Your Story Matters Here: Rob Lynch

Rob Lynch remembers the first time he played the organ in church. It was many years ago, on a Youth Sunday at his home church, Holy Trinity Lutheran in Irwin.

“They asked if I wanted to do a reading or a prayer, and I didn’t want to speak,” he says. “So I panicked and said I would play the organ, even though I didn’t really play the organ. My mom was a church organist so she taught me how to play Prelude and Fugue in F Major. After the service the pastor’s wife said, ‘That was nice, but honey, you need organ lessons,’ so she ended up giving me lessons. I guess I’ve gotten a lot of mileage out of that little piece of music.”

 About 1,500 miles, in fact.

That’s roughly the roundtrip distance between Pittsburgh and Atlanta, including a detour to Knoxville, Tenn.  When Rob joined Dutilh in August as Director of Traditional Music, he completed that circuitous journey – which brought him back to his hometown roots, where he’s once again playing the piano in church, among many other responsibilities.

“Dutilh has been really great so far,” he says. “When I arrived, there were so many summer things going on, such as Worship in the Park, that it has taken awhile to get into the swing of normal church life, but it’s been wonderful. Maureen [Konopka, his predecessor] built an excellent program, and I’ve been blessed to walk into a machine that basically runs itself. Right now, our biggest project is the Cantata coming up for Christmas. I quickly learned how much that means to everyone here. It’s like, ‘Nice to meet you. Will you be doing a Cantata?’ So we have hit the ground running on that.”

Although music has played a key part in Rob’s life since he was a youngster, he also hit the ground running—away, that is—when it came time to be in the school band.

“I quit band in middle school,” he says. “I thought I was too cool and didn’t want to be in that crowd.  But I still took private lessons for guitar, organ, piano, sax and percussion. I’m not very athletic, other than golfing. My passion was always music.”

Despite that passion, after graduating from Penn-Trafford High School in 2007, Rob took a detour and decided to major in electrical engineering at Seton Hill University in Greensburg. After one semester, he turned to actuarial science. A semester later, he returned to his musical roots, and graduated in 2011 with a degree in Sacred Music. In 2013 he earned a master’s in Sacred Music and Organ Performance from Emory University in Atlanta.

“I grew up a church rat,” he says. “I was in church every Sunday, playing the organ and piano, and singing in the choir. When I discovered you could teach and work for a church, I thought that sounded like a pretty good gig.”

Since graduating from Emory, Rob has played a few good gigs, starting with his move to Knoxville in 2013.

To begin with, he married another Irwin native, Lauren Rootham. It’s seems fitting that they met and became friends while attending church during their high school days.  Today, they have two kids, Hannah (age 3) and Hayden (nine months), and a fur baby, Benji. 

From 2013 to 2022, Rob served as a church musician and private music teacher in Knoxville, as director of Music and Liturgy at Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church.  In this role, he was the featured soloist and accompanist for many prominent events, including the ground breaking and subsequent grand opening of Sacred Heart Cathedral Church in Knoxville. Outside of church, he played guitar for a country singer, Chelsea Berry, and was in several bands over the years, where he appeared in venues such as a brewery and a hockey arena. He once met country superstar Wynonna Judd at a bar.

“I was playing in a band, and she was there,” he says with a laugh. “Just one of the strange encounters that you wouldn’t have in a church pew.”

In 2022, Rob and Lauren moved back to Pittsburgh for her job with Arconic Corp., and he began working as concerts and communications coordinator for the music department at the University of Pittsburgh.  In his spare time, he played as a fill-in musician at some local churches, and it didn’t take long before he realized “a full-time church gig was where I belonged.”

So when Dutilh came calling, Rob answered the call and he’s happy he did.

“The church staff has been incredible, so easy to get along with,” he says. “Everyone has been helpful and more than happy to pitch in. It’s also been refreshing to see all of the staff here on Sunday mornings. In other churches, I never saw the staff work on Sunday, except for the priest and me. And I can’t sing Pastor Tom’s praises enough; he’s very welcoming and kind. Plus, he’s a real planner and I really appreciate that in my role.”

 That’s because Rob views the primary role of the music ministry as supporting and “elevating” the messages of the weekly church services. So when he understands the Bible verses and the sermon theme for any given Sunday, he can choose music that meets the moment.

“The music ministry is not really about performing,” he says. “The point is that this piece of music elevates what we’re doing here today or what we’re doing in a sermon series. Whether it’s the choir, a soloist, the hand bells or the ukulele ensemble, it’s very fulfilling to work with other musicians to come together to make something special, music that matches and elevates the message.  Everyone in church learns differently. While someone benefits from the sermon, others might learn from the music, or a play or the Cantata. But no matter what form it takes, the music we do will always be centered on Christ and the Gospels. We’re there to serve God.”

And speaking of serving God, Rob says he’s always looking for others to join the music ministry team.

“I’m always recruiting people and that’s a challenge,” he says.  “It’s no easy task to say, ‘Hey come do this very vulnerable thing, performing in front of all your peers. You’re not going to get paid and there will be lots of rehearsals, so come one, come all.’ That’s not an easy sell. Which means the folks you see up there are among the most dedicated of any you’ll meet. They’re usually involved in 10 different things, and they just do it. Our choirs, the hand bells, all of these folks, they’re having a blast. The last thing you want to see is people scram out the door when a rehearsal is over, and our folks hang out afterward and have built a nice camaraderie.

“So if you’re thinking about joining us, the best way to start is to just stick your toe in. Believe me, if you sing, strum or ring on Sunday, there will be a line of people hugging you afterward. So it’s a very nurturing learning environment.”

For Rob, Dutilh is already a very special environment, with Hannah joining the kids choir.

“It will be the first time that we’ll be able to attend church together,” he says. “I’m very grateful for that.”