Champion Forest Baptist Church – Houston

Texas, USA

This is a story about a congregation growing – both in size and in its understanding of great music worship.

Champion Forest Baptist Church began 30 years ago with small group meetings in a home north of Houston. Today, it is 10,000 members strong with a 4,200-seat Worship Center. Known for musical excellence under Worship Ministries Pastor Dick Hill – a veteran of more than 40 years in music ministries – the church has purchased and installed a large three manual Rodgers Masterpiece series organ that has exceeded the music staff’s expectations.

“The Rodgers organ is meeting a need we didn’t even know we had. Something was missing in our worship we didn’t even know was missing,” Dick says. “We now realize this isn’t your aunt’s old organ, but an organ for today – a modern organ with the versatility to enhance all worship styles.”

Ever since Champion Forest finished building its 450-seat chapel in 2002, there had been talk about purchasing an organ to meet musical needs for weddings and funerals. Then, during a choir tour of Scotland and England, Dick Hill attended an afternoon service at Westminster Abbey. Listening to the glorious organ supporting the men’s choir, Dick realized something was missing in Champion Forest’s worship – not only in the chapel, but in some of the worship services as well.

After returning to Houston, Dick attended a demonstration of a modern Rodgers organ installed in a nearby church in The Woodlands, Texas. With local Rodgers sales representative Jim Connors on the organ bench, Dick was amazed at the demonstration of the organ’s versatility. Listening to Jim play that day, Dick says he sensed God’s presence and he began to weep. Dick’s vision for Champion Forest’s worship, which featured orchestra and band, began to change and grow.

Church Organ Gallery’s Rodney Rodgers, Jason Rodgers and Jim Connors installed the church’s new ebony custom 968 organ. In both the chapel and the Worship Center, they installed permanent audio systems. The console was placed on a custom moveable platform to make it easy to roll it from one location to another. A Rodgers MX-200 sound module with additional organ and orchestral sounds and an MR-200 record/playback device were part of the installation.

Organist Charles Austin had been playing a keyboard stack in Sunday worship. The more he played the new Rodgers, the more his enthusiasm grew – to the point of often practicing late into the night before Sunday services. Charles quickly found that the MX-200 orchestral sounds he could control from the Rodgers console were far superior to those on the keyboard. He began asking that the Rodgers remain in the worship center so that he could use it for all services and styles of music.

It wasn’t long before the Rodgers that was acquired for the chapel became an active part of almost every service in the Worship Center. The added dimension to Champion Forest’s worship is now almost constantly in use during all types of services.

Champion Forest prides itself on a musical excellence and its myriad of worship styles. The Rodgers Trillium Masterpiece Series organ has proven it has the versatility to work with all the church’s music styles – contemporary, blended and traditional. Dick Hill reports, “The new Rodgers is fabulous, terrific! It is the greatest instrument for us!”

“I am proud that Champion Forest selected Rodgers above all others,” says Church Organ Gallery’s Rodney Rodgers. “But most importantly, I am proud that it has become a trusted friend and true instrument of praise at Champion Forest Baptist Church.”