Ringing Out Danger, Ringing Out Warning ...

On December 13, churches across Canada responded to KAIROS' call to ring the bells for a binding and just climate change agreement in Copenhagen. The target was 350 peals of the bell, 350 ppm being the maximum allowable concentration of carbon in the atmosphere before the effects of climate change become irreversible.

Ringing the bells at Trinity Anglican in Port Alberni, BC:


This group of children at Zion United Church in Armstrong, BC took it to heart!

Just as Zion's bells finished sounding 350, the Anglican Church took up the charge and its bells rang out too.

Kids got in on the action at St. Paul's Cathedral in Kamloops, too. Here they are at practice:


A few mountains to the east, the bells at Nelson United Church and at St. Mark's Anglican in Kaslo also sounded the alarm:



Harold Roscher leads children in drumming at Fellowship Christian Reformed Church in Edmonton:

Elsewhere in Edmonton, the bells rang out at Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, and down the highway in Calgary, at Christ Church Anglican. Ruth Lund writes, "We do not usually ring at this temperature; the belfry is a little - "lotle" - freezing! Too cold for pictures!"

In Lacombe, Alberta, it was -30 ... and the bell cord snapped at St. Andrew's!


Westminster United in Regina made a holy racket ... and may have had the lowest temperature: -47 with the windchill!


It was -35 with the wind chill in Gimli, MB, so the folks at St. Michael's Roman Catholic Church retreated inside after the bellringing where, over coffee, they formed an book-and-discussion group on issues of faith and climate change.


Lots of events in Winnipeg!


John Black Memorial United Church in Winnipeg held its event at 3:00 .... already getting dusky, so there were candles, too!


Northern Ontario was a hot spot for bell-ringing. Six people and one determined dog showed up to ring the bells at St. Paul's Lutheran in Magnetawan:


Trinity United in Marathon had an inter-generational turn-out:



And the bells were rung with enthusiasm in Nipigon:


Further south, in Hamilton, McNeill Baptist pushed the envelope. Al Palin (front left) writes, "Due to the age of our bell and tower the church had approved ringing the bell only 35 times, but we were enjoying ourselves so much the final count surpassed 350 rings. We truly made a joyful noise unto the Lord!"


Handbells at Stanford United in Niagara Falls, and at Glebe-St. James in Ottawa.


Marilyn Hamilton writes of Glebe-St. James, "There were truly 350 principal strokes, but many other smaller ones as we varied the rhythm. The sound was wonderful!"


Trinity St. Paul's United Church in Toronto has no bells, so together with tenant congregation Bathurst United, it spilled out onto Bloor Street with handbells, noisemakers, pots and pans, kazoos, tambourines, and a trombone!


The diverse ecumenical coalition in Newmarket marched all over town, stopping at various churches along the way. Here they are at the Church of the Nazarene:


Milford, Ontario:


In Palgrave, they celebrated the opening of the new community kitchen, and then beat the pots and pans for climate justice:


In Glenholme, NS, Linda and Murray Giddens dressed warmly to ring the bells at Erskine United ... and got a good cardio workout!



Central United in Lunenberg offered coffee to the community:


And the Teen Bits at Knox United Church in Brookfield NS sure did their part!


That's just a small taste of the hundreds of events that took place across Canada yesterday. As Robert Hart from Terrace in northern British Columbia tells us, this was an amazing, powerful opportunity for us to come together as a faithful, justice-seeking community:

We had an Arctic outflow ... a really cold wind blowing out of the north. But the low-hung sun was shining anyway and the bell atop Knox United was ringing crisply in the frigid air. Like the old Peter, Paul and Mary song, it was ringing out danger, it was ringing out a warning. But it was also ringing out love between our sisters and our brothers all over this land.

With this wind, we thought they could probably hear us in Kitimat to the south and we imagined that we could almost hear the Nisga'a in the Nass valley to the north of us ringing their bells too. We knew that seven hours to the east, Knox United in Prince George was also ringing and that bells had rung out earlier from Knox United in Colchester, Nova Scotia and later from another Knox United in Ontario, and other United churches and Catholic churches, and Lutheran and Anglican churches and faith groups one after another, all ringing. That's the brothers and sisters part I guess. ... Do it again next year?"

If you've got pictures or stories to share, we'd love to see, hear, and share them. Please send them along to me at sstratton [at] kairoscanada [dot] org.