Bell Ringing for Day of Healing and Reconciliation

Roy Gauger starts the Zion bell ringing while Myrtle Clark waits her turn. Photo by John Leach.

A dozen members of Zion United Methodist Church gathered Aug. 25 to participate in the Day of Healing and Reconciliation, sponsored by the National Park Service. They joined other churches across the country in ringing their church bell for four minutes in memory of the 400th anniversary of the first recorded arrival of enslaved Africans in English-occupied North America: the beginning of 246 years of slavery. 

First in line to ring the Zion bell was Roy Gauger, who has been its official bell ringer for 45 years. Next was Myrtle Clark, the church’s oldest member, who was nearly lifted off her feet by the power of the bell’s rope. Other ringers were Caroline and Steve Polster, Pastor Michael and Jolene Morris, Kris and Bruce Fenner, Kathy Leach, Dennis Wojahn, and Howard and Patty Williamson.