A historic church has sued a local utility for $1 million, claiming that its 89-year-old pipe organ, one of the largest in the Western Hemisphere, was damaged by steam escaping from beneath the adjacent street and sidewalk.

St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church in Manhattan says in court papers that it told Consolidated Edison on June 30, 2004, about an “extraordinary amount of steam” coming from the street into the church.

Soon after, court papers say, the Aeolian-Skinner organ began to malfunction. The problems were caused by moisture being drawn into the organ’s pipe system through its blowers and pumps in the church’s basement next to the main steam room, the court papers say.

“The moist, humid and damp air had a negative effect on the components within the organ and caused deformation, deterioration, sticking, improper sealing, opening and closing of the organ components and a general, overall breakdown of the organ system,” the papers say.

Despite being notified, the utility failed to take any corrective action until five weeks later, when it repaired faulty components of its steam system, which were causing steam to enter the church on Park Avenue between East 50th and East 51st streets, the papers say.

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Local ministers are working to find new ways to spread their message not only within their local community, but the global community provided by the World Wide Web.

“We have to take the words and put it out for as many people as possible,” Chip Lee, minister at St. John’s and St. Matthew’s Episcopal churches in Deer Park and Oakland, said. “This is one more way in which to spread the good news.”

Lee, who had a background in marketing and broadcast before becoming a minister at three Garrett County churches, including the log church on state Route 135 in Altamont, helped to guide his churches into the age of the Internet, and now reaches more than 15,000 people with the church’s podcasts, weekly broadcasts done available for download on iTunes.

He said that it took some persuasion to convince the churches that this was a natural step toward a more technological age, but also a way to draw new members into the church, even if they technically didn’t set foot in any of the three. However, much of the technology necessary, he said, was awarded through various grants within the diocese.

“Churches have recognized that they should have a good Web site because it’s good at attracting new families to the area,” Lee said. “The Internet has become almost a staple of daily life.”

He still emphasizes the biggest way for a church to get members remains the traditional method of invitation by friends or family, but since the podcasts have begun, he has gotten e-mail from people all over the world, including soldiers in Iraq and people living in Europe.

He added that the Web site currently has live feeds of the churches services as well as streaming audio from each service.

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