here is a powerful tradition in Christian churches to be a witness to the world through a variety of symbolic and iconic techniques. One of these is the ringing of bells.
When I was growing up in Galt Ontario, every Sunday morning, no matter where you were in the city, you could hear the bells ringing, telling the faithful (and the unfaithful) to remember God and the Lord Jesus. And yes, to come to church.
This strategy mirrors the Islamic tradition of calling the faithful to prayer 5 times a day through the use of a Muzzein or Adnan which is a faithful person, of inscrutable character (sometimes a blind person, who cannot be blamed for staring into people's homes) who goes through the town proclaiming a "call to prayer to the town or city. Not to be outdone, many Mulslim countries are using technology to call the faithful by using radio, television and the internet to call out to the masses- 5 times a day.
In Muslim countries, this is not seen as an inconvenience but a part of their cultural and religious heritage. As I said in the beginning, my culture and religious upbringing, included a call to prayer, and church and holiness, was through the ringing of bells on a Sunday morning and at other times as well.
At the end of WW1 and WW2 the bells rang throughout all of Britain. At many events of any significance in a countries history, bells proclaim times of solemn remembrance and of vital victory- reminding the people to bow and pray- to stand up and shout- to think and ponder- and to attend a special event. We can't lose this part of our religious and cultural heritage.
Many people will say that churches should just forget about this part of it's activities - it bothers people trying to sleep in on a Sunday. They will say that most people in North America rarely enter a church except for weddings and funerals. Why would we want to bother them and their right to privacy - their right to peace and tranquility - their right not to be bothered by those religious nuts who trumpet their message on street corners. People don't want to be bothered by the noise on a quiet Sunday morning or evening if such is the case.
The historical case is obvious, bells were used to remind disparate groups of rural people in long ago villages and communites. We have so many other ways to call people to prayer and church attendance, today. We use technology, why would we resort to an old fashioned bell to announce special events and a call to the faithful.
The point is, the church is a vital part of the fabric of North America. We are letting accommodation get in the way of vitality; the church has a "cause celebre" a famous right to bother our society by announcing Christ's triumphal return after his resurrection. We have the most famous cause to celebrate of any community, in any country, of any religion, in the world.
We have reason to celebrate and announce the call to prayer and the call to attend church and the call to community to think about Christ.
If you think community prayer is not important read the following story about a call to prayer in a U.S. community:
"And so has the state of South Dakota. In 2004, Republican Governor Mike Rounds proclaimed a state-wide day of prayer to ask for rain for the drought-plagued state. So the people of South Dakota prayed on May 23. And lo, it started to rain. And rain. And rain. For fourteen straight days, it rained. It rained so much that the parched ground couldn’t handle all the water. Some areas of the state flooded and Governor Rounds had to call in FEMA to assess the damage.
So a call to prayer, using whatever means necessary, using the Bells of churches to remind the faithful and the unfaithful or our Christian faith and our Christian obligation, is not only necessary but our rights as citizens to proclaim our faith.
If somebody says we don't want to bother people by ringing bells on Sunday, remind them it is better to ring a bell now, than to neglect the trumpets of Christ, later.It is time for churches to ring the bells, ring the bells loudly and ring the bells often.
If the Muslims can call their people to prayer five times a day, we should be able to call Christians to prayer at least once a week, on Sunday, the day of our Lord's resurrection.Ring the Bells, tell your pastor or minister, that to ring the bell is to announce Christ's triumph over sin and death, and why should the devil have all the good music.
When I was growing up in Galt Ontario, every Sunday morning, no matter where you were in the city, you could hear the bells ringing, telling the faithful (and the unfaithful) to remember God and the Lord Jesus. And yes, to come to church.
This strategy mirrors the Islamic tradition of calling the faithful to prayer 5 times a day through the use of a Muzzein or Adnan which is a faithful person, of inscrutable character (sometimes a blind person, who cannot be blamed for staring into people's homes) who goes through the town proclaiming a "call to prayer to the town or city. Not to be outdone, many Mulslim countries are using technology to call the faithful by using radio, television and the internet to call out to the masses- 5 times a day.
In Muslim countries, this is not seen as an inconvenience but a part of their cultural and religious heritage. As I said in the beginning, my culture and religious upbringing, included a call to prayer, and church and holiness, was through the ringing of bells on a Sunday morning and at other times as well.
At the end of WW1 and WW2 the bells rang throughout all of Britain. At many events of any significance in a countries history, bells proclaim times of solemn remembrance and of vital victory- reminding the people to bow and pray- to stand up and shout- to think and ponder- and to attend a special event. We can't lose this part of our religious and cultural heritage.
Many people will say that churches should just forget about this part of it's activities - it bothers people trying to sleep in on a Sunday. They will say that most people in North America rarely enter a church except for weddings and funerals. Why would we want to bother them and their right to privacy - their right to peace and tranquility - their right not to be bothered by those religious nuts who trumpet their message on street corners. People don't want to be bothered by the noise on a quiet Sunday morning or evening if such is the case.
The historical case is obvious, bells were used to remind disparate groups of rural people in long ago villages and communites. We have so many other ways to call people to prayer and church attendance, today. We use technology, why would we resort to an old fashioned bell to announce special events and a call to the faithful.
The point is, the church is a vital part of the fabric of North America. We are letting accommodation get in the way of vitality; the church has a "cause celebre" a famous right to bother our society by announcing Christ's triumphal return after his resurrection. We have the most famous cause to celebrate of any community, in any country, of any religion, in the world.
We have reason to celebrate and announce the call to prayer and the call to attend church and the call to community to think about Christ.
If you think community prayer is not important read the following story about a call to prayer in a U.S. community:
"And so has the state of South Dakota. In 2004, Republican Governor Mike Rounds proclaimed a state-wide day of prayer to ask for rain for the drought-plagued state. So the people of South Dakota prayed on May 23. And lo, it started to rain. And rain. And rain. For fourteen straight days, it rained. It rained so much that the parched ground couldn’t handle all the water. Some areas of the state flooded and Governor Rounds had to call in FEMA to assess the damage.
So a call to prayer, using whatever means necessary, using the Bells of churches to remind the faithful and the unfaithful or our Christian faith and our Christian obligation, is not only necessary but our rights as citizens to proclaim our faith.
If somebody says we don't want to bother people by ringing bells on Sunday, remind them it is better to ring a bell now, than to neglect the trumpets of Christ, later.It is time for churches to ring the bells, ring the bells loudly and ring the bells often.
If the Muslims can call their people to prayer five times a day, we should be able to call Christians to prayer at least once a week, on Sunday, the day of our Lord's resurrection.Ring the Bells, tell your pastor or minister, that to ring the bell is to announce Christ's triumph over sin and death, and why should the devil have all the good music.
