Charles “Chas” Buettner was honored June 2 by members of Divine Savior Lutheran Church of Shawano for his 65 years in the music ministry as a church organist.
Buettner thanked God for the people — family and friends — who have supported him over the years with their prayers and helpful comments. “We do what we can, with the Lord’s help, and serve him in whatever way we can,” he said.
Buettner, the youngest of 14 children, loved music. Beginning accordion lessons at age 9 or 10, he also practiced and played an old pump organ in the garage. And when the organ’s pedal straps broke, Buettner fixed them using his father’s suspenders.
In November 1948, when Buettner was 19, his pastor accepted a call and left, taking his wife, the only church organist, with him. The congregation asked Buettner to become the new organist and play for both English and German services. He played for his first worship service on Dec. 5, 1948, at St. Jakobi Lutheran Church, LCMS, in the town of Richmond.
Buettner played his last worship service for St. Jakobi on July 2, 1972. On Aug. 6, 1972, he played his first worship service at Divine Savior, where he served until March 29.
Early in his career, not understanding much German sometimes caused problems, such as the time the pastor, in German, said, “Let us pray” and Buettner played the “Amen” response.
On another occasion while playing the opening hymn, a latecomer crawled into the pew behind the organ and accidentally unplugged the electronic instrument. Without missing a beat, Buettner kept playing and the congregation kept singing. When the organ was plugged in again, Buettner and the congregation were on the same chord.
Another time while Buettner was playing, someone turned on a portable fan that blew all of the sheet music off the organ. He kept playing by memory until another person picked up the music only to return it to the music rack upside down.
Over his 65 years of service, Buettner, who was also a dairy farmer, missed only a few services when he had been scheduled to play.
One of those times occurred when a cow kicked him in the head and he was rushed to the hospital.
While looking forward to retirement, Buettner encouraged others to serve, as he has.
“In whatever way you can serve the Lord, use your God-given talents and experience that great joy of serving the Lord,” he said.
Buettner’s final word on his retirement is: “One thing is for sure, I’m so looking forward to playing that big pipe organ in heaven. No mistakes there! Right?”
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