History of the Choir
The Wesley Bell Ringers formed in 1963 when nine enthusiastic teenagers sold sandwiches for six months and made enough money to buy twenty-five handbells. The Wesley Bell Ringers became the first handbell choir in Utah. Fast forward 60 plus years and over 500 high school aged students have played in the choir which has expanded to 10 octaves of bells, and two octaves each of hand chimes, cup bells, silver melody bells, a 25-note set of Belleplates, a carillon and a custom-made instrument called a "Boom-a-gong."
The choir performs throughout Northern Utah during the Christmas season and each summer, travels across North America sharing their music. They have performed at Mount Rushmore, Disney World, The Cathedral of the Pines National Memorial, the 2002 Winter Olympics and the United States Capitol. They have made joint appearances with Kurt Bestor, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and the Utah Symphony.
Click here for a more in depth history of the Wesley Bell Ringers.
The home of the choir is Christ United Methodist Church in Salt Lake City Utah. For more information about CUMC and its many programs, visit http://www.christumcutah.org
The choir performs throughout Northern Utah during the Christmas season and each summer, travels across North America sharing their music. They have performed at Mount Rushmore, Disney World, The Cathedral of the Pines National Memorial, the 2002 Winter Olympics and the United States Capitol. They have made joint appearances with Kurt Bestor, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and the Utah Symphony.
Click here for a more in depth history of the Wesley Bell Ringers.
The home of the choir is Christ United Methodist Church in Salt Lake City Utah. For more information about CUMC and its many programs, visit http://www.christumcutah.org
Traditions
The Motto
The choir's motto is "Diakonia" which means "to serve with love." It appears on a banner filled with souvenir patches collected from churches, towns, cities and states where the choir has played over the years.
The Cross Crosslet
A committee researched the University of Utah Library in 1969 to find a symbol for the choir and proposed the cross crosslet. This symbol, with its four Latin crosses having the lower arms joined in the center, is suggestive of the spread of Christianity to the four corners of the earth. The Wesley Bell Ringers adopted this missionary cross as their personal symbol of service, faith, worship, and evangelism. The choir first used the symbol as a decoration on table covers. Later it was made into a gold pin, which the ringers could earn by accumulating points for completion of special projects, special rehearsals, and other services to the choir.
The Membership Banner
In 1972, Janet Glodowski had an idea for a membership banner. Each choir member would bring a six-inch piece of cloth to a special meeting and symbolically pin it onto a large banner to show that though each member remains an individual, all have become members of the larger organization. After that ceremonial pinning-on of the pieces of cloth, each one would get cut into a cross crosslet and sewn onto the banner. All former ringers were contacted and asked for a scrap of material. The banner was first used at a choir birthday party - still the traditional occasion for the once-a-year pinning of cloth.
The Marsha Vilven Award
In 1978, the choir began voting an annual peer award in honor of Marsha Vilven. The person selected each year to receive this award is the one who, in the eyes of the other ringers, has contributed the most to the choir over the year. The award is, therefore, highly prized by all who have received it.
The Honor Bell
The highest award a choir member can receive for long-term service to The Wesley Bell Ringers is the Honor Bell. It is awarded for exceptional service to the choir evidenced by earning twice the number of points required to receive the gold cross crosslet pin. Very few ringers earn the engraved handbell.
The choir's motto is "Diakonia" which means "to serve with love." It appears on a banner filled with souvenir patches collected from churches, towns, cities and states where the choir has played over the years.
The Cross Crosslet
A committee researched the University of Utah Library in 1969 to find a symbol for the choir and proposed the cross crosslet. This symbol, with its four Latin crosses having the lower arms joined in the center, is suggestive of the spread of Christianity to the four corners of the earth. The Wesley Bell Ringers adopted this missionary cross as their personal symbol of service, faith, worship, and evangelism. The choir first used the symbol as a decoration on table covers. Later it was made into a gold pin, which the ringers could earn by accumulating points for completion of special projects, special rehearsals, and other services to the choir.
The Membership Banner
In 1972, Janet Glodowski had an idea for a membership banner. Each choir member would bring a six-inch piece of cloth to a special meeting and symbolically pin it onto a large banner to show that though each member remains an individual, all have become members of the larger organization. After that ceremonial pinning-on of the pieces of cloth, each one would get cut into a cross crosslet and sewn onto the banner. All former ringers were contacted and asked for a scrap of material. The banner was first used at a choir birthday party - still the traditional occasion for the once-a-year pinning of cloth.
The Marsha Vilven Award
In 1978, the choir began voting an annual peer award in honor of Marsha Vilven. The person selected each year to receive this award is the one who, in the eyes of the other ringers, has contributed the most to the choir over the year. The award is, therefore, highly prized by all who have received it.
The Honor Bell
The highest award a choir member can receive for long-term service to The Wesley Bell Ringers is the Honor Bell. It is awarded for exceptional service to the choir evidenced by earning twice the number of points required to receive the gold cross crosslet pin. Very few ringers earn the engraved handbell.
