Zion's Pipe Organ

The organ was built by W. Zimmer and Sons, Inc. in Charlotte, North Carolina in 1966 (Op. 5) for East Carolina University (ECU) and installed in Fletcher Recital Hall, where it was used primarily by organ students for thirty years.

Doug Cutler, former organist at Zion, learned that ECU was selling the organ in 1996 to replace it with a portative organ built by James Lauch (Op. 49). He proposed that Zion purchase it for the sanctuary.

The vestry approved $70,000 for its purchase and installation — $55,000 to ECU, with the remainder covering transportation and installation. Funds were borrowed from Wachovia Bank and later repaid through the Harvey Trust Fund.

Under the supervision of two Zimmer technicians, including Morris Spearman of Charlotte, the organ was moved from ECU to Zion in 1996. It was first placed in the Parish Hall for painting, cleaning, and repair.

John Register, Jim Hackney, Hershel Campbell, Doug Cutler, and other parishioners worked tirelessly — doubtlessly straining a few muscles — placing the console and pipes in the church. The organ was dedicated in August 1996.

The organ has been carefully maintained since its arrival at Zion. Morris Spearman cared for it during its first eight years. Since 2004, the following curators have been responsible for tuning, voicing, substantial stop action repairs, and rebuilding the pedal board:

• Norman Ryan — Edenton, NC
  Curator for the Perkins and Wills Memorial Organ, C.B. Fisk (Op. 126), at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Greenville
• Mark Thompson — Yorktown, VA
  Curator for the Dobson Pipe Organ (Op. 96) at Bruton Parish, Williamsburg, VA