After opening in a new location, The Cathedral of Christ the King, a local Charismatic church affiliated with the Anglican Church in North America, started playing a recording of church bells every half hour — every day — from morning to night. To neighbors, it was a rude shock interrupting the peace and quiet of the community. To the church, it was a way to worship God.
Inevitably the case ended up in court where the judge sided with the neighbors….
Seems a bit much to me. I like bells as much as the next guy, but I don’t think we do the Gospel any good by needlessly offending our neighbor.
Why not a single chime at the half hour? or chime the hours or turn it down or….?
I don’t think this had to go to trial, if wiser minds had prevailed.
Greetings:
Asks the original article:
[quote] Is chiming church bells daily on the half-hour outrageous? Or are the neighbors overreacting? Is this a case of religious freedom or disturbing the peace?[/quote]
Disturbing the peace, very clearly.
Ringing bells for a church event is perfectly reasonable, [i]even[/i] if it’s for early or even midnight mass.
Ringing bells throughout the day seems excessive, though not necessarily outrageous unless there are day sleepers (including children napping) who are thereby disturbed (I have been a day sleeper).
Ringing bells throughout the night on the half hour? What [i]were[/i] they thinking? If it was some kind of long-standing Christian (or even local) tradition to do so, then maybe. [i]Maybe.[/i] As described in the article they were being bad neighbors, pure and simple.
And, for the record, I say “Merry Christmas” to people, bow my head at prayers when I am at table, and see nothing in the least objectionable about Nativity scenes in public, etc. It’s a matter of mutual respect and good manners. This was rather the opposite.
I will say that three years probation sounds excessive, though a few days in jail ([i]not[/i] suspended) might have been salutory.
regards,
JPB
I believe churches have a First Amendment rights to ring bells before, during, and after church services. We should be firm about that under most circumstances.
But if the church is using loudspeakers, it should have to set the volume at a level considerate of the neighbors. I see no good reason to make loudspeakers louder than real bells.
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The loudest, most jolting religious sounds I’ve experienced have come from auto-muezzins: recordings sounding the call to prayer during the middle of the night. Gotta watch out for that nice room across the street from the mosque. Even sleepers who don’t startle easily can get that very special adrenaline rush when the auto-muezzin lets loose at 3:30 am. Meanwhile, the real muezzin is sleeping soundly in another part of town.
Agreed, #3! These church bells sound like they were out of line, since they weren’t associated with services. Besides, a precedent needs to be set to prevent mosques from belting out the call to prayer at high decibel levels. Noise ordinances must be enforced.
Part of the charm of Ambridge, Pennsylvania is the church bells that regularly peal from perhaps a dozen church towers within a mile or so radius of one another. Over half of these are Orthodox churches of various stripes. I find it comforting to hear the Russian Orthodox church near me ringing out its call to Saturday Vespers, even though I may never attend.
But just think of the havoc if all twelve towers tolled every half hour day or night. That would definitely be out of line.
I look at it as to who was there first. If the church and the bells were there before the complainer then the complainer doesn’t have a beef. It would be the same if they bought a house near a railroad yard and then complain about the train noise.
I grew up a few blocks from a church that chimed every quarter hour, and rang the hours every hour, every day and night. Slept right through it most nights, I guess because I grew up there and was just so used to it. And it was nice to know what time it was when I was waking up. But this church has been around since the 1700s – a new church might be an altogether different thing.
There are doubtless many conversions that begin with the sounds of ringing church bells. My husband’s was one. They are an integral part of our city life and Christian history.
FYI–This church is not affiliated with ACNA. They are part of the Communion of Christ the Redeemer, http://www.coctr.org/faq/faq.htm#governed
and the FAQ linked here tells the full story about their affiliation or lack thereof.