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‘It’s the bell of freedom’

Church bell

The church bell at Dowagiac: First UMC has a fascinating backstory and has remained mostly silent in recent years until Easter Sunday 2025.

JOHN E. HARNISH
Michigan Conference Communications

In Peter, Paul, and Mary’s classic song “If I Had a Hammer,” the repeated refrain says: “It’s the hammer of justice, it’s the bell of freedom, it’s a song about love between my brothers and my sisters all over this land.” Of course, one thinks about Philadelphia’s Liberty Bell, a symbol of our nation’s founding principles of equality and liberty. Still, there is another “bell of freedom” at one of our Michigan United Methodist churches.

Church bell
~ photo courtesy Dowagiac: First UMC

The old church bell at Dowagiac: First UMC was forged in 1864 during the Civil War at the Meneely Foundry in West Troy, New York. Meneely Foundry created many church bells during its time, including those at Laingsburg UMC, First Presbyterian Church of Adrian, and the Lovely Lane Chapel at Epworth by the Sea, the United Methodist retreat center on St. Simons Island, Georgia.

During their long history, Meneely produced thousands of bells still in use across the nation and around the world. Some people suggest that a bell forged by Meneely in 1893 for the World’s Fair in Chicago might have been formed from old slave chains that were melted down, transforming the tools of injustice into a commemorative bell of freedom.

The bell at Dowagiac was tolled on August 25, 2019, for a nationwide day of healing and reconciliation, marking the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the first ship carrying enslaved Africans to Point Comfort, Hampton, Virginia. Rev. Dr. Christopher Momany, pastor of the church, says, “It was a heavy anniversary, but one which became a declaration of freedom.”

The Dowagiac bell had remained mostly silent until church member Gary Carlile gave it new life and new landscaping. It rang out once again on Easter Sunday 2025. Pastor Momany notes, “It has become a sign of hope and freedom as we embrace our Methodist abolitionist tradition.”

Dr. Momany has done extensive research on the abolitionist movement in Michigan. His book Compelling Lives tells the story of five Michigan abolitionists, including Sojourner Truth, a well-known conductor on the Underground Railroad. While he was serving as the chaplain at Adrian College, he focused on the work of the college’s founder, Rev. Asa Mahan, an outspoken abolitionist. Momany’s book For Each and All discusses Mahan’s theology and his commitment to the “intrinsic worth” of all persons.

Momany says, “Michigan Methodists and members of the wider Wesleyan community made considerable contributions to the abolitionist movement. This tradition lives on today in the fight against racism and for the dignity of all people. Our 2024 book, Awakening to Justice: Faithful Voices from the Abolitionist Past, brings the movement forward and suggests a way beyond the injustices of our day.” Momany coauthored the book with fourteen scholars.

Yesterday, we celebrated Juneteenth, our newest national holiday. It commemorates June 19, 1865, the day that enslaved people in Texas were informed of their emancipation and freedom. It was also known as Emancipation Day, Freedom Day, and Jubilee Day. Across the nation, the bells of freedom will ring out with the song of freedom, a “song about love between my brothers and my sisters all over this land,” and the Dowagiac church bell will ring with pride.

Last Updated on June 24, 2025

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The Michigan Conference