Did You Know There’s A Secret Room In Duluth’s Copper Top Church?

Did you know that the Copper Top Church in Duluth has an organ with over 3,000 pipes? The organ's pipe system is so huge that you walk through a "wind chamber" to see how it all works. It's truly amazing to see the engineering behind all of it.

My father works at the First United Methodist Church (also known as the Copper Top.) The church itself is a landmark in Duluth, Minnesota. My dad was telling me a story about how he had to help one of the technicians working on the organ, and told me how cool it was.

I'm interested in seeing how stuff works, so he brought me for a quick tour of the organ and how it all works. He warned me though: tight spaces were coming. He wasn't wrong. Climbing up the ladder and squeezing through the tight space was a little claustrophobic, but we made it.

There are even sections of the organ that came from its original location in Downtown Duluth.

The main organ is near the altar and is completely moveable.

It's remarkable to see how they tune the pipes. They can manipulate the pitch by peeling back tabs on the pipe, much like opening or closing a can of sardines. The original circuitry is very interesting to see how they did things back in the analog days.

If you want to see the organ in action, they have a pretty fun event coming up. World-renowned organist Jelani Eddington will be performing a live organ accompaniment to the silent movie comedy "Safety Last!"

Silent movies were never supposed to be silent. They were always intended to have live music accompany them. The organist reacts to the movie, and the crowd, to create a unique experience every time. It's a freewill offering at the First United Methodist Church on Friday, March 7th.