Lord of Life Lutheran Church, Plano, is pleased to announce the acquisition and installation of a pipe organ. This musical instrument will not only enhance the church’s own musical offerings, but will be showcased and offered to the community through the church’s longstanding concert series.

     Not long ago, the church had no plans, nor money, for a pipe organ. When another church, Trinity Lutheran in Dallas, decided to close after forty years in November of 2006, their small pipe organ was offered to Lord of Life as a gift. Some of the organ was in disrepair and was in need of expensive restoration. According to Benjamin Kolodziej, Director of Music at Lord of Life, “The mechanism of the pipe organ was unsalvageable, but we decided to use the pipes to incorporate into a future instrument.” The organ’s 900 pipes were put into storage in Plano and the church began raising money to build a new organ from Trinity’s gift.

     Meanwhile, Lord of Life discovered that Concordia University in Seward, Nebraska, had decided to buy a new organ for its recital hall, offering the old one for sale. Literally thousands of LCMS teachers and musicians have studied on and played this organ through the years. “This organ,” says Mr Kolodziej, “has a better mechanism and can be combined with the Trinity pipes forming a combined organ better than either organ was by itself.” With a goal and plan in mind, the church was successful in raising the money to purchase the organ from Nebraska, renovate it, add the necessary elements from Trinity’s organ and install it here in Plano, a process which began in July. Hermann Boettcher and Sons, a local organ builder, was selected to perform the work. Karl Boettcher, owner of the firm, states that his primary challenge with this project is to achieve a natural sound from this renovated and relocated pipe organ, “. . . designed specifically for a different acoustical setting and musical demands, shaping it into one better suited to that of Lord of Life’s requirements, while remaining basically within the confines of the original instrument."

     The new organ boasts 34 stops (different sounds) on two keyboards and contains about 1900 pipes. A new computerized control system using the latest technology ensures that the organ is reliable, easy for organists to play and is flexible enough to accommodate a variety of music. Assessing the organ’s impact on the community, Lord of Life’s pastor, Rev. John Lindner, says “Plano has seen some great new organs built in the last few years, but there are still only a few pipe organs in public use in the city, and we are pleased that Lord of Life is now able to contribute to this number by offering the organ for concerts, teaching and other educational opportunities.” He also adds, “Had it not been for Trinity’s gift of their organ, we never would have dreamed of undertaking such a venture.” The organ was played for the first time during Advent of 2007, and numerous concerts, workshops and other activities are already planned for 2008.

--as published in the March, 2008, edition of the Texas Section of the Lutheran Witness magazine.