For the first time in twenty years, Christians will be summoned by a bell to worship at St George’s Baghdad.
The bell in question is the only artefact left from St. Peter’s Anglican church in Basrah. The land for that church was a gift from King Faisal to the Anglicans back in 1950, but it has lain unused for many years. An attempt to resurrect the church in late 2018 found that the building was devastated, but someone kept the bell in their back yard. It was broken and some parts were missing, but over the past year members of the congregation at St George’s managed to fix it and install it there recently.
A small crowd was present to witness the first tolling of the bell by Fr Faiz, the parish priest, but the news has been greeted enthusiastically by the wider family of the Church. Typical social media responses are:
Wonderful ! Church bells ringing out again in the Middle East . Praise God !
A symbol of hope for Christianity in Iraq that it will not fade away but be renewed.