The following letter is being distributed to the parishioners of the Lutheran Church of Honolulu.

Dear people of LCH:

It was 37 years ago that I was first contracted by Carl Crosier to play the organ for Bach Cantata 67 on May 4, 1975 at the Lutheran Church of Honolulu. Although I was not officially hired as Organist until May of 1978, I frequently came to worship from the time of that cantata service. In the meantime, you rejoiced with us as we celebrated our wedding, wept with us at the death of our first child, celebrated the birth of our son, and prayed for me when I underwent surgery for a brain tumor. In addition to hundreds of services and nearly all the concerts, I played for many of your weddings and grieved with you when our members went on to greater glory. More than half my life and nearly my entire career has been spent at LCH.

I have recently made the decision to open a new chapter in my life and therefore will not be renewing my contract when it expires the end of December. My last service will be Christmas Day after which I will look forward to spending more time with my family and working on new projects.

Although I will no longer be playing for services, I am not yet retiring from playing the organ. I will tend to the care and maintenance of the organ and LCH’s other musical instruments for now. I will also continue to teach here and will share with my students—your children—the joy of “The King of Instruments.”

Please know that I deeply care for the people of this congregation. You have been my closest and lifelong friends. Carl and I will always consider LCH our church home. Thank you for giving me the privilege of serving as your organist these many years.

Katherine Crosier