Church bells

[Goodbook]

does your church have them??

 

[Offeiriad]

Not my current church, but English style bell ringing was invented by a relative of mine. My lack of any sense of rhythm makes me a complete duffer at change ringing!

 

[Goodbook]

Did they chime at weddings? Also when its time to worship? At what time?

 

[Offeiriad]

Typically a bell would chime for a few minutes before a church service. Where ringers were available (at least 6 needed) they would ring peals before and after Sunday services and at weddings. For a major funeral they would ring a muffled or half-muffled peal before and after - that's an unforgettable sound.

 

[Goodbook]

Do you pull strings or what?
My church doesnt have any bells...well, only hand ones.

 

[Offeiriad]

Yes, well looooong ropes! English bells are all tuned - the order you ring them dictates the tune you play. There is another form (French I think) called carillon, where you can play a tune on a keyboard, and a hammer strikes the bell (sometimes a tubular bell) to play the note. There are a few of these in the UK, but Real Bell Ringers think they are a cheat!

 

[Goodbook]

Lol its like a keyboard that does sounds for every other instrument electronically. You just push a button, or a key.

 

[Goodbook]

I had one of those yamahas but traded it in for an acoustic gutar because it was too complicated for me. Plus I had to plug it in.

 

[Goodbook]

Ive heard of giant church bells that two people have to pull the ropes and they can swing off them.

 

[Offeiriad]

The carillon was more impressive because the action from the keyboard to the bell was mechanical, not electric.
Not sure about bells needing two people to ring them, but an English change-ringing bell can weigh several tons, and the person ringing it needs to be able to handle the weight and balance. They can kill or injure the unwary, though this is thankfully rare.

 

[Goodbook]

I just have a handbell. I bought it for school.
But i could take it to church and ring it for when we have dinner.

 

[Offeiriad]

Yes - stick to something safe! My last church had a handbell set: the Tower ringers would ring them at Christmas events.

 

[Goodbook]

Why do some churches have bells and others dont?
Is it in scripture that there needs to be bells? I thought it was the trumpet sounding not a bell.

 

[Goodbook]

Is it 1 corinthians 13:1 ??

 

[Offeiriad]

No idea really. It's very ancient custom, and an effective summonse to worship where people live near enough to hear. Celtic Missionaries used to carry a bell on preaching tours to announce their arrival in a place: these bells had no clapper, and were sounded by striking them with a wooden staff.

 

[JackRT]

There is an ancient Christian belief that bells ringing can ward off the devil. I am aware that Hinduism has a similar belief.

 

[Goodbook]

Im aware muslims have a call to prayer five times a day.
Also jewish people have to blow shofar..a horn or trumpet. They have a whole festival around it.

 

[Offeiriad]

I'm not sure about bell ringing warding off the devil - I've had plenty of devil-bothered churches with enthusiastic bell ringers! There's another old superstition that ringing wards off lightning: not sure Health and Safety would approve of testing that, since it would involve people in a high structure connecting themselves to large metal objects by holding damp (highly conductive!) ropes during a thunder storm! The ringers I know always take shelter in the local pub while any storm passes.....

 

[Offeiriad]

Goodbook, traditional English Anglicans use the bell to call people to prayer twice each weekday, and three times on Sunday (though the weekday prayers are dying out). In RC countries the bell will often be rung three times daily to call people to pray the Angelus.

 

[Goodbook]

I dont live within chiming distance of an anglican church and not sure if the one in town actually has a bell, maybe the old one did.