From Alex’s Study
Dear Second Church Family February 2012
“For Whom the Bell Tolls.”
For those of us who have lived a few decades, we might recognize that phrase as the title of one of Ernest Hemmingway’s books. For younger ones among us, that phrase recalls a song by the heavy metal band, Metallica; there is a Youtube video of that band playing that song which has been viewed more than 7 million times.
When I use the phrase, I am referring to our church bell, which we usually ring on Sundays before and after worship. This bell, recently provided thanks to the generosity and love of Evelyn Hill, rings with beauty and faith.
We have been ringing the bell every weekday at 10:00am. With our Downtown Community Ministry partners at Centenary and St Paul’s, we decided to ring the church bells through the day.
Our churches have been in downtown Richmond since their founding days – Centenary has celebrated 200 years of history and Second Presbyterian and St Paul’s are coming up on 170 years.
Our churches are all in close proximity to the Capital building – across the street or within a few blocks.
The ministries and missions of our three churches remain closely tied to urban life in the city. We are long-time partners connected through Downtown Community Ministries – an affiliation that has each congregation serving a hot meal on separate days of the week to anyone who comes through our doors. We also share worship and other activities through the year to affirm our common connections and ministry in downtown Richmond.
We are friends and colleagues, neighbors and servants together striving to build on our rich histories and doing God’s work together for a better future for our city, state, and world.
Beginning on Monday, January 16, and throughout the meeting days of the General Assembly’s 2012 session, we have another common project and calling. Second Presbyterian will ring its bells at 10:00am. St Paul’s will ring its bells at Noon. Centenary will ring its bells at 2:00pm.
The bells will toll –
- to remind us and others that we will be praying for our Governor, the members of the House of Delegates and Senate, and all who serve the Commonwealth;
- to remind us and others that all the decisions we make, and all the actions of our government, are made before, and in the presence of, God, the Supreme Being of all;
- to recall for us that the God of the universe – and the primary calling of all the major faith groups in VA – demands that we work for a just and compassionate society; we hope and pray that the leaders of our Commonwealth will make decisions toward that end.
Our church bells will toll in prayer and with high hopes that the leaders of Virginia will not only balance the budget, but do it in a way that proves compassionate, not to the most wealthy, but to the most needy. Our bells will toll to call us and our government leaders to actions and activities that strive to improve education and roads across Virginia, provide safety and vitality across our communities. Our bells will toll throughout the day – in prayer and celebration – that our community can be filled with more love, Light, and hope for all the people of Virginia.
May God continue to guide us and bless us in faithful ministry. Listen for the bells and listen and look for God’s purposes everywhere. See you around and soon.
Alex