This question is asked frequently: "Why is primarily the pipe organ being played in the church (services)? If the pipe organ is being used, then could we use any instrument...?" Mark Brooks comments on that topic in a letter to the editor of Clarion in the most recent issue. This topic has often been approached emotionally. Being an organist, I don't like sentimental discussions about the organ, and I want to clarify why the organ has its place that it holds.
Most pipe organs in this world are installed in churches. In Europe, North Amercia, Asia, Africa, and even (altough not many) in the Middle East. How did the pipe organs end up in churches? In a snapshot I will try to explain this in one short blog.
1. The origin or the Pipe Organ
The organ was developped a few centuries before Christ. The idea was: taking a panflute and try to play multiple tones at the same time. This was accomplished by adding a windsupply to the panflute, and keys that would allow the air to go to the pan pipe. The panflute itself was already invented two thousand years before Christ. These organs were portable, had only seven notes/keys, and were normally operated by two people: one to supply wind and the other person to play.
[We have a portable instrument (based on a panflute) with some keys. People could sing with this instrument.]
2. From Portable to Fixed
These small organs did not develop into anything significant, they even disappeared totally from Western Europe at the end of the Roman Empire (5th Century). They only came back into Western Europe in the 8th Century and were quickly after that introduced into the church. At that time the portable organ was enlarged, and innovations increased its possibilities, and increased the sound volume. The organ was not portable anymore.
[We have an installed instrument with more pipes and keys, and a more sphisticated wind supply. It could be used to accompany singing, and participate in ensembles.]
3. Use in the Church
The first use of the organs in the church is not so clear. It is thought that these instruments were used as bells or to express jubilation in the liturgy. In the Early Middle Ages mainly monks were developing the organ. The first "book" about organbuilding was written by a monk between 1110 and 1140.
Because of these efforts, the organ developed into an instrument with different stops (sounds) and different divisions (keyboards).
Again, what the function of the organ was in the early days is not known. Later we read that the organ was used for preludes for the singing and as accompaniment with the choir singing. That is the time of the Late Middle Ages.
[We have an installed instrument with several keyboards, several ranks of pipes, stops and divisions, used in church services.]
4. Reformation
The organ was used by the church, which was in the 16th century the Roman Church. It is no surprise that the Reformers in their afforts of cleaning the church from errors in doctrine and worship also rejected the use of the organ, because it was such an integral part of the Roman liturgy and worship.
Church organs were after the Reformation in the protestant churches often used during the week and before and after the worship services. An example is the music of Jan Pzn. Sweelinck, organist of the famous Oude Kerk (Old Church) in Amsterdam. He never played huis well-known variations on the Genevan tunes during the church services.
[We have a large instrument, with multiple divisions, stops, and pipes, and mechanically advanced with a rich sound.]
5. Post Reformation
The Lutheran churches did not "throw the baby out with the bath water" and kept using the church organ to accompany the singing and for preludes. We know the "organ chorales" of the German hymns by pre-Baroque composers such as Praetorius, Schütz, Scheidt, and Scheidemann, that were played on the existing organs.
Without an organ the singing in large protestant churches became quickly a problem in Calvinistic Holland. Singing became dragging and very slow, and there was a certain level of musical chaos. This was over time resolved by a simple and practical solution: using the existing organs that were initially installed to introduce and lead the singing.
The organs developed more and from the Baroque (J.S. Bach, Buxtehude etc.) we know that the organ had a significant role in the church. Thousands and thousands of compositions of Psalms and Hymns for church organ since the Reformation have made it clear how the organ was being used in history, and until today.
SUMMARY
The pipe organ developed from a "pan flute with keyboard" into an instrument with multiple divisions, pipes and stops because of its service in the church. The pipe organ's function in the church gave the organ its own, unique sound. The role of accompaniment of singing congregations required the organ to provide support in sound and tonal character. The pipe organ would not be what it is today, if it were not because of its use in the churches.
The church pipe organ does not have much synergy with secular music. You can play jazz on an organ and it sounds fun, but you won't find pipe organs in most bars in downtown. Most music written for organ is religious, and organ music brings often a religious association to listeners. The pipe organ is dedicated to church service to a large extend. There is no other instrument that was developed in and for the church to accompany the singing.
This makes it really practical for Sunday: organists have no difficulty looking for suitable music for the church service, for before the service, during the service, or after the service.
Some people don't like to hear this... others want to change it.
But you can't change history. Sorry 
.
---EDIT - May 7, 2009---
Some reference books (random order):
-Thistlethwaite, Nicholas. The Cambridge Companion to the Organ
-Thistlethwaite, Nicholas. The Making of the Victorian Organ
-Williams, Peter. A New History of the Organ
-Bicknell, Stephen. The History of the English Organ
-Williams, Peter. The Organ.
-Ashdown Audsley, George. The Art of Organ Building, Vol. 1
-Shannon, John R. Understanding The Pipe Organ
-Klotz, Hans. The Organ Handbook
And there is much available online, especially in online encyclopedias.
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