The majestic organ of First Baptist Church was installed in 1925. Seeing the need for such an instrument, Mr. and Mrs. Andrew L. Todd donated the organ as a memorial to their son Aaron. The Skinner Organ Company, generally acknowledged as the finest and most innovative company of the period, designed and installed the organ. Ernest M. Skinner’s concept of organ-building was to recreate effects and voices of the orchestra and to increase the freedom and control of the organist by use of innovative controls. Mr. Skinner built noteworthy instruments for churches and universities such as The Cathedral of St. John the Divine, Yale University and Washington Cathedral.
The organ at First Baptist Church contains 24 ranks of pipes with three manuals (keyboards). The largest pipe is about eight feet tall and twelve inches square, while the smallest pipe is roughly the size of a pencil. The organ has a total of 1,615 pipes. There are five divisions: Swell, Great, Echo, Choir and Pedal. All the divisions except the Great and Pedal are enclosed, using movable wooden shades to control volume. If one faces the organ, the Choir is located on the left, the Great in the middle, the Pedal on the right, the Swell on the top level, and the Echo in the balcony.

Many organs built during the early twentieth century possessed a dark, deep, thick sound. Our organ, on the other hand, demonstrates the shift toward brighter and more brilliant sounds, a European innovation favored by Mr. Skinner. The craftsmanship employed in the organ’s construction is such that it has not required major rebuilds. As a result, the organ’s tonal quality has been preserved.

In 2001, the church determined that the organ needed mechanical repairs and upgrading. With over a thousand valves, several hundred electric magnets and miles of wiring, such maintenance was to be expected after eighty years of service.

Barger & Nix Organs of Chattanooga, Tennessee was awarded the contract to clean and rewire the pipe organ. Claude P. Street Piano Company of Madison, Tennessee was to provide a new console with digital additions. The Allen Organ Company of Macungie, Pennsylvania, manufactured the console and digital additions. Additional stops were installed, and thanks to advances in technology, it was also possible to add pipe-like sounds to the organ through digital sampling. These samples of real pipes are reproduced through the organ’s console and advanced audio system. The result is an instrument with tonal additions which blend and are in keeping with the style of our Skinner. All told, we have tripled our tonal resources.