Holtkamp organ, Christ Church United Methodist, Charleston, West Virginia

Rev. David Donathan plays Praise to the Lord, the Almighty (Lobe den Herren), and Fantasy on Lobe den Herren by Aaron David Miller. The performance is from the dedication recital, January 11, 2026. Donathan is Minister of Worship Arts/Organist, Christ Church United Methodist, Charleston, West Virginia

Holtkamp Organ Company, Cleveland, Ohio, has completed a project at Christ Church United Methodist, Charleston, West Virginia. 

The project adds an Antiphonal organ of Swell, Great, and Pedal divisions to the 1975 Holtkamp organ of three manuals. The pipework of the Antiphonal organ is reclaimed from the church’s 1903 M. P. Möller organ, Opus 477, which in the interim had been sold to another local congregation.

The intention from the outset was to create an Antiphonal organ that was equally balanced with the 32-stop Centrum organ (a 16′ Subbass was added in 2019), but in a style true to the original Möller organ from 1903. Holtkamp designed a thirteen-stop organ of two manuals and pedal, with the sole addition being the 16′/8′ Bassoon/Oboe.

The windchests are slider with electric key action and electric solenoid stop action for the main chests, and electro-pneumatic action for the unit chests. They also used electro-pneumatic chests for the 8′ Diapason façade pipes. The chests are positioned with the Great/Pedal in the left half of the casework and the Swell on the right half of the casework.  Each division is split into treble and bass chests, with the treble chests below for tuning stability.

Centrum Organ 
32 stops, 41 ranks, 2,182 pipes

Antiphonal Organ 
13 stops, 13 ranks, 776 pipes

The organ is featured on the cover of the August 2026 issue of The Diapason:

https://www.thediapason.com/content/cover-feature-holtkamp-organ-company-christ-umc-charleston-wv

https://www.thediapason.com/sites/diapason/files/Diap0826_FullIssue.pdf

For information: www.holtkamporgan.com