In 1988, Our Redeemer’s Lutheran Church made a great leap of faith and purchased a pipe organ for $1.00!! This organ was first installed in the Roxie Theater in Oakland in 1927 to provide background music for the movies. St. James Lutheran Church in San Leandro bought the organ in the 1960s from the theatre where it was gathering dust. Since St. James already had a pipe organ in its sanctuary, members installed the instrument in the church hall. Its use diminished over the years, and a nearby pizza parlor offered to phrchase the organ in the mid-1980s. St. James members decided this organ should go to a church, thereby advertising its sale in a Lutheran publication.

Our Redeemer’s members and organ expert John West completed four years of work installing the organ, a project that included buying new pipes and parts from as far away as Germany and rebuilding the church’s ventilation system. West said a new organ of similar quality would cost more than $100,000.00.

The console of the organ, made by the Austin Organ Company was completely rebuilt. The stop tabs and combination system as well as the wiring were all replaced.

The mechanical parts were partially assembled by Marvin Tarbok and David Jochner and completed with the help of Jim Cullen and Jim Mueller. The Great Organ wind chest, made by the Moller Organ Company, required releathering and much work to be brought into playing condition. A New stop, Mixture III was added to supply the organ with clarity of tone, so essential to the music of Bach and other baroque masters. A solid state switching system was installed.

The Swell Organ was of a more recent vintage; however, many of the pipes required extensive repair. The pipes of the organ have many sources — Austin Organ Company, Wick Organ Company as well as Moller. The new Mixture stop comes from the Bosch Orgelbau in Germany. The pipework was voiced and regulated to the acoustical conditions of the church.

A dedication concert was held on Sunday, December 13, 1992 at 3:00 PM with Robin J. Smith, resident organist and guest organist Wyatt Insko, who was on the faculty of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Owen Miyoshi, trumpeter and a student at the conservatory was a guest soloist.