OUR ORGAN

Our Organ

Tucked away in the balcony above the entrance to the sanctuary at St. Peter Lutheran is an organ that could tell quite a story about its life of sharing the Word through music. Built in Michigan by the American company of Ferrand and Votey in 1890 for the St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church of Silver Lake, Minnesota, the Opus 86 organ was in service at St. Joseph until the early 1940’s. At that time it was purchased by Trinity Lutheran Church in Gaylord, Minnesota. At this point the organ underwent some modifications to fit its new home. When Trinity Lutheran decided to replace it with an electric model, the fate of the Opus 86 was uncertain.

Through an uncle of the pastor serving at St. Peter, Stettler in Alberta, a new home in Canada was to be found for the beautiful instrument. In 1955, Gus Eisentraut and Dick Hubert made a 6-day trip from Stettler to Trinity Lutheran in Minnesota where they dismantled the Opus and brought it back to Stettler. The organ served at the former Main Street location of St. Peter Lutheran for about ten years until the time when a decision was made to construct a new church building. The organ was placed in storage until the new building was completed in 1966 at which time it was installed in the balcony at the rear of the sanctuary of the A-frame building. The organ has had some major efforts to restore and repair it over its years of service and it continues to provide music for the congregation’s worship service.