By March 25, 1962, the remodeling project was essentially complete. This coincided with the 125th anniversary celebration of the founding of the church, college and community. The event was marked with special worship services open to the community in the renewed worship space. Comments of congratulations were delivered by Neil H. Swanson Jr., the President of the National Association of Congregational Churches; Dr. Kermit W. Petersen, the Pastor of First United Presbyterian of Galesburg; Dr. Robert Cabeen, the Mayor of Galesburg; and Dr. Sharvy G. Umbeck, the President of Knox College. Dr. L. Vernon Cain, the President of Illinois College, delivered the anniversary address.
The interior remodeling project of the church was a significant attempt to modernize the worship space. It served as an outward sign of commitment to the continuation of leadership in community Christian endeavors. Although there were significant financial obstacles, the church united its membership and the renovation was completed, resolving all outstanding debts in 1976.
In the ensuing years, Central Congregational Church continued to thrive and develop its respective ministries. In 1987, the church celebrated its sesquicentennial with several special events which again brought the building and its ministry to the forefront in the community. The events opened with a keynote speech by Senator Paul Simon on the Knox College campus. A sesquicentennial symposium was held at Knox College on February 14 coordinated by Mary Eysenbach and Jack Fitzgerald addressing the "Education of Women" and the "Rights of Blacks" respectively. A special unity worship service was held on February 15, 1987. Participants in the service included Dr. John P. McCall, the President of Knox College, Lane Andrist, Pastor of First Presbyterian and the joined choirs of First Presbyterian and Central Congregational Church. On February 22, a second unified worship service, led by Pastor Paul Clark of Central Congregational, was held to celebrate the religious origins of Knox College. The church published a spiral bound book entitled 150 Years of Memories 1837-1987, which drew together the combined histories of the church, college and community.
In 1989, various window frames throughout the church building were found to be in need of replacement due to dry rot deterioration. The bell tower was also repaired at a cost of $30,000.00. Structural and safety improvements were made to the tower at this time and the bell was able to be rung again on October 8, 1989. This restoration effort resulted in the presentation of an award by the Galesburg Landmark Commission.
Ongoing work was done to the windows of the church throughout 1990, including restorative work on the stained glass windows. The leaded windows had begun to bow and sag indicating the need for immediate attention. It was at this point that serious discussion began regarding securing the financial stability of the church for its next century of service. The effort was officially deemed "The Second Century Capital Campaign" and was hoped to be completed prior to the building centennial in 1998. The desire was to have a significant "starter fund" in place prior to the announcement of the five year capital campaign in March of 1992.
Unfortunately before the target launch date for the campaign had been reached, a divisive controversy rocked the church. After several special meetings and open forums held in the spring of 1992, the membership split regarding the issue. The Stewardship Committee ceased to function due to the resignations of so many of its members and the Board of Trustees had to deal with how to meet church expenses with greatly reduced revenue. The church was able to minimize the problem through a generous loan made by a member and an insurance settlement made for roof damage.
In 1993, the church had begun its healing process and was again looking toward its future role in area ministries. The reduced revenue was still of great concern, but plans were put in place to stabilize the finances of the church and to move forward with a building endowment fund. Fortunately for the church, a very generous gift of $180,000.00 was received from the estate of Marjorie Becker. This gift greatly bolstered the financial stability of the congregation.
By the end of 1994, the Stewardship drive had shown a 15% improvement and church investments were reviewed for optimization of revenue. This was accompanied by an appeal from the Board of Trustees to the membership to promote growth and evangelization concerning what Central Congregational Church had to offer. It was clear that increased membership would again allow the church to flourish and to meet its ministerial mission. This goal was incrementally met in the years that followed.
In the summer of 1997, the boiler, which was manufactured by the Kewanee Boiler Company and installed in 1952, was found to be leaking during the semi-annual state mandated inspection. The state inspector required the leaking to be stopped and deficiencies in the gas fuel train to be corrected before a permit to operate the boiler would be issued. Consequently, the boiler tubes were replaced and modifications to the gas piping were made at that time to bring the boiler up to code. The cost was $8,900 for the tubes and $2,160 for the gas piping.
