July 31 Update

Alleluia! The $850,000 goal for the pipe organ replacement project has been met!! THANK YOU RLC for your financial gifts, prayers, enthusiasm, encouragement, interest and participation. It is exciting to reach this stage of the project and the Organ Project Team is very grateful for every donation and the Intent to Gives that continue to be fulfilled as promised. A final total will be shared soon and the Organ Project Team looks forward to celebrating this fantastic milestone together - join us for pie after church on August 4, 2024.

Our new pipe organ will last for over 100 years and will have a huge impact on RLC. It will anchor and enrich our worship services, provide new opportunities to enhance to our music ministry, offer more occasions to invite our neighbors into our worship center for recitals and concerts, and provide beautiful music for generations to come. Music is a gift from God that has the power to proclaim God’s word. In less than a year, it will be a joy to hear our new instrument and the fanfare of the copper trumpet pipes!

Let's Meet the Goal
Give Now by June 30

As of June 25 we have raised with gifts, and intents to give, $827,483 of our $850,000 goal to fund the Pipe Organ Project! That leaves us with $22,517 left to raise. Can we do that by the end of our fiscal year on June 30? Any gift in any amount will bring us closer to our goal!

Thank you!

Organ Transplant Project

A Little Levity!

The Pipe Organ Transplant Team worked hard, and shows us they know how to play (sing) hard, too! John re-worked the words to the Volga Boatmen Song for this little rendition: 

Wednesday, June 19

One last update to let you know all the volunteers arrived home safely and our organ was unloaded at the Nordlie shop in Sioux Falls Tuesday morning, June 18 – everything arrived in great condition!

(We're so close to our fundraising goal! Click here to give now.)

The RLC transplant team in Sioux Falls included Jeff Bowar, Jim and Lorene Roste, their son Scott and granddaughter Rane, and Scott and Julie Henry. The designated unload time was moved from 10:00 am to 8:00 am to avoid the forecasted rain. Work was completed about 11:00 am before any rain fell!

After a brief tour of the shop, the volunteers emptied the center of the truck to make the big pedal pipes on the racks above the pipe trays more accessible. These large pipes will soon stand upright in the shop until they get worked on. Most of the pipe trays were unloaded in a storage unit across the street from the Nordlie shop. About 6 trays went to the shop for work to begin.

Now that the manuals/keyboards are in house, Nordlie is excited to finish our organ console. The wood is black walnut harvested from Joseph Brown’s parents’ property.

The Nordlie team managed this major removal task safely, made excellent use of the RLC volunteers, and were fun to work with. What we accomplished in 6 days was amazing! Without the RLC volunteers, Nordlie President Joseph Brown said the removal would have taken 3 weeks and he would have needed to hire 2 more people. That represents a huge savings to RLC and significantly reduced the impact to St. Luke’s.

St. Luke’s feels we have become “family” as RLC re-purposes their organ and our respective organ projects are on the same timeline. They sincerely wish to continue the relationship! Many of our new friends hope to visit RLC when our new organ is dedicated, including their Rector, his assistant and coordinator of worship, the executive administrator, organist, facility coordinator and chef!

Many of the Transplant Volunteers will be available Sunday, June 23 between services in the Commons to share more about the trip and answer any questions you may have. See you in church!

June 16 - On the Road!

The last pipe was removed Thursday afternoon. Then work was focused on cleaning and packing pipes, loading the 26’ Penske truck and cleaning up the church.

(We're so close to our fundraising goal! Click here to give now.)

Pipes ready for cleaning and packing. Large pipes were nestled in foam wrap; small pipes were sealed in plastic sleeves.

4, 8 and 12’ packed trays were staged for loading into the truck. Everything was weighed before it was loaded. One pipe was 120 lbs and the heaviest pipe tray (12’) was 180 lbs.

The large pedal pipes were wrapped with bubble wrap in several places so they could ride above the pipe trays. Once all the pipes were out of the church, pews were moved back into place and secured, John vacuumed cushions and the protective floor coverings were cleaned up and removed.

The last wind reservoir is loaded into the truck. 96 degrees and humid on loading day! The door closes with a few inches to spare and the load is just under the 10,772 pound truck load limit!

Cleaned up and loaded by 4:10 pm on Saturday. The truck and workers were blessed before the 1100 mile journey to Sioux Falls and Roseville. The St. Luke’s staff was very appreciative we took such care with their church. You couldn’t tell we’d been there for 6 days, except the organ is gone!

It’s now official! Because of your support we can call this organ OURS!

Thursday, June 13 Update

It was a very long work day today – about 12 hours! Great progress was made getting down the last large pipes and the 800 remaining pipes located 2 levels above the balcony. Those pipes were handed down one-by-one in an 11-person fire brigade line with people on 5 different levels.

