Imagine 235 Hybrid in Beloit, Kansas

We are grateful to David Rankin of RankinOrgans150, our Rodgers representative in most of Kansas, for writing and submitting this amazing story of a tragic church fire that resulted in an amazing restoration.

RankinOrgans150 and Rodgers Instruments are once again playing an important part in helping the people of God sing a new song to the Lord. As the Psalmist says in Psalm 96:

Sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth.

Sing to the LORD, praise his name; proclaim his salvation day after day.

Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples.

On Sunday afternoon, June 27, 2021, the feast of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, a fire was discovered in the magnificent stone structure that is St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Beloit, Kansas. By the grace of God, a young woman entered the church, saw smoke, and set into motion a fast response by the Beloit Volunteer Fire Department. The fire was contained in the East tower, but the intense heat and smoke filled the massive building causing widespread damage.

Half of the pipe organ shares a wall with the East tower where the fire was, and it became very clear that in another few minutes the fire would have spread into the organ and the choir loft. Heat, soot, and smoke damaged the organ operating system to the point it needed to be replaced. The 10 ranks of pipes and all of the wind chests were able to be salvaged although everything required intense, specific cleaning. The insurance company agreed to pay for all of the organ restoration work including a new two manual Rodgers Imagine 235 digital console and a new Rodgers pipe interface operating system.

David Rankin, owner of RankinOrgans150, and Ted Landon (both volunteer firemen) inspected the damage to the organ 48 hours after the fire. David has taken care of the pipe organ at St. John’s for many years and was able to work with the church and the insurance agent to come up with a plan to restore the organ.

Let’s stop there for a minute and again read Psalm 96:1-3. Throughout these two years and three months, all of us have been awed by the wonders God has set in place during this project. We ALL have been proclaiming His marvelous deeds among the peoples. The firefighters, the painters, the scaffolding company, the ServiceMaster cleaning and restoration teams, the artists, craftsmen, stained glass people, and everyone involved with the complete restoration of the massive building have seen and felt the hand of God. We are ALMOST ready to sing a new song to the Lord!

RankinOrgans150 has been honored and blessed to be a part of this amazing project. We have logged 181 on-site working hours cleaning and packing pipes for storage, cleaning wind chests, installing the new Rodgers 235 console and Rodgers custom operating system, and re-installing pipes (after a second complete cleaning). On Friday, July 7, 2023, the restored and upgraded organ at St. John’s played again for the first time in over two years.

Word soon spread and various members of the parish as well as Father Jarett stopped in to listen. Because of the ongoing construction and restoration work, we have not been able to do the final voicing of the organ. The first Mass is scheduled for the end of August or the first part of September. Many people who have been praying hard, working hard, and proclaiming His salvation day after day after day after day will soon be able to fill this magnificent church to sing a new song to the Lord and to declare His marvelous deeds among the peoples!