The Clanton Advertiser

A carol of bells will chime Friday at 9:30 a.m., as churches throughout the area will ring their church bells in memory of the children and teachers killed in Newtown, Conn.

The Rev. Bill King of Trinity Episcopal Church in Clanton said the bells will ring 26 times in memory of the teachers and children to mark the one week anniversary of the tragic crime.

Reverend Bill King of Trinity Episcopal Church in Clanton said the bells will ring at 9:30 to mark the one week anniversary of the tragic crime.

“Some churches usually ring church bells on Sunday mornings to signal the time for prayers and on special occasions such as funerals and weddings,” King said. “In the middle ages in Europe, church bells would ring every day at 6 a.m. to wake up the villagers so they could go to work and at noon to come home for lunch or at 6 p.m. to go home for the day.”

King said the bells also signified times for brief prayers to be said providing the reasoning behind deciding to ring the bells and pay tribute to those who lost their lives in Newtown.

“If you hear some of the church bells ringing, please pause for a moment of prayer for those who were killed one week ago,” King said. “May their souls and the souls of all of the departed, rest in peace.”

King said the churches that will be ringing their bells on Friday include, Trinity Episcopal Church, Clanton First United Methodist Church, First Baptist Church in Clanton, Verbena United Methodist Church and Lime Springs United Methodist Church.