“MAY your spirits be raised every time you hear this organ play,” the Bishop of St Germans, the Rt Rev Christopher Goldsmith told a congregation of 100 at the dedication of Altarnun’s new pipe organ in St Nonna’s Church.

The Bishop spoke of his delight at being in Altarnun to perform the dedication, which followed a massive fund-raising campaign for the organ, a village effort that cost £34,000.

“Church music connects with us in different ways and it reaches parts of us that a sermon cannot,” he added. “It touches our hearts and minds and speaks to us in ways we can never put into words, invoking a vast variety of feelings. God wants us to have a relationship with Him, and music helps us to express that. Music in church is an antidote to our selfishness — and organs produce great music.”

He was pleased that the scheme to replace the old organ with the new arrival had been an ecumenical effort, with local Methodists helping to raise the funds.

The Rev Deryn Roberts, the rector, paid tribute to all the individuals and organisations that had helped pay for the new organ and said it had been achieved ‘in an amazingly short length of time’.

The service included hymns played by the three regular organists at St Nonna’s, Jenny Bartlett, Peggy Blackeby and Gordon Mounder, while the opening organ music came from David Gridley, the organ builder, and the programme closed with a recital by Kate Samuels, the stand-by organist there, who played works by composers including Handel, J S Bach, Cesar Franck and John Stanley.

The new organ had previously been at the Methodist church in Voguebeloth, near Redruth.