Pipe Organ

Our Lady of the Lake’s Pipe Organ – Opus 934

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The Announcement

Although our pipe organ project had been underway for many years, the announcement was first made to the parish community in 2024. Read the official announcement below:

“According to the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy of the Second Vatican Council, “The pipe organ is to be held in high esteem in the Latin Church, since it is its traditional instrument, the sound of which can add a wonderful splendor to the Church’s ceremonies and powerfully lift up men’s minds to God and higher things.” At Our Lady of the Lake, we are excited to announce that we are on the verge of acquiring our very own pipe organ to replace our current electric organ and elevate the beauty of our liturgies.

This unique opportunity first came to our attention more than a year and a half ago. We heard about an available organ that was created by a family workshop in the Netherlands that also built the organ in Dimnent Chapel at Hope College. Buying such an organ would ordinarily be prohibitively expensive for our parish. However, though the organ is in excellent condition, it is technically “used,” since it was originally built for a music school in France that has since gone out of business. As a result, we are able to purchase it at a significant discount. It is relatively small for a pipe organ, meaning it will fit well in the sanctuary of our church. When we got in contact with the family that built the organ, they were excited for it to go to Holland, MI, near the one their grandfather built for Hope.

After discussing this opportunity with Audrey Gorman and our pastoral and finance councils, Fr. Michael sought permission to purchase the organ from our bishop. Bishop Walkowiak encouraged us to proceed. OLL has now signed a contract with the workshop, which is planning to disassemble the organ, ship it to the U.S., reassemble it, and install it beginning in January 2025. The installation will take about six weeks.”

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Details of the Instrument

Our pipe organ, Opus 934, was built by Pels & Van Leeuwen in 1993. This organ was initially designed and scaled to be installed in a larger room, but was purchased by the Municipal Music School in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. To make it usable in the school’s classroom, they built a completely closed case of solid oak. The sound could only enter the room through the openings between the largest facade pipe fields to the left and right of the console. This allowed the organ to produce a powerful sound while maintaining a comfortable environment for teaching and practicing in a small study room for extended periods of time.

Our organ consultant connected us with an organ shop in the Netherlands, Pels & Van Leewen, which was selling this organ, hoping it would go to a church in the United States. Not only was it appropriately sized for our space, but it was readily available and priced at a significant discount! This organ shop, Pels & Van Leeuwen, was eager to send another one of their organs from Holland, the Netherlands, to Holland, Michigan. This family-owned business had also previously built the organ in Dimnent Chapel at Hope College.

Some modifications have been made to the organ to make it suitable for our Sanctuary. The organ builders built a new hood for the organ with sound-permeable sides. They moved the swell shutters to the top of the organ, allowing for greater dynamic control of the swell pipes. The facade pipes (visible, front pipes) were raised, and new decorative wood molding was added to the top of the case. Pels & Van Leeuwen are very excited to have this instrument installed in a Church, as that was their original intention. While this is a Dutch instrument, it is built in a French style, meaning that many of its stops are designed to mimic those of a French organ. However, it still maintains its Dutch character and is therefore a very eclectic instrument that can play a wide repertoire of music.

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Timeline of the Project

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Demonstrations

Experience the beautiful music of our pipe organ in these demonstrations below. These songs are from various celebrations and feast days throughout the year, and more will be added as they are recorded.

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Virtual Tour

Take a virtual tour of our organ with our very own Director of Sacred Music, Audrey Gorman.

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Testimonials

We love our pipe organ, but don’t just take our word for it. Hear what our parishioners have to say!

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Fundraising Efforts

The Cost of a Pipe Organ

When Fr. Michael presented this opportunity to Bishop Walkowiak, the bishop was very excited and encouraged us to proceed. To help finance this project, Bishop Walkowiak extended us a line of credit from the diocese’s deposit and loan fund at 3%. It is structured as a construction loan, so while the project was underway, we made interest-only payments on funds drawn to date. When the organ was installed, and the last installment has been paid, the loan converts to a principle + interest loan at 3% for the balance drawn. We quickly began fundraising to minimize the total amount borrowed and pay back the loan and interest.

Breakdown	Estimation	Actual
Organ, Shipping, and Installation	$221,864
Sanctuary Modification	$50,000
Total	$271,864	$372,116

Fundraisers

We began accepting donations for our pipe organ shortly after making the announcement. In October 2024, we launched our “Buy A Pipe” fundraiser to encourage participation in a fun and visual way! Since our organ has 840 pipes, we invited parishioners and guests to purchase one or more of them. Larger pipes were priced higher, while smaller pipes were priced lower, to accommodate different giving levels and combinations of pipes. A pipe tracker logged our progress. Any donation we received after beginning “Buy A Pipe” was assigned to a pipe. We also participated in Giving Tuesday 2025 through the Diocese of Grand Rapids, with all donations directed to this pipe organ purchase. After the Giving Tuesday campaign concluded, we will still accept donations for the organ, and they will count toward loose donations.

Fundraiser	Amount Raised
Loose Donations	$27,732
Buy a Pipe	$156,250
Giving Tuesday	11,610
Total	$195,592

What Is Next?

We are amazed by the generosity, support, and participation from our parishioners and guests alike. Thank you so much for helping us raise so much already! We will continue to accept donations toward our pipe organ; they will count as loose donations from now on. If you would like to offer a donation, please use the link below and select “Restricted Gifts – Pipe Organ” in the fund drop-down selection. Thank you so much!

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Gratitude