Dust is blown out of every pipe and they are wiped down with 409 cleaner. The smaller pipes are placed in “sleeves” and the large pipes are wrapped in foam and bubble wrap before being packed in the pipe trays. Everyone at St. Luke’s has been so welcoming and interested in our work. Today they treated us to lunch of southern BBQ.

Progress can also be measured by how full the dumpster is – we have filled #2! Thank you for your ongoing prayers for safe work and upcoming travel – we all feel them and keep the prayer squares made for us by the prayer team in our pockets each day!

June 12 Progress

Using a scissors lift to send pipe trays down to the ground level.

View of the organ late afternoon Wednesday. Only some very large pipes, the trumpet pipes and about 800 small pipes left to remove.

View from the balcony of all the pipes that have been brought down. We are leaving all the dust in Alabama - each pipe is cleaned by blowing compressed air through the mouth of the pipe, then it is wiped down with a rag doused in 409 cleaner before it will be packed up for its journey to Sioux Falls.

June 10 Update

The pipe organ retrieval work began at 7:00 am June 10. We unloaded materials, have been building pipe trays and the console has been disassembled and removed.

June 4 - Challenge Gift!

(We're so close to our fundraising goal! Click here to give now.)

One year ago, the Organ Project Team deferred 2 ranks of pipes from the new organ design to ensure the project cost would not exceed $850,000. Organ builder J.F. Nordlie agreed to honor the price of $29,000 for the 2 additional ranks if they were purchased by this summer and installed with the new organ; if the pipes were installed later, the cost would be higher. 

As a challenge, if RLC reaches the $850,000 project goal, a passionate RLC pipe organ donor has committed to fully fund the 2 additional ranks. This donor has already made a generous gift to the organ project. They believe it is important to include the additional ranks with the installation of the organ to complete the vision of the organ design and to save the higher cost of installing them later. Click here to give now.

Let’s Finish Strong

As Pastor Eric puts it, RLC is in the 4th quarter of project fundraising with just $42,612 to go! Every contribution makes a difference and is celebrated. There are several ways to make a gift to the organ project:

• Click here to complete the Intent to Give form. 
• Send a check designated for the RLC Organ Fund to the RLC Finance Office. 
• Make a charitable donation using an IRA distribution or by gifting appreciated assets to the organ fund. These direct donations have the added advantage of reducing earned income and are not taxed since they go directly to a nonprofit. The RLC Finance Office will be happy to answer questions and assist you.

Commissioned and Sent: Alabama and South Dakota Bound!

Ten volunteers from RLC’s Pipe Organ Transplant Team will help the Nordlie crew with the 6-day uninstall of the 3000-pipe Holtkamp organ in Birmingham next week. The RLC team will assemble 76 pipe trays, assist with pipe and organ component disassembly, clean and inventory pipes, assist with pipe packing, truck loading, worksite cleanup, and prepare and serve on-site lunch for the week. The entire Holtkamp organ will be loaded into a 26-foot Penske moving truck for its trip to Sioux Falls. Five more Pipe Organ Transplant Team volunteers will help carefully unload the precious cargo at Nordlie’s shop in Sioux Falls. Then the organ building begins!

April 8 Organ Design Reveal!

Excitement was in the air for the Meet the Pipe Organ Builder presentation on Monday evening, April 8!

Over 70 people attended the event for the unveiling of RLC’s new pipe organ design. Joseph Brown, President and Owner of J.F. Nordlie explained the vision for our organ, how the design was developed and shared the architectural drawings of the new organ. Our organ consultant, Dr. Gregory Peterson, spoke about the importance of honoring the design and history of the Holtkamp organ and our existing organ. The result will be a unique new instrument that will be dynamic, versatile, exciting to play, inspiring to hear, and musically, liturgically, artistically and architecturally complimentary to RLC’s worship center. He is excited that RLC’s organ will offer various new opportunities and be a destination venue for guest organists and musicians.

Fundraising = $54,000 to go!

Financially, we are very close to reaching the $850,000 project goal. To date, $795,988 (94%) has been pledged or donated leaving just $54,000 to go! If you have been waiting to see if the project was really going to happen, now is the time to help support this legacy project.

Intent to Give forms are available by the organ poster in the Commons or you can click here to complete the form online. If you’d like to make a charitable donation using a distribution from your IRA or have appreciated assets you’d like to donate to the organ fund, please call the RLC Finance Office. They will be happy to answer your questions and assist you.

FEBRUARY 5, 2024 UPDATE

2023 marked a big year in our pipe organ replacement project! The graphic below provides a summary of last year’s milestones and what we have to look forward to in the coming months.

Fundraising Update - $58,676 to reach the project goal!!