Also in 1997, an energy conservation plan was developed and implemented which reduced the consumption of electrical energy by eliminating unnecessary uses. The plan qualified the church for a more favorable electrical energy rate during the winter season. This change in rate structure saved the church approximately $1,000 per year in addition to the savings from the reduction in electricity used.
Amid the events of these years, the church moved closer to the 100th anniversary of worship in the building. A Building Centennial Committee was formed in 1996 to plan the celebration of the building centennial. The theme "Century of Service" was decided upon for the basis of the anniversary events.
The first event was the hosting of the Illinois Statewide Preservation Conference. The conference, comprised of some 200 people, was centered in Central Congregational Church September 18-21, 1997. Aside from its regular business, the conference attendees were treated to tours of the structure and historical anecdotes offered by Harvey Safford, the church historian. Centennial banners had been made by the church Banner Committee to adorn the large Sunday School area during the conference.
On October 26, 1997, a Centennial Choir Festival was held at the church. Rev. Thomas Heather, the Pastor of Central Congregational at the time, worked diligently with the Music Committee and the church music staff to make this musical event a successful celebration reflecting the musical heritage of the church. All area church choirs were extended an invitation to perform a short program and to join in a unified choir. Eleven churches participated with a total of 161 voices under the direction of Lillian Tucker, the choral director at Central Congregational. The festival was said to have reminded many of the concerts held in the church during its years of close association with the Knox Conservatory.
Harvey Safford, the church historian, prepared lectures on the history of the church. The first was presented to the membership and interested parties in April of 1998. He later assembled a slide presentation focusing on the construction of the church. Safford offered this presentation to the congregation on October 11, 1998. He later presented his slide lecture entitled "The Construction of Central Congregational Church" at the Symposium of the Illinois Historic Association in Springfield, Illinois on December 6, 1998.
On June 28, 1998, a commemorative quilt was given to the church by Doris Brown Johnson. The quilt consisted of fifteen panels drawing together themes from the early history of Galesburg including prairie flowers, the earliest settlers of the town, the first educational institutions and the spiritual vision that tied their adventure together.
A tour of historically significant homes was organized in conjunction with church tours on September 27, 1998. The community was invited to participate. The event was met with strong interest resulting in a profit of $2,500.00. In coming weeks, additional celebratory banners were crafted and hung for the rededication.
In August, 1998, the church received an electronic carillon manufactured by Chime Master Systems which was donated by William and Pauline Monson of Pismo Beach, California. The carillon was a memorial to Mr. Monson's father, Fritz Monson, a former merchant in downtown Galesburg. This donation added to the centennial events with a dedication service held on October 10, 1998 (see below.)
Paper Presented at the Dedication Service of the Carillon by M. Sean Riedel A traditional carillon is comprised of a set of twenty-five to forty tuned bells spanning the range of two to four octaves. The bells of the finest carillons were cast in bronze. The bells, hung in tall, slender towers, were candle levered and stationary. Each bell had its own independent clapper. The carillon was played from a keyboard and pedalboard where wooden batons were mechanically linked to the moving clappers. The player struck the batons with his/her fists and feet, which in turn actuated the corresponding clappers to sound the bells.
The carillon originated in the Low Countries of Europe during the late 15th century. They were placed in city squares and built as part of grand churches. The instrument made its way to the United States in the 1920s where they were placed on university campuses and in major church constructions. There are presently only about one hundred functional carillons in the U.S. at this date.
The electronic carillon was conceived in the 1950s. In their early stages, the playing of tubular bells, similar to standard church organ chimes, or the striking of tuned metal rods was amplified through tower speakers. Since that time, the evolution of the electronic carillon, for reasons of practicality, efficiency and flexibility, has greatly expanded the capabilities and in turn the installation rate of these instruments.
