Music Man Staying Power: For 50 years, Brewer’s Clayton Rogers has been organist for the same Baptist church

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It’s another rainy weekday morning, and the only sound to be heard outside Columbia Street Baptist Church in downtown Bangor is the drumming of rain drops on buildings and blacktop.

Inside the yellow-brick church, up a flight of stairs, the rhythm of the weather is gradually overwhelmed by the smooth harmony of piano chords accompanied by a tenor’s vocals.

The dimly lit sanctuary is empty, except for Clayton Rogers, 77, who is sitting on a piano bench, practicing in the same place he has practiced and performed for almost half a century.

Fifty years as organist and pianist at Columbia Street is a milestone, so the congregation is planning a concert to celebrate at 6 p.m. Sunday, June 5.

“I’ve been practicing like mad for a month, and today some of the pieces sound good – and others were terrible,” he said during a break from his Thursday morning practice.

It’s not unusual to find Rogers in this setting. Sitting on a piano or organ bench may be where he spends many of his waking hours. In addition to his time at Columbia Street, he travels to area nursing and retirement homes, volunteering for 12 to 15 performances a month. Rogers, who lives in Brewer, also plays at other area events, including weddings.

“Clayton loves to play,” said the Rev. Peter Sprague, pastor of Columbia Street. “But it is very important to him that his music touch the lives of others.”

In fact, one of Rogers’ most prominent memories dates to when he was a soloist at the church and was asked to entertain at a wedding.

“I had laryngitis and I could hardly sing a note,” he said. “I called the father up and I said, ‘I can’t sing,’ and he said, ‘Well, you’ve got to. My wife has a nervous condition and if you don’t do it she is going to be a wreck.’ I sang, but it was terrible.”

He also touches lives as a teacher. Rogers taught business education at Brewer High School until his retirement in 1988. And he taught piano for 48 years to some 300 students.

His musical career began with piano lessons when he was 10.

“I’m not athletically inclined. I never was,” he confessed. “I got hit with a [baseball] bat when I was a boy and that threw away all of my enthusiasm for athletics. So music has been my delight.”

The music Rogers plays is a combination of traditional Protestant worship music blended with contemporary elements common in Baptist churches these days.

His passion is classical, sacred music, so he is the first to admit that the invasion of what he calls “rock music” is something he is still getting used to.

For some, music is another form of the gospel, what Christians refer to as spreading the good news of Christ. When word may not reach someone, music may.

“I heard a testimony in church – someone told me, ‘His music really touched me today,'” said Cindy Tuck, a member of Columbia Street for 26 years who serves as church spokeswoman.

Paradoxically, every time Rogers sits down in front of a piano or organ, he depends on the sheet music propped up in front of him. “I have to tell myself, ‘Concentrate on the music,'” he said. “I don’t memorize. I could never memorize.”

No matter. Sunday’s performance will be tough for Rogers.

“It’s a place where he can really play a lot of pieces that he wouldn’t be able to play on a regular Sunday,” Tuck said.

Rogers confessed that he will be a “nervous wreck” before the concert. But he wouldn’t have it any other way. He loves sharing his passion with those around him. Sunday is not a retirement concert.

“I had thought of maybe giving it up, but I’d miss it so,” he said. “As long as I think I’m doing all right and the church thinks I’m doing all right, I’ll continue.”

Clayton Rogers

Married: In Columbia Street Baptist Church. Celebrating 55 years with wife Ruth in September.

Family: Has three sons and two older brothers who are twins.

Served as: Navy court reporter 1946-48.

First organist job: Calvary Baptist Church, Brewer.

Education: New England Conservatory of Music, Boston (voice/piano) for one year; Northern Conservatory of Music, formerly in Bangor, (organ) for three years; Husson College and the University of Maine for business.

Hardest piece to play: “Finlandia,” by Jean Sibelius.

Instrument he wishes he had learned to play: cello.

If he weren’t playing music: Would be studying family genealogy.