Uh oh, I said to myself, you are straying into dangerous territory here as I typed the title of this post. Isn’t this blog about music, and more specifically, about organs and organists? Haven’t we always been told to never bring up the subject of either religion or politics in polite company?

Well, in spite of the fact that I am a news junkie who devours all things political voraciously, I promise you that this post will not turn into an all-out “red vs. blue” knock down, drag out battle, even though most people can guess where my politics lie if you look at some of my Facebook posts.

However, when the Rev. Raphael Warnock was one of senators elected in the Georgia run-off election, it made me wonder how many pastors have turned into politicians. A Google search turned up a Wikipedia page with politicians listed by denomination: Anglican, Baptist, Roman Catholic, Disciples of Christ, Dutch Reformed, Eastern Orthodox, United Church of Christ, Lutheran, Methodist, etc.

I also highly recommend you read this fascinating article: “With his victory, Raphael Warnock becomes a member of a select club — pastor politician.” It says that most politicians are lawyers and just a handful are pastors. In fact, there are exactly two pastors in today’s United States Senate, The Rev. Raphael Warnock of Georgia and James Lankford of Oklahoma.

When I pulled up this photo of the interior, my first thought was, “Aha! There is a pipe organ there!” (However, it’s possible that the façade pipes as shown in the photo are non-speaking.) A further search revealed that the church was going to be visited at the 2020 National Convention of the American Guild of Organists, which was unfortunately cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. I found conflicting information concerning the organ(s)? One, that said there was an instrument by Schlueter-Rodgers, the other was an organ was built by the Hillgreen Lane Co., opus 1191 in 1995, which has three manuals but only 14 stops.

Any Atlanta organists who can enlighten us as to the facts about this organ?

However, here is a description of the space, as advertised on the AGO Atlanta website:

Throughout its long history, Ebenezer Baptist Church has been a spiritual home to many citizens of the “Sweet Auburn” community. Ebenezer was founded in 1886, nine years after reconstruction ended. A band of thirteen faithful people united under the leadership of the Rev. John A. Parker. Rev. Parker served as Ebenezer’s first pastor at the original site on Airline Street from 1886 to 1894.

Following the assassination of Dr. King, Jr. on April 4, 1968, the Rev. Alfred Daniel Williams King replaced his brother as Ebenezer’s second co-pastor. Rev. A. D. King’s tenure came to a close at his death in 1969 and was followed by Dr. Otis Moss in 1971. The Rev. Martin Luther King, Sr. retired on August 1, 1975, after forty-four years of tremendous service to Ebenezer and the world. Guided by Dr. King’s suggestions, the congregation of Ebenezer called Dr. Joseph L. Roberts, Jr. to be its fourth Senior Pastor. Dr. Roberts served for thirty years. Aside from mentoring a number of young ministers, he led the congregation in the construction of a new sanctuary directly across the street from the historic Ebenezer site in 1999.

Today, Ebenezer Baptist, with a congregation of over 6,000, continues to serve the Atlanta community in the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site under the dynamic leadership of Reverend Dr. Raphael G. Warnock–assuming the role of senior pastor in 2005. Dr. Warnock is only the fifth minister to lead the Ebenezer congregation in its 131-year history.

I just heard on the news today that Rev. Warnock will continue to preach weekly sermons at the church, while serving during the week as a U.S. Senator.

It was this post on Facebook, though, which caught my eye:

Ah yes, the worship wars, the battle over “contemporary” vs. “traditional” music—we all managed to survive it. Seems a little quaint, now, though — right?