Church installs “new” pipe organ
Church organist and music director, Ron Wellander, plays the congregation’s “new” pipe organ.
While many churches are moving away from traditional forms of worship to praise bands and less-formal styles of music, one church in Rogers still sings the liturgies and hymns churches have sung for centuries, and the church members recently moved and installed a pipe organ as another means to give glory and praise to God in their worship services.
While it’s not the size organ that fills huge cathedrals with majestic sound, the five-rank, two-manual, 388-pipe, unit organ recently installed at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Rogers can fill the small church with beautiful sounds and works well for leading the congregation in worship as it chants the ancient liturgies and sings Scriptural and time-tested hymns in its worship services.
The organ was originally built by Don Hoyer, of Lawrence, Kan., in the latter part of the 20th century and most recently installed for use at Faith Church in Bentonville. When Faith discontinued its traditional worship services, the pipe organ sat idle and took up space needed for a sound board.
Though Good Shepherd, a small independent Lutheran congregation, had a smaller plug-and-play pipe organ, the need for repairs and improvements to the console led to looking at purchasing a little bit bigger organ to better serve the congregation. And, it so happened that Faith in Bentonville had a pipe organ to sell.
Buy the organ and move it. That sound’s simple, right? But not so!
While moving large musical instruments can take some expertise and muscle, moving a pipe organ is a far bigger project than most would imagine. The organ must be carefully disassembled, pipe by pipe and control by control and reassembled again at its new location. The job is so complex that moving and installing an organ is often as costly as the price of the organ itself.
“I don’t think most of us quite understood what we were getting into when we decided to purchase the organ from Faith,” said Randy Moll, pastor at Good Shepherd congregation. “I knew it would take a lot of work, but I was unaware of all the wiring and connections which would have to be unsoldered and then resoldered again after the move.”
There were more than 500 soldered connections, all necessary for the keyboard to open valves and allow air from the wind chests to blow through the selected pipes.
Under the supervision and guidance of Ron Wellander, the congregation’s organist and music director, members of the congregation carefully disassembled the pipe organ at Faith and moved it to Good Shepherd in Rogers, cleaned the pipes and helped set them up. Then Wellender, with the assistance of Ron Hiebert, a church member who had repaired organs, resoldered all the wiring connections between the console and the pipe organ action. The organ was tested and tuned, with numerous repairs made along the way. The process took several months.
“We couldn’t have done it without the assistance of Chris Emerson and the folks at Quimby Pipe Organs in Warrensburg (Mo.),” Wellander said. “They loaned us pipe trays to move all the pipes, and Chris gave me technical advice by phone whenever I had questions or problems,” Wellander said.
And if the congregation hadn’t had enough of organ moving, members of the congregation also moved their old pipe organ to another church and set it up there, with Wellander working on it until it was playing music at its new home.
Lutheran churches have a rich heritage of liturgy and hymnody which has given rise to much coral and instrumental music. The pipe organ has been an integral part of this heritage.
To dedicate its “new” organ, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church is planning a special service at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 25. Wellander will play the instrument and lead the congregation in singing a number of hymns. Pastor Moll will share some words from Scripture and lead the congregation in prayer. Everyone is invited to the dedication service. Refreshments will follow.
The church is located at 2305 S. Dixieland Road in Rogers (across from Rogers High School).
One group of pipes (pictured above) is positioned next to the console. The other is above the chancel area of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church.
Details about the organ
Five rank, two manual, unit organ by the late Don Hoyer of Lawrence, Kansas.
Positiv Division: 8′ Hohlflute; 4′ Hohlflute; 2′ Gedeckt; 1 1/3 Quint (Hohlflute); 1′ Principal; 8′ Fagot.
Great Division: 8′ Principal; 8′ Gedeckt (wood); 8′ Hohlflute; 4′ Principal; 4′ Gedeckt; 2 2/3 Quint (Gedeckt); 2′ Principal; 1′ Hohlflute; 8′ Fagot; 4′ Fagot.
Pedal Division: 16′ Bourdon; 8′ Principal; 8′ Gedeckt; 4′ Choralbass; 4′ Gedeckt; 2′ Principal; 2′ Gedeckt; 8′ Fagot; 4′ Fagot.
388 Pipes
4 Combination Pistons
Though the audio quality of the following video is not good (taken with a cell phone), it does show the location of the organ and pipes.
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