A Message from Sally Messner and the Worship and Music Team

You may have noticed some interesting sounds coming from our beloved instrument during worship in recent weeks. Some were planned—like the Nachtigall (Nightingale) stop—others were not. Our staff discovered about six months ago that our organ, built by Robert Sipe in 1980, is in need of middle-aged restoration (some of us could say the same about ourselves!).

There are design elements that, while appropriate and expected for the time of its creation, have not served us well in maintaining the organ to operate at its best and most reliable. Our organ is not the only instrument to experience this at this time in its life, but ours has some unique elements that make our problems challenging to address. So, we are consulting organ builders and outside experts to determine the best route to restore this instrument. We want to ensure that Patrick has an instrument that allows him to lead us spiritually and sensitively in congregational song, in addition to continuing to play organ repertoire at the highest artistic level, both of which he does with expertise and grace.

Some of you may wonder about the work done on the organ several years ago. From what we can see and hear, the previous work was done well and addressed the problems at that time. The items we need to address now did not present themselves at that time. The restoration we are seeking will make the organ more reliable and easier to maintain properly in the long run. In the meantime, we have had some interim work done to fix acute problems, and even our organ maintenance experts needed to return to fix adjustments because our instrument is so unique!

We have formed an organ task force made up of staff, congregation members, and outside experts. Our process for a path forward is to review three bids for the long-term organ work and make a recommendation to the Governance Board. We ask you to pray for us in our discernment, and we will keep you informed along the way.