Restored bells at St. Mark’s nearly ready to ring again

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent editor

There’s nothing quite like the sound of church bells, especially in a small town. After a three year hiatus, bells at one church in Van Wert will soon sound again.

The bells have been restored to their former glory and this week, crews have been reinstalling bells in the tower of St. Mark’s Lutheran Church on N. Washington St.

According to St. Mark’s Office Administrator Meisa Coplin, the project took three years and ran into an unanticipated delay when the original contractor hired for the job went out of business. Smith’s Bell and Clock Service of Camby, Indiana, was the same company that hired to handle the historic clock at the corner of Main St. and Washington St. The chuch then hired The Verdin Company, based in Cincinnati, to take over the project, which was an extensive one.

Work included any repairs that were necessary to the bells, the installation of new clappers, and a thorough cleaning.

“They look like brand new bells,” Coplin said while noting all 10 bells have been reinstalled.

The wooden cradle that held the bells in the tower was completely taken out, according to Coplin, and it was replaced with a new one made of steel.

Along with the bells and the cradle, work was done on the tower itself, including tuckpointing, cleaning or as Coplin put it, a whole “re-do.”

While workers are doing other touch-up items, they’re also installing a new pneumatic system that will allow the church to play the bells at different times of the year or if a chimer is unable to be at a Sunday service, the new system can be programmed with music for the service.

There are about eight people who are currently trained on how to play the tower chimes manually,” said Monica Campbell, who serves as handbell choir director, church council member and unofficial chimer scheduler. “In a few weeks, a pneumatic system will be installed so the bells can be programmed remotely – but playing them manually will still be possible.”

“It opens up different avenues to use them,” Coplin said. “The bells are in the tower, they’re hooked up and now we’re getting them ready to hook up to the chiming console.”

“Tower chimes are regularly played for about five minutes before the 10:30 a.m.(10 a.m. Memorial Day through Labor Day) service, and the Doxology is played at the conclusion of that service,” Campbell said. “They’re also played for 25 minutes prior to the 11 p.m. Christmas Eve service, and at weddings and funerals.

The church is planning a rededication ceremony/celebration, with the first part of November the target.

The bells at St. Mark’s date back to the early part of the 20th century. According to Campbell, they were cast by the McShane Bell Foundry in Baltimore, Maryland in 1913 and installed at St. Mark’s in 1914.

“We missed playing the bells, we miss hearing them and we’ve had people in the community that have come up to different members of church to say ‘we’re so glad you’re getting the bells back, we miss hearing them,’” Coplin said. “Especially during COVID time when we were playing them at different points during the week and people just really enjoyed that – it really meant something to them.”