The Church is important to the success or failure of your tower. Often the ringers and the clergy run side by side for years without problem however sometimes things can go wrong and you may need the church to actively support or help you.
Roade – New Recruits from the Sunday School
Like all towers we reached a point where we desperately needed more bell ringers due to ringers leaving for various reasons. The question was how to recruit learners. We tried an open day which resulted in no takers and a broken stay. We are a combined Roade/Ashton Band and one of our ringers is a Sunday School Teacher at Ashton. One Sunday morning at Ashton she explained to the children why the bells were not rung for service that Sunday morning. Within two weeks we had six young recruits and after 18 months we have still got four of these who are now ringing call changes and starting plain hunt. Two weeks ago we had another young recruit making our young ringers total up to five (ages 10 to 12 years). So recruiting from the Sunday school has been good for us. Also we recruited 2 adult ringers from the church congregation, one has retired due to health problems. So at the moment Roade/Ashton have a band of 11. The point to be made here is that all of the learners came from the Church community in both villages. The other point is as church attenders the rector/church wardens know the ringers and we are part of the church community where we receive recognition/ support.
With thanks to Alan Cozens
Emberton – Active liaison with the Church
At All Saints we have a Tower Captain and a separate Ringing Master. The Tower Captain takes care of all admin and liaison with the Church, and ensures there are enough ringers for Services, Weddings and other special events. The direct relationship with the Church is important, especially when you are unable to ring for as many Services as you would like, and the direct contact with the Churchwardens and PCC is useful when there are any issues to address. The Tower Captain keeps ringers informed (by group email) of practice changes, special methods, and social occasions.
With thanks to Sheila Watts