The organ project is funded solely by congregational donations. Commitments for the organ have reached $791,324 or 93% of the $850,000 project goal. The steady fundraising progress is a testament to the dedication and determination of RLCs members, reminding us all of the incredible power that lies within a collective effort to uplift and inspire.

To make a donation to the Organ Project, please fill out the Intent to Give form here  or pick up a form and envelope in the Commons by the organ poster. You can also make a “noisy” donation to the organ by dropping your change in the organ donation pipe in the Commons. Every gift, regardless of its size, makes a difference and helps ensure the success of this legacy project!

Dec. 31, 2023 Update

Only $90,777 to Go!

Commitments for the organ project as of December 31, 2023 are $759,222 or 89% of our project goal of $850,000. The matching funds have been exhausted. Thank you RLC for your tremendous generosity and support! 

Cash flow for the project looks great and is on track. Commitments to the organ project can be paid between now and June 1, 2025. Donors are encouraged to make payments early in the year or quarterly. If you would like to make a commitment to the project, the Intent to Give form is available here or pick up a form and envelope in the Commons by the organ poster.

How to Fulfill your Intent to Give Commitment

• For 2023 gifts - If you designated an Intent to Give for 2023 and or wish to make a financial contribution this year, please send your donation before December 31 to the attention of Laurel Hofeldt, RLC Director of Finance, and designate Organ Fund in the memo line. If you have forgotten the amount of your Intent to Give, please email Kathy Arveson at and the Finance Office can assist you.
• For 2024 gifts - RLC is making monthly payments of $30,000 to the organ builder. To help with cash flow, please consider making your donation early in 2024 or making quarterly payments.
• For 2025 gifts - RLC will make monthly payments of $30,000 to the organ builder with a final payment in June 2025. To help with cash flow, please consider making your donation early in 2025 and complete your donation before June 1, 2025.

Update on Our Möller Organ

The reliability of our organ is still questionable after the major ciphers during the worship service on November 26th. Our organ contractor, J.F. Nordlie has been consulted and John Helgen has been testing the organ daily to identify trends and concerns.  Mechanical issues, temperature and humidity changes are all factors that make the problem(s) difficult to diagnose and impossible to predict or steer around while playing the organ. Analysis of the issues will continue. Due to this unreliability, the organ was not used for the Christmas Festival. 

Progress on Our New Organ

Progress on our new pipe organ has been steady! Nordlie made a return trip to Mountain Brook, AL in early November to gather detailed information on pipe diameters and to create a disassembly procedure for June 2024. They have begun planning the layout of the wind chests and façade and 65% of the outside sourced materials for the casework, console, and interior components have been received. This includes 500 board feet of quartersawn white oak which is acclimating in their shop and has been sorted to find the most beautiful pieces to build the organ console. We hope to hold a Meet the Builder session early in 2024 with more information.

Play the Pipe Organ

Do you play the piano or other instrument? Have you ever wanted to play a pipe organ? The Organ Project Team would like you to have that opportunity! On Saturday November 11, we will be hosting Play the Pipe Organ.

Event Filled!

RLC Organ Survey by Nordlie

The crew from J.F. Nordlie was on-site Friday, Oct. 6 to perform a physical survey of RLC’s organ pipe loft and collect the pipe diameters of those that will be re-used in our new organ. This will allow Nordlie to create accurate renderings of the new instrument. Several components have been ordered such as the leathers (22 skins of various thicknesses and finishes) and all the fuses for the control system. There will be nearly 100 fuses in our organ! Construction has begun on small generic components. The Organ Project Team provided lunch for the crew and it was exciting to hear the wheels are turning! RLC member Mike Dolan leads the team of volunteers responsible for putting up the Christmas mural and stopped by to discuss the mural logistics with the Nordlie team.

Ongoing Organ Fundraising

$648,870 of $850,000

As of October 26, 2023, the committed donations for the pipe organ project are $648,870 or 76% of the project goal, and many supporters have begun fulfilling their 2023 Intent to Give commitments. We want to finish strong by raising the remaining $201,130 in commitments by the end of this year! Commitments will be paid over three years (2023-June 1, 2025). You can support the project by filling out an Intent to Give form, or print the form and mail it. 

Please use the following links:

• Fill out an Intent to Give Online
• Print and fill out a paper Intent to Give and return to church
• Give now online, designate your gift to "Organ Fund"

For supporters who have designated an Intent to Give for 2023 and those wishing to make a financial contribution this year, please send your donation to the attention of Laurel Hofeldt, RLC Director of Finance, and designate Organ Fund in the memo line. If you have forgotten the amount of your Intent to Give, please email Kathy Arveson at  and the Finance Office can assist you. Your support of this legacy project is greatly appreciated!

RLC Organ Task Force Archive

All the previous materials, videos, and updates produced by the former Task Force can be accessed by clicking here.