M. P. Möller
Opus R-597, 1958

Immanuel Lutheran Church dedicated a new building in 1973. The present website suggests they tore down their old building and erected the new one on the same plot of land. What became of the large Moller organ Op. 5932, 1931 is unknown. The website now states that the Immanuel and Holy Trinity Churches merged as the 'Tree of Life Lutheran Church', using the former Immanuel building. What has become of this Trinity church building and its Moller organ remains to be determined.

When I was in college nearby in the mid-1970s, an organ department colleague of mine was organist here. The "prepared for" stops mentioned in the factory specification included in this entry, had been added by then, and we had no way of knowing they had been originally prepared for by Moller and not installed all of a piece. At the time, we thought the organ had been built that way- i.e. that nothing had been prepared for and added later. The organ was maintained by the local organ technician of medicore skills who may or may not have been the person making the additions. What was confusing to us at the time, was certain ranks-- most notable the mediocre-quality Pedal Principal of pure lead-- didn't match material in the rest of the organ, leading us to the conclusion the organ had been a rebuild of something much older. We even wondered if the former organ was itself a rebuild of something even older still. This database entry has cleared up that mystery.

There was a real sense looking over the organ's pipework, that it was simply a collection of unrelated pipework and a rebuild of an older organ of unknown origin. It makes sense now that the pipes comprising the stops that Moller had prepared for, were floor-sweepings installed sometime between 1958 and 1972 by a service technician and not by Moller, which is why they bore no resemblance to other ranks in the organ. The Holy Trinity Church was on the outskirts of town in a "modern" building that was the same age as the Moller. THe church at that time was thriving and heavily attended on a Sunday morning. The chambered organ was inadequate for the room and congregation. While the organist lobbied the church to beef up the organ so it would better accompany the lusty hymn singing, nothing had come of that wish by the time he moved on in 1978.

The contract was for rebuilding and adding to the existing Kilgen, as well as a new console and re-engineering for the chambers in the new sanctuary.