Four members of Trinity Anglican Church in Bearbrook lift a new bell into place in the church's belfry. The bell was donated to replace the church's original bell which was stolen last May. FRED SHERWIN PHOTO

For the past year, the parishioners at Trinity Anglican Church in Bearbrook have been called to prayer by a small temporary bell. The small bell was put into use after the church's large brass bell was removed by thieves in the middle of the night last May 21.

The 150-pound bell had been in use for 93 years before it was stolen. Church warden Marilyn Lowe says losing the bell was like losing the church's soul.

"It left an empty feeling � as if something wasn't right,� says Lowe.

The church had been searching for a replacement bell for months before the Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Chesterville finally answered their prayers with a 250-pound brass bell which is nearly twice the size of the old one.

"It means everything to have it back because it's always been there since 1925 and the service didn't start until they rung that bell,� says Lowe.

Other the years, the bell was rung for countless weddings, baptisms and even funerals over the generations.

It took a crane donated by Vars Concrete and plenty of elbow grease to install the new bell. The job was left to four church members who had to build a new base for the bell's cradle before lifting it into place and attaching the clanger.

The bell will be used for the first time before the church's annual Memorial Service on Father's Day.

Unfortunately, the man whose job it was to ring the bell for more than three decades won't be there to hear the new bell. Francis Coburn passed away on May 1 at the age of 97. Instead, his widow Bertha will likely be invited to take part in the ceremony.

In order to protect the bell from suffering the same fate as its predecessor, the church plans to build a cage inside the bell tower to keep would-be thieves at bay.

The old bell disappeared without a trace and was likely sold as scrap metal. Trinity Church is part of the Bearbrook, Navan and Blackburn parish which includes St. Mary the Virgin Church in Blackburn, and St. Mary's Church in Navan.

The first Trinity Church is thought to have been built in the late 1850s. The original building was a simple wooden structure that also served families from the nearby communities of Vars and Canaan. The first service in the present building, a baptism, took place on Jan. 13, 1900.

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