Brainerd Church Working to Make 146-Year-Old Bell Ring Again

A 92-year-old church in Brainerd is looking to ring their 146-year-old bell again after it stopped ringing some time ago.

St. Paul’s Episcopal Church was built back in 1930, and as with many churches, one of its most defining characteristics is its bell tower. But St. Paul’s hasn’t been able to ring their bell for multiple years because its internal mechanisms broke.

The Verdin bell dates back to 1875, making it older than the church itself. Even though it’s over 125 years old, the bell itself is not what’s broken and still rings as beautiful as ever, but it can’t ring without its clappers. After the rope and clappers broke, the church officially decided to see if the bell was ever going to ring again.

To replace the bell, they will have to remove it from its support to replace the clappers. Because the bell is so heavy, the church decided it would be better to install an electronic system to ring the bell instead of a physical rope.

The whole project will cost about $16,000, but the important thing is that the history of one of Brainerd’s oldest churches lives on and that its bell will ring again.