St. John Lutheran Church celebrates 50th Pipe Organ Anniversary

St. John Lutheran Church, Hicksville held their 50th Anniversary Pipe Organ Rededication Service on Sunday December 7th. Minister Alex Heffelfinger opened the service with the Rededication & Blessing of the Organ. Heidi Turnbull read the history of the organ and organists. The highlight of the service was organ recitals by Sue Crossland from Paulding and David Snyder of Payne. The organ was built by the M. P. Moller Organ Company of Hagerstown MD. The organ was dedicated on October 26, 1975, a gift from Roland Doeden in honor of his wife, Ethel. The original cost was $20,925. with today’s replacement cost is $245,000. The Moller Company was the largest ever pipe organ company building over 12,000 pipe organs. In their heyday they completed one organ a day. The organ is currently maintained by the Lima Pipe & Organ Company. The service was attended by family members of previous organists. The church currently has Colleen Richter as organist and Sharon Colley and Rebekah Smith as pianists.