For whom the bell tolls: COVID-19 deaths recalled with church bell, vigils, services

The Rev. Dwight Lee Wolter, pastor of the historic Congregational Church of Patchogue, New York, had been trying to come up with the most appropriate way to mark All Saints’ Day this year as the country copes with the continuing coronavirus pandemic.

A couple of weeks ago, he woke up in the middle of the night and thought, “Oh, my God, we have a bell,” thinking of his church’s 19th-century sandstone, five-story bell tower. 

“It was like, ‘Ring the bell once for each life lost in America.’”

Source: For whom the bell tolls: COVID-19 deaths recalled with church bell, vigils, services - Religion News Service