Multiple churches in Northwest Philadelphia participated in Toll the Bell, a citywide sound installation to raise awareness about gun violence, by ringing their bells on June 6. 

The Toll the Bell initiative was started last year by Penn Live Arts, the University of Pennsylvania’s center for performing arts. At 1:00 p.m. on National Gun Violence Awareness Day, more than 45 locations throughout Philadelphia and beyond engaged in a prolonged period of bell-ringing. Penn Live Arts also arranged an interfaith vigil service, a reflective walk, and a live performance from Germantown-born jazz vocalist Ruth Naomi Floyd.

In the Northwest, participating churches included Our Mother of Consolation (OMC) in Chestnut Hill, Summit Presbyterian Church in Mt. Airy, the Unitarian Society of Germantown, First United Methodist Church of Germantown (FUMCOG), First Presbyterian Church in Germantown, and St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Germantown.

Ringing the bell

Christopher Gruits, the executive and artistic director for Penn Live Arts, was inspired to start Toll the Bell on a trip to Germany. Gruits — who is an East Falls resident and a parishioner of OMC — was traveling in Hamburg on a Sunday when he heard bells ringing in the city center.

“It occurred to me that bells historically have really been a fundamental and visceral way that people call other people to attention, or to a particular threat or issue,” Gruits said. “And, of course, Philadelphia is so connected to the imagery of the bell with the Liberty Bell. It’s a part of our city’s founding … so I thought there could be an opportunity for us to engage the community around bell-ringing and sound-making to call attention, or call people back into caring about the issue of gun violence.”

Gruits said the frequency of stories about gun violence in the news can make people desensitized to the severity of the issue. However, many of these stories occur close to home. In a blog post on the Penn Live Arts website, Gruits wrote that Philadelphia is in the top 20 cities nationally with the highest gun homicide rates according to research from Everytown for Gun Safety, a nonprofit that advocates for gun control.

Through the Toll the Bell initiative, Gruits said he hopes to draw attention to those working on solutions.

“[Penn Live Arts] wants to highlight a lot of the organizations in the city that are working on anti-violence initiatives, trying to support youth in our city, or working with victims’ families and counseling services and outreach,” Gruits said. “In the news, we hear all of these grim statistics, but we don’t necessarily hear about the great community work that’s actually happening, and it’s had an impact.”

Local churches join the cause

When Penn Live Arts reached out to local churches, many of the churches’ faith leaders were eager to heed the call. Fr. John Fisher, pastor of OMC, described his decision to participate as “a no-brainer.”

“We definitely need an end to gun violence, and adults need to do better safeguarding of their guns so they don’t get in the wrong hands,” Fisher said. “Each life is irrepeatable and no one has the right to take a life.”

The Rev. Hannah Capaldi, minister of the Unitarian Society of Germantown, agreed that tolling the bell is a symbolic and literal way to sound an alarm.

“[Toll the Bell] is about the ability of a faith community to say, ‘This matters to us,’” Capaldi said. “It matters what’s happening to the children of Philadelphia. It matters what’s happening to our neighbors, even if we’re not directly affected. We want folks to see the gun violence epidemic in Philadelphia as a crisis.”

A personal connection

Chaplain Nikki Kleinberg of FUMCOG decided to participate in Toll the Bell because Methodists traditionally are actively involved in legislation to protect their communities. However, she also appreciates the initiative because of her background.

“I’m particularly interested because I’m a deacon in the United Methodist Church and I’ve been a trauma chaplain for the past 14 years,” Kleinberg explained. “I just recently stopped working for Penn Medicine at their West Philly trauma center. I’ve seen hundreds — probably thousands — of people whose lives are affected. My job as chaplain is often to go outside of the trauma center and greet all the family and friends who arrive at the hospital when someone is shot.”

Experiencing the shock and sounds of grief has compelled Kleinberg to be involved in gun violence prevention advocacy. She is part of the board of Heeding God’s Call, an interfaith group that advocates for gun violence prevention policies. For instance, the organization has worked with local Pennsylvania gun shops to agree to a “Code of Conduct,” intended to make dealers adopt responsible measures to prevent dangerous people from getting guns.

Kleinberg is hopeful Toll the Bell and similar events will not only raise awareness, but also bring comfort to those impacted.

“If someone has been affected…they’re not just a number,” Kleinberg said. “Even just one person being shot and killed is too many.”

Maggie Dougherty can be reached at Margaret@chestnuthilllocal.com.