The vital seed—the sine qua non—of the renewal of parish life at St. Peter under Fr. Cook and Fr. Broheimer would be a return to this first and greatest Commandment: to love God with heart, soul, and mind. This demanded a clear vision of the Sacred Liturgy. When, little by little, Fr. Cook began to inspire the parishioners to reclaim the treasures of their Catholic faith, he began with a simple return to the fundamentals of faithful, traditional worship. Yet nobody predicted that tending this small flame would explode as it has into the current multi-faceted conflagration of parish renewal for which St. Peter has become known! Pope St. John XXIII when dedicating a new organ at St. Peter’s Basilica promised it “…would do its part in lifting men up to the throne of the Most High” and aid in establishing in them the “dispositions needed” of “…adoration, exultation, and gratitude.” The Council echoed John XXIII’s enthusiasm granting the organ “pride of place” in worship. This project marks the physical capstone of the renovation begun 15 years ago.

St. Peter’s pipe organ, installed ca. 1926, was built during the waning years of the once highly reputed Kilgen Organ Company. Over the decades, both the mechanism and even some of Kilgen’s typically well-made pipe work was subject to seriously inexpert alterations which were made partly to overcome the sound-dampening materials introduced into the church’s interior. By the first decade of the 21st century, the organ’s original console failed, necessitating its replacement with a mismatched console from another instrument— itself a piece of hardware in disrepair—just to restore some temporary functionality and to buy time for its inevitable overhaul/replacement.

Recent mechanical failures have necessitated an exhaustive study of all long-term options. It was determined that, given the state of the instrument, a repair/rebuild would yield limited results. We then investigated several potential “transplant” instruments from other institutions, but in each case, the dimensions of St. Peter’s relatively wide loft and low ceiling necessitated rebuilds equaling the cost of a new instrument – yet with old pipework. After years of intensive study and consultation with experts near and far, it became clear that the only viable long-term solution would be to build a new instrument.

With joy Archbishop Lucas called Fr. Broheimer last Christmas Eve to grant his blessing to move forward with an organ project that would build an instrument designed specifically for the restored interior of our historic church, home of a now thriving parish with an active, multi-tiered Music Program.

Some suppose a church organ to be a selfcontained music machine and regard the church building merely as the place in which it is housed. On the contrary, for a proper church organ, the building is the instrument! The organ is the voice of the building. Just as one identifies a violin by its wooden body—not merely by its strings—so too a pipe organ is constructed as a means of exploiting the existing acoustic “body” of the instrument—that is, the church’s nave. Detailed acoustic assessments are made and pipes are located and voiced to highlight the exact acoustic strengths of the church. But imagine a Stradivarius violin without strings!

Since the 2014 renovation, St. Peter now possesses one of the finest acoustics in Omaha. Thus, giving this building a “voice” is a substantial investment in the future of St. Peter Church itself.

The donate button below has been created expressly for the purpose of supporting the St. Peter Organ Project.