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Normally, on a Sunday blogpost, I show a stained-glass window from my church, but unfortunately they've all been used up now.
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[As you may or may not know, you can click on ANY photo on blogs to see them larger.......I have no idea how that can happen, but it does.]
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If you click the first photo on this post, you will see that this church was built in 1885, and though the sign doesn't say so, the church was established by German immigrants who had settled on farms in the immediate area, including many ancestors of my husband. The families were large, and surely, at one time, the pews beneath the steeple bells in this Lutheran church would have been packed full for Sunday services. Husband's parents, grandparents, great-grands, great-greats, and a great-great-great are buried in the cemetery adjacent to the church. Obviously, the poor old building needs a fresh coat of paint, or better yet, vinyl siding. Congregations keep getting smaller, and finances, tighter.
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Once, years ago, I heard a pastor say that way back in the brush behind this churchyard was the grave of a man who had committed adultery with the hired girl at his house. That would have been back in The Good Old Days, by the way. I think the man ended up taking his own life, and that's why he couldn't be buried in the cemetery proper. Churches used to have strict rules about that, and I have heard other such tales over the years about suicide victims' bodies not being allowed into church for the funeral, plus not being allowed burial in the church cemetery. Wow.......talk about adding insult to injury for the family of the deceased. Eventually, opinions changed on that issue, thankfully.
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Thinking of church bells peeling reminds me to mention a related old custom: When a church member passes on, as soon as possible one of the deacons/elders goes to the church and rings the bell, pulling the rope as many times as the age of the deceased person. In the past, if the wind is right and the sound of our church's bells ringing in a series on a weekday reaches my ears, I rack my brain worriedly trying to figure out who may have just died, and whisper a prayer for the loved ones of the deceased person. Usually the bell peeling session includes many, many rings (quite a workout for the deacon pulling the rope), as most people around here live to a ripe old age........although, not always, of course. Church bells peeling in a series can be an unwelcome sound.......especially a short series of rings.
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I wonder if this bell ringing tradition is common in other denominations? Is it just a rural custom? Did it originate in the Old Country, and how far back in time? I should do some research on that.
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Have a wonderful day!!!
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8 comments:
Hmmm...I have not heard of the bell ringing tradition myself. Goodness.....I love the sound of church bells but this might be problematic in most of the communities I live in....noise bylaws etc. What a wonderful way to annouce to the community though. I have heard of the bells being used for many other things....marine communities - tolling bells for incidents on the water etc. Hmmm. Anyway Jeannelle....I love the photos. You must live in the most wonderful place in the world...you have beauty, intrigue and life lessons all around you. On the other hand...I do believe that it is YOU who looks at the world in a most captivating way so that we can experience it from the 'other side'. (I need a coffee...re-reading this makes me woozy...what AM I saying!)
Hi, Trish!
Oh, but don't you think each one of us lives in the most wonderful place in the world! We do, though we rarely realize it.....and that includes me.....the grass is always greener, you know.
And, as you mentioned other reasons for bells ringing.....just a few minutes ago as I was leaving church, I picked up a scrap of paper from the church lawn. (Yes, I'm goofy, like a little kid.....picking up every little thing.) But, the scrap had a verse on it-----it must have been dropped after a recent wedding: "Join us in ringing the bell to celebrate a lifetime of Love & Happiness!"
Thanks for stopping by so early! Have a great Sunday!
The ringing of the bells for the deceased used to be a big Catholic tradition in this area. Someone told me that the custom began to fade during WWII and was mostly gone by the 60's (probably nicely aligning with the major riots and burning of entire neighborhoods in Detroit.)Someone once told me what a terrible feeling it was to hear the bells start to toll unexpectedly. Like you, she said the longer the bell rang, the easier the neighborhood breathed.
Jeannelle, you are a fount of information! The bell thingie. Hmmm. First i thought that it was a country thing, you know, no phones, distances between farms..what a good way to alert the community. But I think in cities, churches used to be in neighborhoods, within walking distance, and so were probably used then too to alert folks quickly. I had never thought of it before. Is caution from Detroit? I went to her blog but couldnt see anything about location. I worked and lived there for quite a few years.
Hi, caution,
Thanks for knowing that it was a Catholic tradition, too.....and in cities. Probably the custom goes way, way back to whenever church steeples and bell towers first were used. Interesting!
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Hi, Sherry,
I think caution may reside near Detroit, but am not sure.
I don't recall the Baptist or Methodist churches in the community I grew up in ever ringing bells on the occasion of someone's death. The Catholic Church was out in the country on the other side of town, too far away for us to have heard their bells. I'll have to ask my Catholic friends about that.
Please oh please - no vinyl siding. Stick with good, old fashioned paint. Very interesting blog.
Hi Jeannelle! It's been a while since I visited your lovely blog. Too long! What an interesting post. When we first moved to this rural community, the Methodist church had a bell that they would ring just before worship. The children would beg to be the ones allowed to do the ringing by pulling on a long rope that hung through the ceiling into the lobby. The bell was eventually replaced with electronic chimes that ring on the hour during the week and play hymns on Sunday morning. If the wind is right, we can hear those chimes across the river and down about a half mile. So you are preparing for a wedding. How wonderful! Blessings! Patricia
Hi, maybelline!
Thanks for stopping by!! I suppose it is more authentic to use paint on these antique buildings.
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Hi, patricia!
Thank you for stopping in and for the wedding wishes!
Yes, our church still has the old-fashioned bell-rope hanging up in the balcony, under which a deacon sits, so he can ring the bell at the beginning and end of each church service, and at three certain spots during the Lord's Prayer. Old, old custom, I'm sure.
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