Saint Mark’s is a large, cruciform church in the 17th century Gothic style, with an interior height of 68 feet, and a total length of 200 feet. Inside and out the building is built of “natural” materials – stone, wood and brick – with an almost complete absence of sound absorbents. Here, we have cathedral dimensions for the ear as well as for the eye; or, to put it another way, the room sounds as big as it looks.

There are two Aeolian-Skinner organs in the Cathedral. The main organ is located in the choir and was the gift of Colonel William Cluis O’Ferrall. Colonel O’Ferrall died before the organs were completed. His family requested that the main organ, known as the O’Ferrall Memorial Organ, be made a memorial to both Zoe O’Ferrall and Colonel William Cluis O’Ferrall. The second organ is located in the west gallery and was purchased by the parish.

Conforming to the wishes of then organist, William C. Teague, the organs were designed to give musical expression to the whole of the Anglican heritage without placing undue emphasis upon a limited repertoire. While the organs are closer kin to English Cathedral practice than to the work of North German or French builders, the budget for the instruments was generous enough to permit a comprehensive tonal design that can accommodate all periods and styles of music with authenticity. This is not to imply an eclectic hodge-podge at all. The St. Mark’s organs are a singular work of art, and will probably be respected as such a hundred years hence.

The new organs arrived at the church on November 1, 1957. Unfortunately, the building was not completed so the instruments were placed in storage until such time as they could be installed. It was decided to complete the gallery organ first so that an instrument would be available for the opening of the building on Sunday, May 3, 1959. The service of dedication took place on September 15, 1959 by which time both organs were completed. Mr. Teague played the dedicatory recital on Tuesday, September 22, 1959. Installation of the organ required seven months and was done by James C. Williams. Nora Williams (his wife) did the whole of the vast electrical wiring. Roy Perry was responsible for the tonal finishing, and since most of the actual voicing was done in the building, this work took an additional three months.

Since the original instrument was completed, several minor modifications have been done – most notably the addition of the Trumpet en Chamade in the gallery. In 1996 the organ underwent a major refurbishment by the Lindsey-Scott organ company. Included in this huge job was releathering of the windchests, addition of solid-state relay and combination action and preparation of the instrument for a Hautbois 8′ in the Swell and Great reeds. In the spring of 1998, the Hautbois was given in thanksgiving for 15 years of music ministry of Donald L. Smith.