Campaign tolls an end to church’s new bells
Posted by evdomada on February 5, 2010
By Vikki Campion
February 02, 2010 11:00pm
A CHURCH has been banned from ringing its bells – because neighbours complained the sound was offensive.
Marrickville’s Greek Orthodox St Nicholas Church installed new electric bells to save elderly committee members climbing 40 steps in two bell towers for every wedding, funeral and Sunday morning worship.
The modern bells toll for 10 to 15 seconds and are about 73 decibels. Council reports say the noise level of a typical “quiet suburban area” is 40 to 50 decibels while a jackhammer hits between 90 and 100 decibels.
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After complaints by neighbours, Marrickville Council ruled the bells must stay silent until the open towers were muffled in acoustic glass boxes worth at least $20,000.
Father Terry Kambourakis said the parish was too poor to install the thick glass panels.
“Marrickville has many poor people here. The people in our parish are pensioners,” he said. “The new bells (a gift from the church) cost about $60,000 altogether and the council has put a stop to them being used.”
The mechanical bells rang at 7.30am on Sunday as a call to worship, on Saturday afternoons after weddings, during funerals, at midnight at Easter and late on feast days.
Council reports said it first became aware of community concerns regarding “offensive noise” in November 2008.
An anti-bell petition containing 77 signatures followed, sparking a year-long council investigation. That ended a month ago when the church was banned from tolling the pre-programmed melodies.
Now, only an old hand-pulled bell is permitted for 7.30am services.
“That is our faith, our tradition, our custom. It’s a call to say there is a service on, and a way to praise God,” Father Kambourakis said.
Stivaka said
what next, they’ll ban Anastasi as it awakens the neighbours!
Pantelis said
The church has been ringing the bells for more than 30 years. This says alot about the way that the area is heading,with poshy late sipping, non-orthodox people moving in. Before you know it, Marrickville will be like Newtown with a majority gay and lesbian population. So much for multiculturalism. We should do our utmost to keep our traditions and even more importantly, our faith, before they even stop us from blocking off the street for 30 minutes at pasxa. Attending ekklisia is a good way to start…