Buies Creek, N.C.-On Sunday, Feb. 28, Campbell University dedicated the magestic pipe organ located in its Anna Gardner and Robert B. Butler Chapel in memory of the Reverend A.P. and Mrs. Mary Stephens Stephens. Their son L. Harold Stephens, a friend and benefactor of the university, generously provided the funding for the chapel organ and an endowment which will support an annual music recital. The Reverend A.P. Stephens and Mary Stephens Stephens Pipe Organ contains 1,198 individual pipes and 58 ranks of digital sounds.
Each of the organ’s pipes has been voiced to the acoustical setting of Butler Chapel. The console of the instrument was designed to match the architecture of the chapel and has a total of 106 drawknobs which control the stops. The colorful stops include two large solo reeds, a Tromba di fanfara, located in the back of the chapel, and a tuba. There are also a large number of string sounds on the organ including the Vox Angelique and a small set of bells known as a Zimbelstern. The four manuals or keyboards are composed of maple and rosewood keys as is the pedalboard. One of the console’s unusual features is the moveable keyboards which accommodate for individual needs of different organists.
E. Bert Wallace, associate professor of Theater Arts, led the litany of dedication. Organist Daniel W. Hester, adjunct member of the music faculty at Campbell, and the Carolina Brass were featured in the ceremony.
According to L. Harold Stephens, his of love music and memory of his mother as a pianist and organist in the churches his father served inspired him to fund the gift. Before she passed away, Stephens’ mother established an endowed music scholarship at Campbell in memory of her late husband.
A lifetime of Service
Alford P. and Mary Stephens were married in 1921 and spent over 55 years serving Baptist churches in Red Springs, Morehead City, Burlington and other urban and rural areas. Mary Stephens Stephens was always an active member of the ministry team, playing the piano and organ and while her husband preached. A native of Robeson County, Alford Stephens was a member of the Buies Creek Academy’s class of 1917. He went on to graduate from Wake Forest University and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He served on the General Board of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina and was a trustee of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and Campbell University. The Stephens were the parents of four children.
Photo Copy: From left, Dr. Jerry M. Wallace, president of Campbell University, congratulates L. Harold Stephens upon the dedication of the organ in Butler Chapel in memory of Stephens’ parents the Reverend A.P. and Mary Stephens Stephens. (Photo by Bennett Scarborough)