It used to be that discarded pipe organs were, well, discarded. History has countless examples of organs being literally thrown away and the pipes sold for scrap or even put in a pile and burned. Many theater pipe organs simply were left in place and destroyed along with the buildings they sat in. Today most pipe organs which are no longer needed are at minimum dismantled and all usable parts stored. The environmental terms "reuse" and "recycle" can be applied here. Some pipe organs are lucky enough to simply be moved from one location to another. This is the case of the two manual, thirty one rank pipe organ at St. Mark Catholic Church in Lancaster, OH. What one parish no longer needed became something which another could use.


Parish History

St. Mark Catholic Church parish is located southeast of downtown Lancaster, OH in the scenic rolling hills of Fairfield County. It was established in 1959 with the current church building completed in 1961. At one time the parish supported a grade school (grades 1-6) and a convent. Both have since been closed. The parish concluded its year-long 50th anniversary celebration in September 2009.


The Organ

The parish has been the host of three organs in its history. The first organ, obtained at an unknown date, was purchased with TV stamps donated by parishioners. The second organ was a Johannus Opus 230 Deluxe model electronic organ purchased new in March 1986 for $15,000. This organ still remains in the church. (source: "St. Mark Catholic Church, 50th Anniversary, 1959-2009", p. 16)

In 2005, St. Agatha Catholic Church in Upper Arlington, OH was getting ready to install their new Bedient pipe organ, thus had a spare pipe organ on their hands. St. Mark parish became the beneficiary and obtained the old St. Agatha organ for free. The only expenses incurred by St. Mark parish were for the removal, transportation, and installation of the organ in their church. All of this work was done by church volunteers. Though some work remains, the majority of the work was completed in 2008. The date 1977 at the top of the page refers to the date the organ was originally installed in St. Agatha church.


Credits and Links

I would like to thank Fr. Peter Gideon and Theresa Brunney of St. Mark parish their assistance. Thanks also to Lynn Slimmer of Peebles-Herzog pipe organs, and Clark Wilson of Clark Wilson & Associates for providing information about the instrument and builder.

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