Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church

3920 Victoria St N
Shoreview, MN 55126


Builder: C. B. Fisk, Opus 122, 2004
Manuals: 2
Ranks: 26
Action: Mechanical

Notes: My first encounter with this church was to help with tuning problems in the organ in the old church (which at that time was the second sanctuary built). There is a picture of the old organ's exposed portion below. This was a partly recycled, partly homemade organ. The ceiling was very low, with the Swell behind grill cloth. The building heated up so much during worship that the Great went very sharp to the Swell. There were also problems with homemade wind chests with valve pads intended to seat INSIDE the pipe hole. Addition of an exhaust fan in the swell and removal of the grill cloth solved the tuning problem. When plans were made for the third sanctuary, I was asked to be the consultant. Given the varied musical styles done in this church, I figured an electric action organ, with MIDI, would work for them and we visited a number of Twin Cities churches with such a setup. We also visited tracker installations. The Fisk organ at House of Hope quite literally blew them away and they became determined to get a Fisk, much to my surprise. The pastor was against it, but the committee prevailed. During contract negotiations, the church's lawyer delayed signing and the Cathedral of Lausanne, Switzerland (Opus 120) signed ahead of Shoreview (Opus 122). Lausanne was Fisk's largest job to date, and that slight delay pushed the Shoreview organ out by almost four years. Design details were worked out between me and Steve Malionek of Fisk via email while he was installing in Lausanne. It was delivered on an extremely cold January day with members of the church unloading the truck.  Greg Bover was project leader.
The option for an electronic organ never gained foothold since the church is across the street from the extremely powerful MPR broadcast towers. There were stories of police chatter coming through on electronic organs in the area as well.
The idea of an electric action pipe organ died when it was discovered that the contractor had embedded a channel for wires in the concrete in the wrong place. Fisk opted for a keydesk at the left end of the case with a good view of the choir director and the chancel. The swell is directly above the keydesk with shutters on two sides, with the great at the far right end. The large pedal reed is against the wall to the player's left. Reflections in the room (acoustician Dana Kierkegaard) and openings in the case make the organ easy to hear and play. A single huge wedge bellows feeds the entire organ. The 16' wood Contrabass pipes in the facade speak into the case so choir members are not tempted to lay hymnals in their mouths!
-- David Engen, 11/2020

GREAT
16' Bourdon
8' Prestant (facade, spotted)
8' Spire Flute
8' Harmonic Flute (common bass)
4' Octave
2' Superoctave
    Mixture IV-VI (5.1/3 engaged with 16' Bourdon)
8' Trumpet

SWELL
8' Violin Diapason
8' Celeste
8' Chimney Flute
4' Principal
4' Traverse Flute (heritage wood pipes)
2.2/3' Nazard
2' Octavin
1.3/5' Tierce
    Scharp IV
16' Dulcian
8' Oboe

PEDAL
16' Contrabass (facade, wood)
16' Bourdon (Gt)
8' Octave
8' Spire Flute (Gt)
4' Superoctave (Gt)
16' Trombone (metal)
8' Trumpet (Gt)