I'm sure you have heard the word peal and associated it with bells (or out of context and thought it was a banana), but a peal is a very specific thing very tied to the history of handbells.

Handbells descended from the big tower bells in cathedrals where several people would stand there in the cold in the tower pulling the rope that would ring their particular bells out of all the bells in the tower. One of the techniques used to create melodic patterns is what is called change ringing. In change ringing, you would start out with a simple pattern. For instance, if you had 8 bells you would ring them in this order: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8. Then someone would call out a change that would switch the order of the bells, so the next time through the sequence would be possibly: 1 3 2 4 5 7 6 8. A sequence of these changes would ensue until the ringers got back to the original sequence constitution and entire peal. The more bells involved in the change ringing, the longer the peal might be, sometimes lasting several hours. When bell teams (accurate terminology because change ringing is much more like a marriage of math and sports) would practice, the townsfolk would get upset about all the noise. So eventually the handbell was developed to allow teams to practice at the pub without disturbing the whole town. Over time bell foundries began to tune handbells so that the overtones were more compatible with other Western instruments and people began to ring melodies rather than changes. Some more information into change ringing can be found here: https://www.bells.org/change-ringing

So when the Plymouth Ringers ring Michael Helman's "A Jubilant Peal" as the prelude this Sunday, there is this tie in the melodic line throughout the piece to the changes that would be seen in change ringing and hence the history of handbells. At the same time, this piece uses many more recently developed techniques such as martellatos, echos, thumb damping, and more. Helman has directed handbell ensembles for several decades in Delaware and Florida and certainly has cemented a place in the history of handbell ringing with his compositions and advocacy for pushing the art of handbell ringing in new directions. Some may find joy in just the timbre of the handbells. Others might find joy in the intellectual challenge of tracing the changes through the sequence of bells that form the melodies in each section of the piece. But most of all, I hope we take a moment to thank God for the gift that Michael has been to handbell ringing over the last several decades, and for the gift that all LGBTQ+ people like him have been to the church as a whole and to our understanding of the multiplicity of ways in which God is at work in this world. 

Marshall

As we gather for worship, the Plymouth Ringers strike an optimistic tone with a setting of the hymn "When Morning Gilds the Skies" by Lloyd Larson. The arrangement expands from its gentle opening character to embrace a triumphal spirit embodying the joyous text of this traditional morning hymn. As the verse three text from The New Century Hymnal expresses: "Discordant humankind, in this your concord find, may Jesus Christ be praised! Let all the earth around ring joyous with the sound: may Jesus Christ be praised!  

Kids Will Sing! offers two selections on this day of remembrance for our beloved LGBTQ community: "Building a Better World" by Ellen Allard with violinist Nate Jolly and "For All the Saints" with an original text by the ensemble. Pianist Jennifer Jolly accompanies the group.

The Chancel Choir sings "O Christ, Thou Lamb of God" in a contemporary setting reminiscent of a Renaissance motet by Carl Schalk. The text is an English translation of the 7th century Roman rite traditionally spoken or sung during the Eucharist: "O Christ, thou Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world, have mercy on us."      

The service closes with a "Festive March" by late American composer Daniel Pinkham. Though he served as chair of the early music program at New England Conservatory of Music for many years, his music often embraced contemporary trends and explorations as is the case in this work. Mr. Pinkham lived as an openly gay man in a time when that could be particularly challenging. He was also known for wearing his trademark pink scarf.