Introduction
In the Beginning
The Beginning of Methodism
The First Methodist Church Building: 1883-1895
The Second Methodist Church Building: 1895-1917
The Third Methodist Church Building 1917-1964
The Fourth Methodist Church Building: 1964 to the Present
The Addition of Heritage Hall
The Church Renovation Project: 1999-2000
The Church Bell
The Time Capsule
Little Children's Daycare
Sunday School Superintendents
In Closing
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For more than one hundred years a bell has sounded on Sunday mornings to call not only Methodists but also all people to their houses of worship. Its origin is not known, but today it stands at the northeast entrance of the church, suspended by its iron framework. It bears only the inscription:
#30
L. M. Rumsley
St. Louis, Mo.
It was moved from its location just south of the third Methodist Church (on the corner of Texas and Labadie) in 1964 to its present site on Methodist Hill. "Old timers" believe that it may have stood at the same location during the saga of the second church. (1895-1917).
But it is remembered that Mr. Charlie Clark was the "bell ringer" until Mr. A. C. Schuman inherited the job in the 1950s and continued until 1986. Others have been: Donnie Nowlin and his son, Nigel; Bobby Schuman (son of A. C. Schuman)and his son Bobby Lane Schuman, and his sons Bobby Joel, Ryan, and Ashton; and often Mr. A.C. Schuman's grandsons Toby Hight and Casey Ballenger took over.
Presently Bobby Schuman is again the "bell-ringer."
The treasure of that tradition cannot be interrupted or terminated.
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