Sermons
"All Saints: Our History and Our Future"
Gracious God-in our past may we glimpse our future; in your holy name
we pray.
Amen.
This place
-this awesome, crumbling,
tilting, peeling place-
- has been around for more than 120 years-which is actually pretty amazing
-not that it doesn't look it but stillÖ
For a century and a score
All Saints' has been
saving lives and changing lives,
inviting people,
beckoning people,
calling us
to remember God
and to move beyond what we can do on our own.
For more than a century
this faith community has
called us to do as Jesus did,
"To love the Lord your God with all your heart, your mind, your soul
and to love your
neighbor as yourself."
For 120 years
this community has lived out the gospel
in its own quirky way
-how we do it in the future
-that's up to you------ me-----all of us.
Much has changed in the years
of this congregation's existence,
however some things have remained the same.
One of the more eternal attributes
of this place
is our bell.
It is a monster.
You can hear it ring more than a mile away.
Listen to it for a minute---(Seminarian rings bell.)
It has a sound of history
a sound of ministry.
December 13, 1885
is the first time the bell is mentioned
in the vestry minutes.
Keep in mind that the church
has been built for just about a year.
The minutes record in a fine flowing script,
"Warden Hills stated that
at a December 7th meeting of the Board of Trustees for the town of Lake
View, [that]
he tendered to said board
the use of the tower of the church
for a fire and police signal station
on the following conditions.
The town of Lake View to purchase
the[ ] apparatus
for tolling a large bell by electricity
and that the parish
would place in the tower a clap bell,
weighing about 1000 pounds
and that [warden Hills]
would connect said tolling apparatus
by wires with batteries,
and other apparatus at his residence,
and operate in connection
with the Ravenswood telephone exchange,
in sounding fire and police alarms,
[Which is to say
we housed the first 911 center.
You saw a fire-you called the special line
that Warden Hills seems to have put together
with wire, batteries and gum
-and that 1000 pound monster bell
would be electrically rung
-thus alerting all of the firemen
to gather at the station house.]
Warden Hills goes on to say,
"That said bell
would remain the exclusive property of All Saints Parish and the tolling
apparatus
would remain the exclusive property
of the town of Lake View.
Mr. Hills then reported that
a bell weighing 1000 pounds
had been ordered from the McShane Bell Foundry
in Baltimore, MD,
and that he and Warden Fishleigh
would donate said bell to All Saints.
That's what it says on that incredible bell-
if you climb up the bell tower and read the plaque.
-This bell donated Christmas 1885
by Wardens Hill and Fishleigh.
It's worth the trip to see it.
It's worth the trip just to imagine
how they got that 1000 pound sucker up there.
It's worth the trip
to imagine-how many lives
were saved by ringing that bell.
Now-the bell has not always had
a glorious past-it has had
-how shall we say-some issuesÖ
This story was reprinted in the May 1938 parish newsletter. The introductory
remarks
of the article
claim that this story appeared
in one of the Chicago newspapers forty years prior-in roughly 1898.
It seems that forty Ravenswood residents,
several of whom are the occupants
of a large boarding house
three doors south of the church
are of the opinion that 7:00
in the morning is too early
to be disturbed in their slumber
by the ringing of a church bell.
Accordingly they have signed a petition
to the city council
praying that the authorities
step in and protect their sleep
by putting a stop
to the ringing of the bell in All Saints' Church.
The bell is rung
a little before 7 a.m.
every morning except on Fridays
when it's rung an hour earlier at about 5:45.
When interviewed Father Bowles stated,
"Of course there is a significance
to the ringing of the bell.
In addition to being a call to services
it is rung
to let everybody in the parish know
that services are going on
and that the sick
and others who are unable to attend
are being prayed for."
It's the occupants of Galloway's boarding-house
who seemed to be most perturbed
over the 7:00 angelus.
"Yes, the petition originated here,"
said Mr. Galloway's daughter.
"The matter was taken up
by two of our boarders
who are lawyers
and they will fight the ringing of that bell
until it is stopped.
Last Sunday morning
the bell rang for five full minutes.
It struck 100 times; I counted it.
It's a terrible nuisance.
Mr. Thompson,
who was rector of the church before Mr. Bowles,
did not ring the bell
in the morning this way.
Mr. Thompson boarded with us
and he was a good man."
"Did you ever complain
to Father Bowles about the early ringing of the bell?" was asked
Mrs. Galloway.
"No. I don't believe
anything was ever said to him about it,"
she replied.
[however] "We understand
that when he heard
we were getting up a petition
to stop the bell
he said he would ring it louder and longer.
When interviewed vestryman said F. T. Morris said,
The petition is the work
of cranks and is a farce
"The bell does not ring longer than a minute.
In these suburban towns
there is always a narrow-minded class
that makes a business of protesting.
These people get their notoriety by complaining."
Several residents near the church
who are members of other churches,
said they did not think
the bell was a sleep-disturber.
One man thought the tolling
was a musical feature of the town,
and another thought
the early morning summons to worship
gave a rural touch
to the semi-metropolitan life of Ravenswood.
We have been-for more than 120 years
-a place-a community
that has rung the bell
and saved people's lives
-a community that has rung the bell
and awakened people-and changed their lives .
On the morning of September 11th
our bell started ringing at 7:45
tolling as each victim's name was read.
On that day neighbors called
and thanked us
for helping them remember
what had been done the year
before on that date at that hour.
We are a place where people gather.
When the Yuppie Faggot Church vandals
were on the rampage-people came.
When the trees of this neighborhood were cut down- people came.
On Tuesday nights
Wednesday nights
Pet Blessings &
Block parties people come.
If/When we start a War with Iraq
-we will be here-and people will come.
We have been-for more than 120 years-a place
-a community that has rung the bell-
offering a clarion call to live the Gospel.
Next week you'll be receiving a stewardship letter
from Scott Porterfield and a 2003 pledge card.
I invite you to read over the material,
ask questions
pray
and then give who you are
and give all you can -
because your money
and your passion changes peoples' lives.
That is the reason why,
Susan and I will give
$5900 to this community next year.
See we know churches
and we've never seen one like this.
We've been a part of a lot of faith communities
but we've never been a part of one like this.
We give 10% of our income
because we know exactly
where the money goes
-it's creating -
----a music program that continues to grow and change,
---a parents' ministry that will soon have
a new parents' group meeting during the day-during the week for those
of us at home
with our kids who want to connect with some adults.
---an adult education program that is beginning to take seriously our
need
to continue being formed in our faith long past our teenage years
--- on-going prayer groups that meet Wednesday morning and Wednesday evening;
Our money is being used
to expand and fortify our pre-teen and teenage Sunday school class
to staff our nursery for four hours every Sunday
to pay an excellent staff-Bridget, Margaret, Leslie, Charlie and Andrea
-who give all they have to make this place go.
Our money is financing
an outreach ministry of which are in awe.
Do you know
that we -all of us
one way or another
have created a community
of faith and hope and care
that actually alleviates
some of the world's despair
with a warm meal
and groceries for more than 180 people
every single week of the year.
You all are generous. Amazingly so.
I know churches and
You give a lot.
A lot of money and a lot of time.
I just want to take this opportunity to thank you.
Thank you very very much.
This place is you. It is us. It is God in us.
All of us together-as the community of All Saints'
-all of us together
-may we continue to pull the rope
that rings the bell
-that wakes people up-
and calls us to use our gifts in this world.
May our bell,
may this bell--- ring
until God's kingdom comes
and God's will is done.
Amen.