Organist leads FBC Decatur in worship for 25 years

It’s going to happen one day. The pain in her leg and the crick in her neck will hurt too much, and not even the monovision contact lens correction will be enough to help her read the music — at least the way the congregation is used to her reading it.

It’s entirely possible that day could be the end of an era at First Baptist Church, Decatur, in Morgan Baptist Association.

But until that day comes, Elizabeth Carter plans to stay too busy to even wonder about whether the church would want to keep using it or anyone else could even be found to play it.

Carter is going to keep showing up on Sunday mornings to waltz her fingers over the three tiers of keys, press the pedals and make those silver pipes shout out to almighty God as she has for the last 25 years.

“Elizabeth is one of the finest organist and musicians I have had the honor of working with during my ministry,” Pastor Bill Hurt said. “However, she is a better person” and wonderful ambassador for the kingdom of God.

Come praise bands, come drum kits, come Christian karaoke — Carter will always prefer what the mighty, majestic church organ can do.

So in November 2008, she recorded an album.

“I did a CD for a couple of reasons,” Carter said. “One is that my kids have grown up at the church, and it’s all I’ve done since they were born. My dad was a preacher and valued having old cassettes of his sermons, so I wanted my kids to have something to be able to say, ‘This is what my mom did.’”

What she did was “Pipes, Pedals & Praise,” a collection of 13 hymn arrangements from various editions of The Broadman Hymnal played on a restored 1974 two-manual Casavant pipe organ.

“My prayer … is that my kids and the kids of my church will love the hymns of our faith as much as I do,” Carter said. “They’re the torch carriers for the next generation. I don’t know how many of them will have organs in their churches when they grow up, but I hope they’ll remember that I was the person that led them in worship.”

For more information, visit www.pipespedalsandpraise.com. (TAB)