Have you ever longed to play the church organ? It can be all yours for one hour, after a brief session with Simon Andrews, our church Assistant Music Director and Organist, to acquaint you with the details of running the king of all instruments. 
  
Need even more history to encourage you to test the pipes? According to Jim Landfried, First Church historian and Belmont resident, the organ at First Church was originally dedicated on Sunday, October 26, 1930. It was given to the church by Katherine Atkins in memory of her husband Edwin Farnsworth Atkins. A plaque on the side of the organ console reads: “In Memory of Edwin Farnsworth Atkins, 1850-1926.” An article in the Belmont Citizen at the time recounted that the organ “is one of the finest instruments in any of the churches of Greater Boston…and the instrument includes 27 stops, with an average of about 60 speaking pipes in each stop, there being 1619 speaking pipes in all, ranging from the great sixteen foot bourdon to diminutive whistles hardly larger than a lead pencil. In addition, there is an organ harp with 61 notes and chimes with 25 notes. The instrument is electrically driven and has great range and variety.”