It’s official—our bell family of three has grown to five! The two new bells that were anonymously donated to the congregation in honor of our 60th anniversary were installed in July. The two new bells make up the largest and the smallest of the ensemble. All five bells were cast by the Royal Bellfounders Petit & Fritsen of Aarle-Rixtell, The Netherlands and supplied to Christ the King Lutheran Church by the Verdin Company of Cincinnati, Ohio.
The largest bell weighs 1852 pounds and is 42 inches in diameter. It sounds an F#. The inscription is from a church bell in Luck, Wisconsin which was a center of Danish Lutheran piety: To the bath and to the table, to the prayers and to the word, I call every seeking soul. This bell is known as the tolling bell and is rung at funerals, each toll representing a year in the life of the deceased. The bell is also tolled forty times daily during Lent.
The next-to-the-largest bell weighs 1,000 pounds and is 35 inches in diameter. It sounds an A when struck. The inscription on it is Veni, Creator Spiritus, Mentes Tuorum Visita (Come, Holy Ghost, our Souls Inspire).
The middle-sized bell weighs 484 pounds and is about 28 inches in diameter. It sounds a C#. Inscribed on it are these words from the hymn, “Built on a Rock”: Through all the passing years, O Lord, grant that, when church bells are ringing, many may come to hear God’s word.
The next bell weighs 290 pounds and is about 24 inches in diameter. It sounds an E when struck. On it is the inscription Christus Rex Venit in Pace (Christ the King Comes in Peace). It is the prayer bell and is struck seven times during the Lord’s Prayer for the seven petitions of the “Our Father” inviting the community to join in prayer.
The smallest bell weighs 220 pounds, is 21½ inches in diameter, and sounds an F#. The inscription, Peace on Earth, Good Will to Men, is taken directly from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem, “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day” (1863).
Church bells are used primarily to call people to worship and to announce the beginning of a service. The bells also ring out to express joy, to announce death, to remind people to pray, and to encourage the absent to join in the prayers of the Church.
The bells are rung for all services of worship of our congregation except on Good Friday when the bells are silent. Normally three bells are pealed a few minutes before the hour of worship to call the church together. At the conclusion of the service they are pealed again to send the church into the world. On workdays the bells are rung at 8:00 a.m., noon, and 5:00 p.m. For special services, such as weddings and funerals, the ringing of the bells varies to suit the occasion. All five bells are rung for festivals such as Christmas and Easter and for other significant dates.
The first three bells (A, C#, E) were installed in 1986 and rung for the first time on Christ the King Sunday, November 23, of that year. They were dedicated, along with the bell tower and cloister, on May 31, 1987. These bells and the bell tower were a gift to Christ the King Church from charter member Severin Knutson and his wife, Louise. The two newest bells will be officially dedicated on Christ the King Festival Sunday, November 20.