St. Paul pipes into sweet sound of success

Churchgoers at St. Paul Lutheran in Grafton can now sing to a high-quality accompaniment after a recent upgrade to the sanctuary’s organ. 

Approximately 250 people attended an organ dedication concert at the church last Saturday. Organist Brenda Portman, accompanied by the church’s handbell choir, performed pieces of music from the Baroque period to modern-day songs.

“She did a phenomenal job and played a variety of styles from classical to jazz, and she wrote a hymn arrangement for our choir,” St. Paul’s Music Director Valerie Bremer said.

“During the services last weekend, people noticed the difference in the sound, and I think they were a little worried if their hearing had been off because the sound was fuller.” 

Portman, a former St. Paul member, is a national award-winning organist and has been commissioned by the American Guild of Organists to write music for its convention this year. She made a special trip from her home in Cincinnati to perform at the concert.

Upgrades to the organ occurred in two phases since its previous organ began to fail in 2007. The church planned to replace the former organ with a combination pipe-and-digital organ, which cost about $175,000.

“In 2007, we raised enough funds to do the digital portion, so we could have a working organ,” Bremer said, noting the congregation put the pipe portion of the project on hold for more than a decade to raise funds for a building renovation project. 

“We kind of went into a slow gear for a while, then last year the organ task force brought it back to the voters, and we raised the remaining amount,” Bremer said.

Church members raised an additional $80,000 to complete the second phase of the project in five months last September. The project included adding 17 ranks of pipes and 23 rocker stops. The organ can also play 320 digital sounds.

“We never had a Sunday where we had to play without an organ. It was great blessing for us,” Bremer said, noting the church has four services per week that use the organ. 

Bremer said having the organ project completed helps serve the congregation’s identity.

“We have always been a singing congregation and now after finishing this project, we are able to be more so,” she said. “The acoustic pipes help make the singing richer, fuller and louder. It supports people, and it has a more natural sound.”