Central Congregational Church's Monson Memorial Carillon is a Chime Master Millennium Carillon. It utilizes digital replication technology to reproduce as closely as electronically possible the sound of the tuned bronze bells of a traditional carillon. This technology samples the playing of each bell in various ways and digitally analyzes the sample's sound wave for intensity and shape. This analysis has been stored in the carillon's solid state memory system where it is accessed to precisely reproduce the sampled sound. These samples may be accessed in any order or fashion that a musical composition requires. Thus, the instrument is constrained only by the creativity put into its use.
The carillon may be played automatically on a schedule, either weekly or year-round. The carillon is currently set to play in this fashion at noon and six in the evening. At the scheduled times, the carillon accesses its internal clock and calendar where it analyzes the church year seasonal information. After determining the current church season, it scans through its pre recorded hymn library for appropriate titles and plays the selected number of hymns at the scheduled time with no user input. Specific titles may also be scheduled instead of allowing for the random selection from seasonally appropriate hymns.
The Monson Memorial Carillon may be played manually in live performance or to record additional titles into the internal memory. There is enough internal memory for approximately 1000 additional titles to be added to the pre recorded hymn library. The live performance option allows the instrument to act in similar fashion to its traditional ancestor where live performance graced the hearts of European cities. The manual input from the forty-nine-note keyboard may be played over the four directional tower speakers, through internal speakers to the sanctuary of the church or through both.
The Monson Memorial Carillon is a fine addition to the musical heritage of Central Congregational Church. It complements the historic role of Central as city center as the church reaches out toward the next millennium. |
The centennial celebration culminated in a rededication worship service held on December 6, 1998. There was procession to open the special service including the youth carrying banners, guest speakers and service participants. The adult choir was featured prior to remarks from invited guests including Harold Griffith, the Chair of the Building Centennial Committee; Rev. Dr. Douglas Lobb, the Executive Secretary of the National Association of Congregational Christian Churches; Owen Muelder, the Director of Alumni Affairs at Knox College; and Robert Sheehan, the Mayor of the City of Galesburg. The recently installed Pastor John Carson shared the pulpit with the renowned orator T. Willard Hunter, the great-grandson of Silas Willard. Hunter traveled from Claremont, California to deliver the centennial address entitled "The Moral Lights Around Us." Hunter's mother had been raised in the congregation of Central Congregational Church and he had an ancestry dating back to the founding of the church. A special Centennial Fund was received for restorative work to be done on the church building. The service was followed by a meal costing 35 cents per person, the cost of the meal at the time of the original dedication of the building.
Aside from the celebration events in 1998, ongoing maintenance projects were undertaken. A contract was awarded to Tharp's Masonry Restoration, Oquawka, Illinois, for maintenance and repair work on the exterior of the building. The restoration included cleaning the entire exterior of the building by pressure washing with detergent, spot grinding where loose mortar joints were present, tuckpointing where mortar was ground out or missing, resetting cap stones where necessary and caulking around all coping stones, doors and window frames. Additionally, the building was waterproofed by spraying a transparent water repellant material on the surface of the stones and all previously painted surfaces were repainted with two coats of paint. This work was started on September 10, 1998 and completed on November 19, 1998 at a total cost of $78,500.00, exceeding the $75,000.00 original cost of entire building. The inside of the chimney was to be plastered after the heating season in the spring of 1999.
A contract was also awarded in 1998 to Church Art Glass, Clinton, Kentucky for repair work to be done in 1999 on the rose window and 9 other stained glass windows. In addition to repair work on the stained glass sections, rotted millwork was contracted to be repaired and as was the installation of a new protective coating. Total project cost has been projected at $20,460.00.
A large project anticipated in the coming years will be the replacement of the existing roof material which was installed in the late 1940s. The building is covered by nearly 20,000 square feet of roof, which, due to its deterioration with weather and age, requires annual maintenance. The project has been estimated to cost well over $200,000 and outside sources of funds are being investigated.