KEY POINTS:
It's almost like a divine joke.
Nine hundred people sat waiting for a booming, 4000-pipe organ to lead their Christmas carols - only to find the instrument would not make a peep.
If the old organ at the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Parnell has a sense of humour, it was almost certainly chuckling on Sunday.
Church organist Philip Smith realised minutes before a special carol service that the 40-year-old organ had fallen silent.
Dean of Auckland Ross Bay said the blower motor - the part that makes the air move through the pipes and gives the organ its sound - suddenly stopped, cutting power to the organ.
Dean Bay said carollers sang with extra gusto to make up for the lack of organ music, accompanied by a grand piano.
Now the cathedral is praying for a resurrection by Christmas Day, when 3000 worshippers are expected to attend services.
Mr Smith said it was unlucky the organ had stopped on Sunday of all days, when there were close to 1000 people in the cathedral. It was played almost every day of the year.
The organist said it was getting "long in the tooth" and needed about $3 million worth of work to stop problems occurring. While the pipes were fine, the mechanical side was "like driving a car made in 1968".
The broken part was with specialist engineers last night.
Dean Bay said he would find another organ if it could not be fixed today or tomorrow. "One way or another we'll have some kind of organ for Christmas."
