Bit of Church History
Posted on September 4, 2019.
- We have in the last year or so had some repairs done on the trim and flashing of the steeple and more recent Harry, Geoff and Cody cleaned up the belfry and put up screening to keep out the critters. Virginia while looking through the old records of the Church came across this little bit of history. One hundred and sixteen years ago on Sept. 20 1903 the Church Belfry was placed upon the Holland Church and dedicated to the service of God. And speaking of bells, did you know there is only one place in the Bible where bells were used for worship by God’s people? You can read in Exodus 28: Moses stipulates how the high priest was to dress when entering the holy of holies. The holy of holies was so special and so off-limits to sinners that if the high priest didn’t follow protocol perfectly God would strike him dead for profaning the holy place. This is where bells come in. The high priest would enter the holy of holies with a rope tied around his waist and on the hem of his garment where fastened little bells. The sound of the little bells ringing while the priest moved around was the sound of him being alive, being accepted by God. If the ringing stopped, it meant God had rejected him and he was dead and his dead body could be retrieved. So, for the people of God ringing bells meant good news, especially for the high priest! So whenever you hear the peel of a bell it should remind you of the good news that now we can all be accepted by God and we can all be made alive in him because of what our Great High Priest, Jesus Christ, did on our behalf.