Yesterday when I received the Lutheran Church of Honolulu’s E-News, I was really excited to see former Interim Pastor Steve Jensen’s photo with First Lady Michelle Obama. The story actually linked back to the Pacifica Synod’s story about the Wounded Warrior program, of which Pastor Steve has been a volunteer since February of this year. I strongly encourage you to read this story by clicking the link above to learn about the interaction between Pastor Steve and Mrs. Obama, and how he is not just a volunteer chaplain, but the “soul of the program,” which assists wounded soldiers with training programs to transition out of the military.

In fact, just a couple of weeks ago, Pastor Steve brought one of the young soldiers to see the Beckerath organ at the Lutheran Church of Honolulu as part of his exploration of new possibilities. I basically showed him what the organ is all about and how it is different from the piano — multiple, reverse-color keyboards, a pedalboard, sounds that sustain, the different types of pipework, and the tracker action. I showed him both LCH’s continuo organ as well as the larger instrument, both of which were made by the Rudolf von Beckerath firm of Hamburg, Germany. We opened up the doors to the big organ to see the tracker action and looked inside at the wooden and metal pipes of the continuo organ. I let him play both organs to feel how the touch was different from that of a piano.

The next day Pastor Steve told me what an impression this whole experience made upon him, and just yesterday, I got a written ‘thank you’ note from this young soldier. I was just happy to help in any small way I could.