On Jan. 19, eight people gathered in a room below the bell tower of First Christian Church in Glendora. They ranged in age from 8 to 79 years old. Among them was Rev. Karen Davis, pastor of First Christian Church since 1993. She also serves as chaplain of the Glendora Police Department, and has served as Glendora’s mayor. She still sits on the City Council.
She made sure everyone was wearing masks and kept their distance. They had work to do.
Just four days before, the Biden Inaugural Committee had invited Americans to come together to “honor those lost, and create a space for communities across our country to mourn and remember.” Four days before, COVID-19 had claimed more than 380,000 American lives. By the time Davis and her church members gathered at First Christian Church, that number was at 400,000.
“Tonight at 5:30 p.m. ET and again at 5:30 p.m. PT, First Christian Church of Glendora joined with churches across the nation to ring our church bell as a show of solidarity for the hundreds of thousands of lives lost in the United States to COVID-19,” Davis said. “We offer our prayers for peace, comfort and healing for our community, our nation, but more specifically for those families and friends who have lost loved ones during the pandemic. We wanted to take this opportunity to join with others in a moment of unity to reflect and honor lives lost in a time of national remembrance.”
From Arizona to Louisiana, New York and Indiana, monuments, bridges and landmarks were lit up in tribute, including nearby Azusa City Hall. By day’s end, lights lined the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. First Christian Church was illuminated too. But before the sun set, it gave sound to the mourning.
Davis said it was important for First Christian Church to stand in solidarity with and in remembrance of those who have experienced great personal loss amid the pandemic.
“It is the responsibility of the faith community to stand up and speak out for hope and healing, and to offer care and comfort for those in need,” she added.
The church bell they would ring is more than 100 years old, a classic contraption once sheltered in the steeple of the original First Christian Church, first organized in 1885. The children from a Sunday School class raised the $45 to buy the bell, according to the Glendora Historical Society. The bell moved with the church to the corner of Bennett and Glendora avenues in 1922.
“We ring it every morning to begin worship, and prior to COVID when we were worshiping indoors, we also rang it at the end of worship,” Davis said. “Since we have two churches nearby, the joke between all of us is that it often is a reminder to the other pastors that it is time to stop talking.”
The church is unafraid to ring the beautiful old bell. It is not fussy. To care for the bell, the rope has to be changed out every so many years. Otherwise, it tolls when needed.
Karen Cullen volunteered to ring the bell on Jan. 19. Cullen is the church accompanist and a retired teacher from Glendora Unified School District. She is also a lifelong member of First Christian Church, a descendant of the Cullen and Englehardt families that helped found not only the church but also the city of Glendora.
Cullen yanked on the rope and the bell swung and banged against the clapper, its metal peal ringing about 40 times, in remembrance of the 400,000 victims of COVID-19. By the time the bell at First Christian Church tolled one last time at dusk, and the small group walked outside, lights had come on all around the city.
Anissa V. Rivera Columnist “Mom’s the Word” Pasadena Star-News, San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Whittier Daily News Azusa Herald, Glendora Press and West Covina Highlander San Dimas/La Verne Highlander Southern California News Group 605 E. Huntington Drive, Suite 100, Monrovia CA 91016 (626) 497-4869