a budget of $41,000 to pay for the extensive involvement of the Episcopal Church Foundation throughout the study and campaign process. This represents less than 8% of the total goal.