Historic Champaign organ finds new home at Immaculate Conception in Jackson

KBSI FOX23 News at 9 p.m.

JACKSON, Mo., (KBSI) – Crews this week began carefully removing the 1958 Reuter Opus 1248 organ from University Place Christian Church in Champaign, Illinois, marking the end of an era for the congregation that has worshipped in the building for more than a century.

At 54 ranks, the instrument is the largest organ in the city of Champaign. While the congregation remains active, church leaders said the upkeep of the historic structure had become too great, prompting their decision to relocate worship and mission activities temporarily to the University YMCA.

The organ will soon find a new home. Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Jackson, Missouri, is receiving the instrument and plans to install it in its forthcoming new church building. Parish leaders said they were “beyond excited and deeply thankful” to welcome the organ, which they called a legacy of music and history.

University Place Christian Church has a long tradition of music, including the service of Paul Pettinga (1914–1999), a longtime music director and organist who also taught at the University of Illinois and briefly led its School of Music.

Parishioners in Champaign have shared memories of the instrument and the space as they say farewell, while Jackson parishioners look forward to hearing the organ’s “timeless sound” in its new setting.