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Church honors 400,000 dead

Lifestyle

Lake George church honors 400,000 dead

Caldwell Presbyterian Church in Lake George rang its bells 400 times Tuesday night, while churchgoers formed a socially distanced line holding lights, in honor of the nearly 400,000 Americans who have died of COVID-19.

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LAKE GEORGE — The church is closed, but its bell is still performing in-person ministry.

Caldwell Presbyterian Church used its bell to thank first responders during the first wave of coronavirus in the spring. Every day, someone pulled on the heavy rope 50 times to thank first responders in every state.

Now the church has turned to the bell again, this time to honor those who died of coronavirus.

On Tuesday, a series of three church members rang the bell 400 times, to honor the nearly 400,000 Americans who have died.

Outside, church members lined the sidewalks at a distance from each other, holding lights.

“We’re hoping to lift the spirits of our community. We haven’t had a church event since the sanctuary closed last march,” said church member David King.

In the fall, a handful of members were allowed inside for church services, but as the virus caseload roared back up, everything went online again. Caldwell never actually stopped: during the in-person services, most people were watching online.

Only three people entered the building to ring the bell.

“We’re being extra safe,” King said, adding of the members standing outside, “They’re social distancing. We’re good at following rules.”

Churches around the country joined in Tuesday night, part of a memorial service proposed by the Biden Inauguration Committee.

At some churches, it’s as simple as programming a recording to play bells at a certain time.

But at Caldwell, there’s a real bell, installed when the church was built in 1810. The church later burned down and was rebuilt, but the bell survived.

“This is the original bell,” King said. “It’s a regular old rope you pull.”

And it’s not easy. First of all, it’s not a one-person job.

“You need someone to help you count. You get caught up in the motion and it’s easy to lose count,” he said. “Once you get the momentum going on the bell, it kind of rings itself, to a degree. You have to give it a little bit of encouragement each time.”

That’s the other trick: controlling the tempo with only a rope.

“This is a mourning event. It’s not a wedding,” he said. “It’s kind of tricky. You want to do it as slowly as you can.”

The number of rings needed has also had an impact on him. When he started planning the event, a couple weeks ago, 340,000 Americans had died. As of Tuesday, the death toll had grown to nearly 400,000.

You can reach Kathleen Moore at 742-3247 or kmoore@poststar.com. Follow her on Twitter @ByKathleenMoore or at her blog on www.poststar.com.