Church's new sound is meant to be appealing

When the Red Sox win the World Series, the Patriots claim the Super Bowl, or the first Boston Marathon runner crosses the finish line, the 2,000-pound bell at Old South Church in Copley Square chimes wildly in celebration.

It also peals to mourn a death and rings when danger is nearby. And every Sunday at 10:45 a.m., the bell, more than a century old, calls people to the United Church of Christ congregation.

This weekend, its sound will be louder and richer in tone.

Church moderator Jeff Makholm and a four-man team of church members hoisted a new 220-pound bell wheel this week 246 feet up into the soaring tower of the historic church built in 1874. Replacing one that rotted away decades ago, the new bell wheel, hand-crafted by Makholm, is dedicated to the memory of the Rev. Peter Southwell-Sander, the late husband of the church's senior minister, the Rev. Nancy S. Taylor.

``The bell is a public ministry beyond the life of the church," Taylor said. ``It calls all people to worship. And I believe it carries on my husband's legacy. He was a person of faith, and he loved to welcome people to the church."

Southwell-Sander, who died in June, had a flair for the dramatic and was beloved, church members said. He was known for his enthusiastic and sometimes emotional sermons and for his sense of humor.

A priest in the Church of England with the prestigious title of canon emeritus for his work at Chelmsford Cathedral, Southwell-Sander married Taylor in 1996, when she was working in Boise, Idaho.

``I had to do this for the man right there," Makholm said, pointing to the etched lettering. Covered in dust and red paint, Makholm stood, his face filled with pride, in the small tower overlooking the busy square after scaling a narrow iron ladder five stories to the top.

``He was quite loved by the congregation here," said Makholm, who built the wheel in July and August out of white oak used for building boats and carved Southwell-Sander's name on the wheel in gold lettering.

The bell wheel, painted fire-engine red, is 7 feet in diameter. For decades -- no one at the church can remember exactly how long -- the church has been without its original bell wheel, which rotted because of exposure to weather, Makholm said. The bell has been rung by a secondary tolling hammer, causing the sound to be loud, but flat.

Makholm said the new bell wheel will permit the bell, which the church purchased in 1895, to be rung by hand using a 20-foot swinging rope.

Makholm, an economist who dabbles in woodworking, said he was inspired to replicate the original bell wheel when he found an architect's diagram from the 1930s in June in the church archives.

``I knew exactly what all the dimensions were, so I made it," he said.

David Sprogis, a retired construction supervisor and a church member, oversaw the raising of the wheel by block-and-tackle pulley and its installation in the tower. ``I am extremely impressed that a guy who is not in the business did all of this himself," Sprogis said. ``It is quite a nice job."

The new bell wheel is to be dedicated Sunday during the church's 11 a.m. service, which will feature music from the Back Bay Ringers, a sermon on the history of bell ringing in churches, and a hymn written for the occasion. During the final hymn, the congregation plans to file outside, weather permitting, to hear the bell rung on its new wheel for the first time.

Doing the honors will be David Vogan, an Old South trustee who rings the bell each Sunday.