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The culture and ethos of bell-ringing

From Mr Robert A. Lewis
Sir, — The Revd Tim Jones is being a little disingenuous (Letters, 2 May). His original comment article in The Ringing World has generated a huge postbag here. As he knows, most bell-ringers would not accept his extraordinary assertion that there are many churches “where the ringing chamber has become to all intents and purposes a secular venue”.

For a ringer, Mr Jones appears to show little regard for the rich history and culture of bell-ringing — which has both religious and secular strands. It is a culture from which the Church, as a whole, could probably learn much. The Exercise (as we call it) is open, friendly, democratic, and tolerant. We require no “certification of faith” from each other. Although many ringers do attend the services for which they ring, others do not (they may, of course, attend services elsewhere or at other times).

We make few demands of our recruits — other than that they eventually pay back the time and effort that goes into teaching them to ring by becoming reliable members of the band — i.e. faithful servants of the Church on a Sunday morning. Aside from enjoying a rewarding skill and art-form, most of them will also find a lifelong place within a caring and supportive fraternity.

The current Bishop of London once told me (when he was Vicar of St Stephen’s, Rochester Row, Westminster) that he regarded ringing as a form of ministry in its own right. This contrasts somewhat with the rather narrow-minded and, dare I say, patronising, approach of Mr Jones.

Incumbents wishing to know more about bells and ringers will find an excellent publication, “Bells in your care”, on the Central Council of Church Bell Ringers’ website, www.cccbr.org.uk.

ROBERT A. LEWIS
Editor, The Ringing World
Eagleside House, 7-9 Chantry Street
Andover, Hampshire SP10 1DE



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