News - First Lutheran Church

Hear the Bells

Every day at 8 am, 12 pm, 4 pm, and 8 pm, the bells ring out from the First Lutheran Carillon. Our neighbors have all given only positive feedback and comments.
Since Easter, the Carillon has been programmed to play only Westminster chimes and strike the hours. But now that we feel we have the bugs worked out of the first programming attempts, we are ready to go to the next level.
On August 1, a small committee met to begin writing policy for the use of the Carillon. The committee consists of Doris Haines, Gerald Larson, Betty Boehler, Shannon Schaff, Cheri Seli and Pastor Bob. At that meeting the first decision was to add a hymn to the chimes at noon. The Carillon handbook has a list of many hymns that are already programmed into the Carillon system for our use; they are grouped by church calendar season and special occasions.
So the committee members chose a few hymns, a different one for each of the remaining weeks in August.
A few other preliminary ideas were also brought up. During the church seasons, should we play seasonal hymns (Christmas hymns during Christmas, Lenten hymns during Lent) How long should they play ~ one hymn, two hymns? Only on Sundays or during the week as well?
Then what about special occasions? If a baptism, wedding or funeral is being held for someone in our church family, should they or their family members have the option of requesting a hymn at the beginning and/or end of the service? Another committee member said they would like to see the opportunity to have a hymn played in honor or memory of a loved one on a significant anniversary ~ birth, death, wedding. The possibilities are nearly endless.
The six committee members decided after a short time that they would feel more comfortable making final decisions after getting a feel for what more members thought about these issues.

What the committee wants from other First Lutheran members
First, suggestions for which hymns you’d like to have play at the noon hour. Place your thoughts in the Carillon Committee mailbox in the hallway; if your choice is in the Carillon system, we’ll get around to all of them eventually.
Second, should we add hymns to the chimes at other times than noon?
Third, how do you feel about using seasonal hymns? Should they play only on Sundays? At noon or only at the 10:30 worship service on Sundays? Maybe one hymn during the week and two or more on Sundays?
Last, do you think we should have “special requests” of any kind? Only for baptisms, weddings and funerals? How about to commemorate special events for members? What about requests from other community members that aren’t members?
All ideas and suggestions can be placed in the Carillon Committee mailbox in the hallway. Sign them if you want, and include your phone number; or remain anonymous if you’re more comfortable that way. You can also contact any committee member by phone (our numbers are in the First Lutheran directory.)
There are many other ideas to consider than have occurred to the committee members in our one short meeting, so don’t restrict yourselves to these. The committee members really want all First Lutheran members to feel a sense of ownership in the carillon, and the best way to do that is for you to let us know what you think.
Thanks ~ we’ll look forward to hearing from all of you.