While sitting in Zion Lutheran Church on Sunday morning and listening to the hand bells, we should be so thankful that we have such a wonderful bell choir called "The Bells of Zion".  The hand bells were started in 1999 by Rod Briscoe, our parish musical director.  He has done a magnificent job teaching the bell choir how to play and read music. I am so glad that we are able to have him in our church.

            What's a hand bell, you might ask? Well, a hand bell is simply a bell designed to be rung by hand. To ring a hand bell, the ringer grasps the bell by its slightly flexible handle, usually made of leather, but often now it is made of plastic, like the Zion bells.  The ringer must flick his or her wrist to make the hinged clapper inside the bell strike. An individual hand bell can be used as a signal to catch people's attention or gather them together, but hand bells are generally heard in tuned sets. Bells usually include all notes of the chromatic scale. Chromatic means modifying the normal scale by the use of accidentals and a tone having the same letter name, as in C to C sharp.  Each member of the choir is responsible for a certain note. They are typically arranged in 7 1/2 octaves sets.  Our church bells consist of 3 octaves. The hand bells that the bell choir uses are called American hand bells that refer to a specific type.

           

            We also use hand chimes which are more for the younger kids because they are easier to ring. The chimes are a metal tube slotted and cut to produce musical tones. The length of the slot tells whether the pitch will be high or low. The unslotted portion is then fitted and plugged. We purchased our hand bells and chimes from Malmark, a company located in Pennsylvania. They make the majority of hand bells.

 

            When Rod first introduced the bells to our church, he did not have an easy task.  Many of the members of the bell choir had to learn how to read music, and Rod had to write by hand all the music. Hand bells have become very important to our church because they have added another level of musical enjoyment and spirituality for our parishioners.

 

            The bell choir is also responsible for keeping the bells in good condition. They have to polish the bells when they begin to tarnish. To prevent them from getting damaged, the players wear white gloves to protect the bells from the oils in their skin.  When the bells are not in use they are set on tables with foam covering over them to protect the bronze surface of the bell. The foam also prevents them from rolling when they are set on their side.

 

            There is bell practice every Sunday. The members of the bell choir are very dedicated.  They all practice extremely hard which definitely shows in their once a month performance at Zion Church services as well as in their recent performance at the Veterans hospital.

 

            Learning about Zion's bell choir is part of my confirmation requirements.  I'm glad my faith buddy, Kathy, helped me to learn how to polish and ring bells and organize their bell papers, and to read the musical notes.  I also attended the bell choir's recent trip to the Veteran's hospital.  My job was to serve those who wanted a snack.  It was a fun and beautiful experience.  Listening to our bell choir ring the bells to form amazing music and watching the smiles the music brought to the faces of the patients was a touching and unforgettable experience.