OUR CHURCH BELL

Church bells symbolize not only God's call to freedom in Christ, but also the joyous occasions found in celebrations such as Christmas and Easter.

St. Peter's bell was cast in 1859 in Troy, New York. It was originally used to call slaves on the Millikin Plantation located in Mississippi and Louisiana. The Millikin family presented the bell to the Aransas County Emergency Corps (now the Rockport Fire Department) during 1915. Subsequent to this, the Millikin home in Rockport was destroyed in the hurricane of 1919.

The Rockport Fire Department presented the bell to Iris Sorenson upon her retirement as secretary. She later gave the bell to St. Peter's. The church loaned the bell to the Aransas County School District where it was rung at the local football games for many years.  The bell found its way back to St. Peter's and finally found a resting place in a gazebo, dedicated in 1986. It was given in loving memory of Doris Nelson Winship by the Lola Sorenson Guild and the Vestry of St. Peter's.

John Youngman originally found the bell stored in an old storeroom at St. Peter's. It was dirty and full of weeds. He asked a Vestryperson about it, and then asked the Lola Sorenson Guild if they would provide funds to have the bell cleaned, polished, and build a gazebo with the bell cemented into place inside the gazebo. The Guild agreed to help pay for the cost, and the remainder of the funds came from the Doris Winship Estate.  In late 2001, the gazebo, in need of extensive work, was torn down. The bell was moved to a platform to await a new housing, which was built and dedicated in 2002.