On Easter Sunday, for the first time in 50 years, the voices of the faithful inside the Hammond Street Congregational Church in Bangor will be joined by the intonations of a pipe organ.
When the first note is played Sunday on the 155-year-old instrument, it will signal the end to a decades-long grudge from a late congregant, who split from the church when its original pipe organ was silenced a half-century ago.
That man, Waldo McClure “Mac” Libbey, vehemently disagreed with the church’s decision to replace its pipe organ with an electronic one.
According to the Rev. Mark Doty, the original organ, built in the mid-19th century, was discarded — except for its case and the large front pipes — in the mid-1960s. In its stead, an electronic organ was installed.
That decision so offended Libbey, who for years sang in and directed the church choir, that he essentially left the congregation, appearing only sporadically afterward. Doty has said the decision “broke [Libbey’s] heart.”
Interestingly, electricity was Libbey’s livelihood, if not his preference for organs. The Bangor native taught electrical engineering at the University of Maine for 47 years and was an acoustics expert.
He died Jan. 10, 2009, at 86. In his will, Libbey left the church $183,000 for the sole purpose of installing a new pipe organ. If one could not be found within 10 years, the money would go to other charities.
Not long after learning of Libby’s bequest in 2009, Doty ran into Kevin Birch, music director at St. John’s Catholic Church in Bangor.
The York Street church has an E. & G.G. Hook organ — made by Boston brothers Elias and George G. Hook — that was built in 1860, and a concert series showcases its versatility each summer.
Birch, an expert on Hook organs, connected Doty with the New Hope Baptist Church in Boston, which was selling its Hook organ from 1861.
“So many organs suffered this fate: They were pulled out and replaced with an electric organ or completely removed and nothing replaced them,” Birch said. “There are so many stories of heartbreak where people regretted what they’d lost. This is one of those very rare situations where they were able to recover some continuity from what had been a very beautiful situation.”
The organ in Boston had been unplayed for 60 years, but it was in good shape. The sale went through in November 2012, and the organ was sent to the studio of A. David Moore Pipe Organs in North Pomfret, Vermont, for restoration costing $193,000.
Recently, Moore has been traveling between his studio and Bangor for the past few months, installing the 27-note pedalboard, two keyboards and the more than 1,700 pipes, made of a zinc, lead and tin alloy, from the Boston church.
He reused the existing console and facing pipes, which were covered in new gold leafing, and moved them farther out in the choir loft over the congregation than they had been.
The full restoration, according to Moore, will be completed this summer, when the church plans to hold a dedication service.
On Sunday, the sound will be “full enough” to understand how magnificent an instrument it will be when completed, organist Kathy Jellison said.
“Only about 10 percent of the pipes have been installed right now, but it still will be a wonderful, prayerful experience,” she said. Jellison will play “Christ the Lord is Risen Today” and a toccata on the instrument Sunday.
Tracy Bigney, chairwoman of the church’s organ committee, said the installation has been a “great journey” for the church, which fundraised to complete the project and create an endowment for future maintenance.
“Music is such an important part of worship,” she said. “It is wonderful to think of how glorious the sound will be when the restoration is finished.”
As for Libbey?
Doty is sure he will hear the music Sunday and agree.