Cabot United Methodist Church installed its 100-year-old bell in the tower at its new location in 2014.

History and tradition will combine the first weekend in November when Cabot United Methodist Church will toll its 100-year-old church bell in special All Saints' Day worship services.

In the United Methodist Church, All Saints' Day is celebrated on the first Sunday in November. It is held, not only to remember saints, but also to remember all those who have died during the past year who were members of the local church congregation.

The Rev. Jonathan Fehl, pastor of Cabot United Methodist Church, 707 Winfield Road in Cabot, said the service will be celebrated at its 6 p.m. Saturday service, Nov. 6, and at its 10:30 a.m. Sunday service, Nov. 7.

During each service, he said the names of congregation members who died during the year will be read as their pictures are shown on screens in the sanctuary. A candle is lighted on the altar and the bell is tolled once.

Fehl said the bell will ring between 25 and 27 times to mark the deaths of members of the 100- to 125-member congregation and people with a close connection to the church who have died.Fehl said the families of those who have passed on will be guests at the service and some will be invited to ring the bell when their relative's name is called out.TraditionAll Saints' Day has significance to the members of the United Methodist Church, according to Fehl.“Being followers of Jesus, we know there will be a resurrection, and we know we will get to live with Jesus forever, so this is a way of recognizing that and a way to recognize those that have passed in the last year,” said Fehl.Janet Morris, a church member, said, “It's a tradition we have had for a long time.”She added that before the bell was installed in the tower at the church's new location in 2014, the 400-pound bell was brought out on a wheeled platform and rung for the All Saints' Day service.History

The bell has a long history with Cabot United Methodist Church, Fehl and Morris said.The church marked the bell's 100th anniversary on Sept. 22.According to Fehl, the bell was made by Baltimore's McShane Bell Foundry.The bell is made of bronze and alloy of approximately 77% copper and 23% tin.The church bought the bell on Sept. 22, 1921, for $382. Fehl said that translates into about $100,000 today.When the church moved from its former location in 2002, the bell was removed and stored at the new church location until a sanctuary and a bell tower could be constructed.The bell tollsThe bell was installed in the newly built bell tower and rung for the first time since the move on Easter Sunday, April 20, 2014.

Fehl said there isn't any fancy timing or electronic system that sounds the bell. Volunteers pull ropes that descend from the tower to a small room to the right of the altar.“It's easy to pull. We have different people do it, sometimes children,” said Fehl adding the bell tolls to announce the start of services Saturday nights and Sunday mornings.All Saints' DayFehl said All Saints' Day is for all church members.“It is for all the church, not just the holy ones,” he said. “In our tradition, it is all of us that are following Jesus, so we recognize that,” he said.“All Saints' Day is significant. We have a hope that is beyond just for this life,” said Fehl. “Sometimes it looks like things are humbling for us, but that is not the final story.”

Pandemic challengesHe noted his church has been through some humbling times itself during the COVID pandemic.The church has resumed in-person services after a period of only being able to share worship over Facebook and YouTube. The church is still posting an online service.Fehl said the church will resume its Upward sports program that offers basketball and cheerleading programs for kindergartners through eighth-graders. Evaluation of players will begin at the church Nov. 15.Fehl said Sunday school classes have also resumed. There are elementary, high/middle school classes and two adult classes.Church members hope to resume church fish fries during Lent 2022.The church has also continued to operate the Cabot Food Bank, housed in the church building, during the pandemic.According to the church, it serves nearly 100 families per month living in Winfield, Buffalo and Clearfield townships, as well as Saxonburg borough.

The 100-year-old bell was hoisted to the church bell tower in 2014.

When Cabot United Methodist Church moved from its former location in 2002, the bell was stored at the new church location until a sanctuary and a bell tower could be constructed. The bell was installed in the newly built bell tower and rung for the first time on Easter Sunday, April 20, 2014.

Cabot United Methodist Church will toll the bell Nov. 6 and 7 to honor members of the congregation who have died in the past year as part of its All Saints' Day observances.

Cabot United Methodist Church congregant Janet Morris and the Rev. Jonathan Fehl, pastor, indicate the rope that is used to ring the bell. The church congregation will toll the bell Nov. 6 and 7 to honor members of the congregation who have died in the past year, as part of its All Saints' Day observances.