Religion & Spirituality - Historic church bell to toll again

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Historic church bell to toll again

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. (UPI) -- A Massachusetts church bell will toll again after 20 years of silence, thanks to volunteers who restored it to its former glory, the church's pastor said.

Cast in 1862 in Boston, the bell rang in the tower of Bridgewater's Central Square Congregational Church for 120 years before the foundation structure became too weak for the bell to be struck.

So the bell went silent for five years, and a donated electronic carillon played recorded hymns and hourly chimes. When that stopped working in 2007, a used Dell computer with custom software took its place.

But two neighbors of the church, who were not parishioners, decided the original bell should be heard again, the Boston Globe reported. Asking to remain anonymous and accepting no payment, they brought the bell back to life, repairing its foundations and pulley system. They installed new ropes and added wire screens to keep birds out of the belfry.

"They thought that if the church had a bell, especially such a historic one, everyone should be able to hear it," said the pastor, the Rev. Esther Rendon-Thompson.

Copyright 2009 by United Press International

This news arrived on: 10/23/2009

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