Raising The Bell at The Parish of St. Matthew

The sound of Church bells in Abbotsford on a Sunday morning was a welcome and common sound in the past. Unfortunately, most of them have now fallen silent. The parishioners at 2010 Guilford Drive in Abbotsford are very excited about raising the bell at St. Matthew’s Anglican Church and hearing it again sound its call to worship.

St. Matthew’s Anglican Church has a long and venerable history in Abbotsford. The original St.Matthew, built in 1900, was located on Montvue Street and was one of the earliest Churches in Abbotsford.  In 1977 St. Matthew’s parish moved to its current beautiful location and subsequently added an addition in 1990.

The bell itself has an interesting history. It was cast at the C.S. Bell company in Hillsboro, Ohio on November 20, 1912. It is a cast steel alloy bell and weighs 336 pounds, with the whole assembly weighing 570 pounds.

The bell was installed on the roof of the original St. Matthew’s Church in 1913 and then moved when the new church was built, to the new location at 2010 Guilford Street. The bell was removed in 2011 to allow the roof to be repaired and was not mounted again due to budget restraints. It has been languishing in the church basement storage since, but we are determined to make this bit of St. Matthew’s and Abbotsford history ring out again.

Upon bringing it upstairs to test its ring, hairline cracks became apparent that completely fractured a support arm with reuse.  This will need to be repaired, along with a bent clapper from some other time in its history.  Sandblasting and painting to preserve the cast steel will also be done.  When all is ready, a spot will be chosen to raise the bell on the building.

We are raising funds to help this happen. On May 7, 2016 we are having a garage sale at the church where there will be a wide variety of goods for sale, as well as refreshments and a table with home-baked goodies. Please join us there and who knows, you just may find the very thing you need.

Paulette Farquhar

St. Matthews Anglican Church council member