Minster Lifeline 35
Rev. Irene writes:
It was great to celebrate Harvest at both of our services yesterday. Everyone loves to sing ‘We plough the fields and scatter’ but I wonder whether we really look at the words we are singing. The chorus would be a good starting point for our prayers on occasions as we remember ‘all good gifts around us are sent from heaven above – then thank the Lord, O thank the Lord for all his love. (Thanks to Lucy and Poppy for a great display!)
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As we look at the picture of the gifts that we received in the church for harvest we thank God that these will really help those who are struggling at this time to buy food and heat their homes. As a church we hope to be doing much more over the winter to help others so will keep you updated through Lifeline.
Val and I have received an abundance of articles this week to share with you which is great. We hope to include them all over the next couple of weeks keeping you informed of all that is happening in connection with the Minster
25 YEARS OF FAITHFUL SERVICE
Congratulations to Sam McGaw seen here at York Minster on Saturday 24th September receiving his 25-year service certificate as a lay reader from the Archbishop of York. Sam’s ministry has been based at Holy Trinity now Hull Minster where he & his family have worshipped for many years. Please pray for Sam as he continues to share his faith with the church family at Hull Minster.
The Changing Scenes of Life:
In his recent Diocesan Journal, the Archbishop of York praises the reaction of the Diocesan parishes as they became ‘hubs for people to gather and to pay tribute’ on the death of Queen Elizabeth the Second.
With the help of many willing volunteers, Hull Minster was able to provide that opportunity. The public came in to sign condolence books, to light a candle, to bring flowers, to offer prayers and sit quietly in remembrance of an outstanding and well-respected lady.
As a final act of remembrance at 10.00 am on Monday 19th September, the overhead screen and seating were ready in Hull Minster to watch the funeral of her late majesty, Queen Elizabeth the Second. The organising Church members had wondered about the public’s reaction to being able to come in and to watch the service in the Church building, but from the moment of opening, people began to wander in and quietly sit down. The solemnity of the procession and the service in Westminster Abbey was reflected in the quietness of the audience. Occasionally an individual took advantage of the coffee and biscuit kindly provided by Zoe in the café area.
The only corporate reaction from the visitors was to stand for the National Anthem as we looked forward to the reign of King Charles III.
All present that morning marvelled at the wonderful tribute being paid to the late Queen in Westminster Abbey and to the brilliantly planned tribute to her life.
We offer up our prayers for the life of Queen Elizabeth and for all her service to the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth. Remembering in her own words ‘Pray that God may give me wisdom and strength to carry out the solemn promises that I shall be making, and that I may faithfully serve Him and you, all the days of my life’.
As King Charles III begins his reign, we offer up our support for him through our prayers and with God’s help.
Hull Minster bells and the death of The Queen
On Thursday 8th September 2022 we heard the sad news of the death of the Queen. The UK government and the Church of England had carefully prepared for the death of Queen Elizabeth II since the 1960s, but for most of us these wider plans were unknown, and we started off with questions.
Her Majesty’s death was announced at 6.30 pm. By 7.06 pm our bellringers were discussing online what we should do. Fortunately, we had found some longstanding guidance from the CCCBR (Central Council of Church Bellringers) which told us that since the death was announced after 4 pm the first time to ring the bells would be at noon the following day. “It can be tolling a bell or ringing either fully muffled (with the tenor backstroke only unmuffled) or half muffled.”
At 7.30 pm Rev. Rob held a 30-minute online video meeting of the ministry and operations teams, and the churchwardens, where we discussed the days and times at which the church would be open to help the city in its mourning for The Queen. Bells and the flag were briefly mentioned, but it was sufficient to know that there was a plan and guidance was being followed.
By 9.30pm, Caitlin, one of our steeple-keepers, had gone to church and fitted all 23 muffles to the bells.
The following day, the Church of England had distributed its guidance to parish churches following the death of The Queen which crystalised the more general plans. This reiterated that ringing during the 10-day period of mourning should be fully muffled, and showed that open, i.e., unmuffled, ringing could take place for the proclamation (in the parish) of the new King.
The ringing master came back a little early from a break in North Yorkshire and several of the ringers took time off work to come and ring the bells on Friday 9th at 12 noon for an hour. We had 15 ringers in the tower, and we rang rounds and call changes, fully muffled apart from the tenor backstroke which was unmuffled.
