FUMC Re-Dedication Letter
Upon this rock I will build my church!
– Matthew 16:18
Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Plan to join us on Sunday, November 2, at our 10:00 a.m. service as we celebrate two milestones in the 130-year-old life of our church! It will be a very special day for us and for the entire community of London! Our District Superintendent, Reverend Doctor Jim Wilson, will be presiding over this special occasion, and a reception in Fellowship Hall will follow.
Our choir is working diligently on two very special anthems. Several friends and community members will be joining them, and a brass and percussion ensemble joining with our historic Johnson & Son/Muller pipe organ will accompany. The choir’s offerings, along with the hymns, will be a marvelous praising of God’s grace!
Milestone #1 – Re-dedication of our church building to the Glory of God in celebration of our successful capital campaign and the completion of the work it funded. Both the exterior masonry and stonework, and our stained-glass windows, have been restored (including the installation of storm windows)! Projects like these are huge accomplishments in the life of any congregation and each of us can be very proud that the entire project is complete and paid for in full. Indeed, worthy of a celebration!
Milestone #2 – Dedication of The Byers Memorial Tower Chimes. We will dedicate this gracious gift which has been given to the Glory of God in loving memory of George “Buddy” and Diane Byers by their children, Lynn, Beth, and George Jr. and their families. On this occasion, we will hear the chimes for the first time!
Our “new” tower chimes were manufactured in 1927 by the J.C. Deagan Company of Chicago, Illinois, and were installed at Central United Methodist Church in Springfield, Ohio, as a gift from its Ladies Aid Society.
How did they come to be at our church? This is an amazing story about saving something worthy of being saved that likely would have been lost forever. They were saved from the tower of Central UMC in 2021 shortly after the church closed. The building would soon be sold. One of our members made inquiries, and after discussion with the Conference office, they agreed that donating them to our church offered the best opportunity for them to be heard again. Over two weekends in August of that year, volunteers from our church rescued them from a likely death. A great deal of muscle and sweat (and a thorough understanding of the laws of gravity!) went into dismantling them and hoisting them down a very narrow series of staircases. With the heaviest and lowest-sounding tubular chime weighing nearly 700 pounds, the task was not easy!!
J.C. Deagan manufactured about 439 sets of chimes between 1916 and 1958, with most being installed in the 1920s. They varied in numbers of solid bronze tubular chimes from 1 to 97. Most sets included 10 to 16. They were installed in churches, various municipal buildings, and public parks throughout the country. The closest surviving sets are in Bellefontaine, Newark, and at Capital University in Bexley. Sadly, many have been replaced with electronically produced sounds, scrapped, or simply demolished ~ gone forever. But happily, some still exist. They have been repaired or restored, and can be heard today. We are very fortunate that the Byers family funded the complete restoration and installation of our chimes. Our set includes 16 individual chimes, more than an octave of notes. Any hymn can be played on them! They will be operable either automatically or directly from the organ console, whenever a special occasion arises.
The chime sounds you currently hear emitting from our church tower are electronically produced and transmitted by speakers. Once you hear the sounds from our newly installed Deagan chimes, you will be amazed. They are actual chimes made from bronze… the “real deal.” Truly amazing sounds will replace the fake sounds, and each time we hear them, we will rejoice for the grace of God!
Please join us on Sunday, November 2, 2025 at 10:00 a.m. to celebrate these two milestone events, and feel free to invite friends!
In His Service,
Pastor David Leckrone
First United Methodist Church
Plan to join us on Sunday, November 2, at our 10:00 a.m. service as we celebrate two milestones in the 130-year-old life of our church! It will be a very special day for us and for the entire community of London! Our District Superintendent, Reverend Doctor Jim Wilson, will be presiding over this special occasion, and a reception in Fellowship Hall will follow.
Our choir is working diligently on two very special anthems. Several friends and community members will be joining them, and a brass and percussion ensemble joining with our historic Johnson & Son/Muller pipe organ will accompany. The choir’s offerings, along with the hymns, will be a marvelous praising of God’s grace!
Milestone #1 – Re-dedication of our church building to the Glory of God in celebration of our successful capital campaign and the completion of the work it funded. Both the exterior masonry and stonework, and our stained-glass windows, have been restored (including the installation of storm windows)! Projects like these are huge accomplishments in the life of any congregation and each of us can be very proud that the entire project is complete and paid for in full. Indeed, worthy of a celebration!
Milestone #2 – Dedication of The Byers Memorial Tower Chimes. We will dedicate this gracious gift which has been given to the Glory of God in loving memory of George “Buddy” and Diane Byers by their children, Lynn, Beth, and George Jr. and their families. On this occasion, we will hear the chimes for the first time!
Our “new” tower chimes were manufactured in 1927 by the J.C. Deagan Company of Chicago, Illinois, and were installed at Central United Methodist Church in Springfield, Ohio, as a gift from its Ladies Aid Society.
How did they come to be at our church? This is an amazing story about saving something worthy of being saved that likely would have been lost forever. They were saved from the tower of Central UMC in 2021 shortly after the church closed. The building would soon be sold. One of our members made inquiries, and after discussion with the Conference office, they agreed that donating them to our church offered the best opportunity for them to be heard again. Over two weekends in August of that year, volunteers from our church rescued them from a likely death. A great deal of muscle and sweat (and a thorough understanding of the laws of gravity!) went into dismantling them and hoisting them down a very narrow series of staircases. With the heaviest and lowest-sounding tubular chime weighing nearly 700 pounds, the task was not easy!!
J.C. Deagan manufactured about 439 sets of chimes between 1916 and 1958, with most being installed in the 1920s. They varied in numbers of solid bronze tubular chimes from 1 to 97. Most sets included 10 to 16. They were installed in churches, various municipal buildings, and public parks throughout the country. The closest surviving sets are in Bellefontaine, Newark, and at Capital University in Bexley. Sadly, many have been replaced with electronically produced sounds, scrapped, or simply demolished ~ gone forever. But happily, some still exist. They have been repaired or restored, and can be heard today. We are very fortunate that the Byers family funded the complete restoration and installation of our chimes. Our set includes 16 individual chimes, more than an octave of notes. Any hymn can be played on them! They will be operable either automatically or directly from the organ console, whenever a special occasion arises.
The chime sounds you currently hear emitting from our church tower are electronically produced and transmitted by speakers. Once you hear the sounds from our newly installed Deagan chimes, you will be amazed. They are actual chimes made from bronze… the “real deal.” Truly amazing sounds will replace the fake sounds, and each time we hear them, we will rejoice for the grace of God!
Please join us on Sunday, November 2, 2025 at 10:00 a.m. to celebrate these two milestone events, and feel free to invite friends!
In His Service,
Pastor David Leckrone
First United Methodist Church
Posted in Featured
Recent
Archive
2025
2024
2023
2022
2020