By Tim Lilley
During the July 28 prayer service of thanksgiving for the newly installed Wick’s Pipe Organ at Divine Mercy Parish’s Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in Schnellville, Father Tim Tenbarge prayed, “May our music be a witness of Your majesty and love.” The organ’s dynamic tones combined with the parish choir and the voices of scores of attendees to provide that witness in the moment.
After Bishop Joseph M. Siegel blessed the organ, the choir — accompanied by Benedictine Sister Catherine Marie Duenne on the organ — led a “prayer of thanksgiving in honor of all who made the Wick’s Pipe Organ a reality.” The organ, a model known as Opus 6117, was built in 1991 and came to the Sacred Heart campus from a church in Michigan. Installation and tuning occurred from May 20 to May 30.
The organ features two keyboards and a foot-pedal board. Its 389 pipes vary in length from two feet to 16 feet. It features a transposer that enables music to be played in a variety of keys, an auto-pedal system that produces low notes without the pedals being played and a solid-state relay system. As the organist plays, electromagnetic solenoids open valves under the appropriate pipes so that air flows through the pipes and creates the sounds.
The service that followed Bishop Siegel’s blessing included prayers, scripture readings, organ instrumental selections and a variety of hymns. An outdoor reception followed.