If you are reading this online, you can see a video of the bells being rung fully muffled on 9th September: from outside at
https://www.facebook.com/100002752207890/videos/449059107245176/ and from inside the ringing chamber https://twitter.com/VikingFMNews/status/1568194635498930177
We rang the bells as we usually would have done (except that the bells were fully muffled) for Sunday service from 10.30 on Sunday 11th September.
Caitlin and Catherine then took all 23 muffles off the bells so that we could ring for the King’s proclamation in the afternoon.
We rang rounds and call changes, unmuffled, on the back 10 bells, for about 40 minutes to celebrate the proclamation.
On Monday 12th September we cancelled our regular Monday practice night as a mark of respect, but our steeple-keepers, Caitlin and Catherine went up and refitted 23 muffles.
On Thursday 15th September, from 6.30 pm, before the 7.30 pm Civic Service of commemoration for H.M Queen Elizabeth II, we rang the back 10 bells, fully muffled.
On Sunday 18th September we rang the bells as usual (but fully muffled) for Sunday service from 10.30 am.
On Monday 19th September, we rang the back 8 bells, fully muffled, from 10 a.m. – 11 a.m. before the funeral of H.M. Queen Elizabeth II. Some of us stayed and watched the funeral as it was live streamed on the big screen in the church.
Caitlin returned on Monday evening to take the muffles off for what we hope will be the last time for quite a while.
What do we mean by ‘muffled’?
When a bell is struck by the clapper during ringing, it doesn’t just sound a single note. The bell is carefully shaped when it is cast and tuned so that there are five or more different notes being sounded. The loudest note is the ‘strike’ note which comes from the effective circumference of the bell at the point on the sound bow at which the clapper strikes it, but there are other ‘hum’ notes, both deeper notes coming from the (wider) rim of the bell and higher notes coming from the narrower sections of the bell further up towards the crown.
When we ‘muffle’ a bell we attach a pad of resilient material to the ball of the clapper in such a way that the impact of the clapper against the sound bow is greatly reduced. This has the effect that, instead of hearing the ‘strike note’ of the bell, we hear the ‘hum notes’ instead, also the volume of the bell is considerably reduced.
Our muffles are made of leather and have straps that must be buckled or tied tightly around the clapper to avoid the muffle rotating around the clapper during ringing. We use Velcro straps in addition and have even been known to use gaffer tape to make sure they stay put.
We can ‘half-muffle’ the bells for any funeral or at other occasions of remembrance, or to ring out the old year, and to do that we fit a single muffle to each bell. This has the effect that on alternate strokes, all of the bells sound at full volume, then followed by all of the bells sounding quietly, like an echo.
For the death of the sovereign, or when otherwise authorized, we ‘fully-muffle’ the bells by fitting two muffles to each bell except the tenor (heaviest & deepest note) bell which has just one muffle. The effect is that all the bells sound quietly apart from the tenor which sounds out, creating an overall sound of the bells ringing with a louder superimposed ‘tolling’ of the tenor.
Here is a picture of a single muffle fitted to the clapper of our tenor (heaviest) bell.
Our steeple-keepers, Caitlin Turpin and Catherine Bell, are two of our bell ringers and when we want to put muffles onto the bells they come to church, climb the 83 steps to the ringing chamber, ring all of the bells down, don overalls, climb another 50 steps to the belfry, climb down into the 300 year old oak bell-frame and crouch or kneel on the (filthy) floor under the bells and fasten the muffles to the clappers.
Removal of the muffles requires the same level of effort. We all benefit from the effort they put in, even if we’re not all usually aware of it.
Robin Alden, Ringing Master
Remember our ‘pop up’ café is open Wednesday – Saturday however, not long now before our newly built café will be opening. Watch this space for further details from Zoe (Manager) in next week’s edition of Lifeline.
BIBLE STUDY GROUP
We have started our bible study on Hebrews. If you cannot make it every week then dip in whenever you can, it is well worth it as we extend our knowledge of the book of Hebrews. To join go to the website and click on Church and Worship, then Teaching, and click the banner at the top. You can also access the Bible Studies by clicking on the topic instead of the Teaching banner.
PRAYER POINTS FOR THE THIRD WEEK OF SEPTEMBER
We pray for Dominic, that he will continue to improve after his accident
We pray for the pupils and staff at Sentamu Academy that this year will be one of new beginnings and strength as they move forward
We pray for all who will benefit from our Harvest gifts asking that no one goes without food or warmth this winter
We pray for Bishop Eleanor as she begins her new role as Bishop of Hull. May she and her family be blessed in all that they do