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One of our region’s oldest faith communities is also
a longstanding arts patron and arts presenter. Begun in 1803,
the congregation was called “Old White,” and had its first home by
1808 in the Union Church of Pearl Village in the Town of
Queensbury. The congregation built its second home in 1848 on
Warren Street in Glens Falls, which was followed by other
structures after several devastating fires. In 1925, the
present property on Notre Dame Street in Glens Falls became the
congregation’s permanent site. Its impressive Gothic Revival
structure, completed in 1928, and placed on the National Register
of Historic Places in 1929, abounds with Christian art and
symbolism inside and out. The cross on the communion table
dates from 1507 and is crafted from silver and gilt bronze of
Florentine work.
The chancel and organ screen have many lovely
woodcarvings, and the organ is a rarity and eagerly sought out by
musicians from around the country for solo performances. As a
result “First Pres,” as the congregation is fondly called locally,
has been the site of some of our region’s most revered musical
programming, such as the deBlasiis Chamber Music series,
traditional organ concerts, and most recently, the spirited youth
ministry musicals. First Pres has helped cultivate the
community’s taste for the theatrical for over 100 years, with
presentations by these adult and school age groups.
Always known for its outstanding pipe organs, First
Pres has hosted many world famous organists and local, national,
and international vocal soloists in recitals for the enjoyment of
the entire community. The first major instrument, a Casavant
organ, was installed in the gallery in the late 1920’s. In
1949, the church added an EM Skinner organ to the gallery.
Hugh Alan Wilson, current Director of Music, returned to the
congregation in the mid 1980’s and by the early 1990’s a committee
was formed to study the acquisition of a new organ. The
committee chose the Reuter Company to build this new instrument,
with controls for both instruments in the gallery and downstairs in
the church. With its 128 ranks and over 8000 pipes it offers a
perfect balance between the size of the building and the instrument
itself. Its many features provide all that is needed for all
organ literature. The new Reuter was dedicated on January 19,
1992 as the Nell K. Pruyn organ, also in memory of Mary Pruyn and
Maurice Hoopes. It has become a major instrument in the USA
and attracts renowned organists from around the world.
In the spring of 1929 the women of the congregation
held an Easter Tea in the church hall of their newly dedicated
church building. The highly organized Women’s Association continued
to hold this annual event through the Great Depression and World
War II, until it was moved to May after the war. By then the
women had added many different program offerings to the traditional
tea fare of tea, sweets, and tiny sandwiches. There were
handcrafted items, baked goods, garden, baby and “white elephant”
shops, and a country store with homemade food items. One year
the women gathered recipes for a cookbook, “Big Loaves and Little
Fishes,” illustrated by Douglas Crockwell, a local artist of
national reputation. The May Tea is 75 years old this year
and is still a program for which the ladies of First Pres are well
known in the region. It is not only a wonderful social and
fundraising event for the parish, but could also be classified as
an authentic “community folk art tradition,” as it has been kept
alive and well, and borne from one generation to the next within
this particular faith community.
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