Back in September, as the pipe organ at Statesboro First United Methodist Church was undergoing its first full restoration and updating process since its installation in 1960, Minister of Music Jackson Borges said: “It is the best instrument for miles around. It can play literature from all of the major time periods. It also has a lot of options to play a really beautiful service — plus it just sounds so good. It truly is one of the best (pipe organs) around.”
Now, two months later, and after each one of the organ’s 1,850 pipes was taken out and individually cleaned, how does the organ sound?
“It is 100% better,” Borges said last week. “The cleaning, the software update, the revoicing of every one of the sounds of the instrument — you get this beautiful, beautiful sound.”
And while the Statesboro First United congregation has experienced the “beautiful sound” during recent services, the church is inviting the public to its “rededication celebration” this weekend to experience the organ’s reinvigorated sound. The events will mark Statesboro First United’s 65th birthday and will commemorate the restoration of the grand sanctuary pipe organ.
Nicknamed “The Cathedral of the Southeast,” Borges said Statesboro First United Methodist is a place for all people to get “fired up about the good word.”
“There’s not another church like this,” Borges said.
Zimmer Organ Company, out of Denver, N.C., executed all of the renovations and upgrades to the pipe organ, and Borges said it is practically a brand-new instrument. Borges said the restoration has brought new life to the church and its community.
“It’s an extraordinary feeling,” Borges said. “It breathes new life, not only in our music program, but what I am able to do at the organ. The instrument is now as comprehensive as we could make it. It supports every musical activity we do here.”
The Casavant organ, built in 1960, was specifically built for the architecture of the church on South Main Street.
The organ has undergone multiple digital upgrades beginning in the early 2000s and has always been regularly maintained, including cleaning the pipes and, in some cases, repaired, as have the digital mechanisms.
The $250,000 full restoration project that started in August and wrapped up in October, included a software upgrade that runs the instrument and makes the digital mechanisms and pipes “speak to each other,” Borges said.
“An organ like this is designed to imitate a symphony orchestra,” Borges said. “There’s so many individual, colorful voices … and there’s so many different possibilities.”
As for the possibilities in the church community, Borges said working alongside Pastor Mark Burgess has grown First United Methodist to emphasize and spread the word of God.
“We are doing great work here to spread the good news of the gospel,” Borges said. “All are welcome, all are encouraged, and if you come through these doors, you’re going to be engaged. You’re going to be inspired to be involved and do things here. Statesboro First has always been a wonderful place.”
Rededication celebration 2025
Borges said the public is invited to all of the events of the Rededication celebration this weekend. On Friday, Nov. 14, at 6 p.m. Borges will accompany some of Buster Keaton’s silent-film comedies on the pipe organ and there will be a TV and movie-themed pop quiz in between. On Saturday at 6 p.m., Borges will perform a concert of masterworks for solo organ. And on Sunday at 11 a.m., the Southern Chorale of Georgia Southern University, will join the church’s chancel choir as part of the service of the rededication for the church.
“We’re rededicating the church, celebrating the church’s birthday and we are also celebrating the finished renovation of this grand instrument,” Borges said. “It’s going to be a wonderful, festive weekend.”