FITCHBURG — The beautiful, melodic sounds of organ notes are once again filling the Emanuel Lutheran Church sanctuary, music to the congregation’s ears and the finishing touch in the rebuilding process following a fire over two years ago.
Fortunately, no one was injured in the August 2020 blaze, the result of an electrical issue in a 150-year-old pipe organ that was destroyed in the fire along with portions of the church. The house of worship was rededicated last November and last month a day long dedication celebration officially welcomed a new organ into the church.
Pastor Daniel Spigelmyer Jr. said the Nov. 13 worship service included an organ dedication rite and hymn commissioned for the day. A concert and reception later that day was attended by dozens of people from the city and surrounding towns continued the festivities.
“This concert is the capstone of a long, long rebuilding process that was foisted upon us by the fire that destroyed our previous organ and did great damage to our sanctuary and really our whole church,” he said. “With this dedication and this concert, we can finally say that the rebuilding is done. We have long awaited this day!”
Guest organist Michael Krentz of Allentown, Pennsylvania broke in the new instrument by playing several songs during both the church service and afternoon concert that showcased its exquisite sound.
“The program was truly beautiful,” said Emanuel member Judy Normandin. “The music was soulful, the organ was awe inspiring, and the performers outstanding. A joyous evening filled with beauty and fellowship.”
Other church members echoed her sentiments, with Carol Fitzgerald proclaiming, “It was an absolutely showstopper of an afternoon at church,” and Linda Hay adding “The organ sounded phenomenal, and the music was just beautiful.”
Krentz, who started organ lessons at age 14, is a deacon in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and is currently serving as director of Music and organist at Christ Lutheran Church in Allentown, Pennsylvania. He said “it was a joy” to be involved with obtaining a new organ after the fire destroyed the previous instrument and that he was “honored” to be asked to introduce it.
“The organ has a beautiful sound and fills the space gloriously,” he said. “The people certainly appreciated this fine new instrument.”
Ashby resident Stacy Quilty attended the concert and said she “truly appreciated each note.”
“It was an honor to listen to accomplished musicians play an incredible instrument with such history.”
Emanuel member Kristin Clouser said she particularly enjoyed the wide variety of organ pieces Krentz performed, “which demonstrated the range of the organ. Totally awesome!”
Several people in the church formed the Organ Team — Chair Gwen Farley, Jeffrey Irwin, Paul Lieneck, Steve Niemi, Marcia Sharkey, and Spigelmyer Jr. The group worked with Patrick J. Murphy & Associates out of Stowe, Pennsylvania, one of the largest, full service, pipe organ builders in the Northeast, to obtain a new instrument.
The company’s President and Artistic Director Patrick Murphy said a team of nine “skilled full-time organ builders enjoyed designing and constructing a true musical instrument that will last for decades.”
He shared that the new slider chest organ contains two manuals and 20 ranks and utilizes new mechanicals and two separate expression enclosures “behind a Frank Friemel designed case that fits this post-modernist 1970s building.”
“Aside from the new façade Pedal Violone and reed stops, all fluework will be from the church’s existing Hook and Hastings 1896 Opus 1127, originally built for the Calvinistic Congregational in Fitchburg, and is augmented with pipework from E.& G.G. Hook 1872 Opus 616 originally built for the First Presbyterian Church of Scranton, Pennsylvania,” Murphy said. “The incorporating of existing pipework from the 19th century provides the experienced sounds that represent an audible time capsule.”
On behalf of everyone involved Krentz praised Murphy and his team, saying they “were very helpful, from getting an insurance estimate through the process of building and installing the new organ.”
Sharkey, who serves as the parish musician, organist, choir director, played an organ-piano duet with Krentz during the concert. She described it well when she shared that “I truly feel like a piece of my family has been returned.”
“Something that was lost has returned, and once again with the hard of all involved, the music has not died, but is alive and well and joyous once again at Emanuel Lutheran Church.”
Fitchburg City Councilor Sam Squailia said she was “so glad” she could attend the dedication concert and join them in celebrating the meaningful milestone.
“Their guest performer pulled out all the stops for the show,” she said. “My favorite was the duet with the piano and organ together. Beautiful!”
Spigelmyer Jr.’s sermon that Sunday was fittingly titled “Sing a New Song” and focused on the immense joy and range of emotions the church family is feeling coming into this new chapter after some admittedly dark times.
“We have a new song to sing, if you will — a song of praise and thanksgiving,” he said. “We give thanks to God for this amazing blessing. We praise God for his marvelous faithfulness.”
He went on to talk about the heartbreak they experienced during the pandemic and then in the wake of the fire — and how they all came together to lift each other up and rebuild the church, both literally and figuratively.
“Many people may have lost hope in the face of all that we faced,” Spigelmyer Jr. said in his sermon. “Maybe some of you felt hopeless even…Yet we lived up to our name — Emanuel, God with us. We may have felt abandoned, but we knew weren’t. We believed we weren’t. God remained faithful, and even as life decomposed around us, God was at work re-composing us.”
