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Writer's picturePastor Kim Purl

Lifted Up. The meaning of cupolas, bells, and steeples.

In early August, Immanuel had her cupola, also known as a bell tower or belfry, power washed, and her steeple painted. She shines! The gleaming results got me thinking about the history of church bells, bell towers, steeples, and Immanuel’s story with these stately pieces in her architecture.


Power-washing Immanuel’s bell tower and steeple. Aug 4, 2024.

The functionality of church bells and towers dates back to the very early church. Ringing church bells announce joyous occasions to their communities, such as worship gatherings, weddings, births, Christmas, and Easter mornings. Tolling church bells convey sad occasions, such as deaths, funerals, memorial services, or Good Friday observances. The high elevation of the bell tower projects the ringing sound waves far into the countryside. Bells were vital communication tools before the rise of household telephones in the 1920s. 


High church steeples are messengers as well. Practically, the steeple serves as a high, visual marker for towns to the travelers on their journeys. Where there are towns, there are often places to rest, eat, and other resources.


Steeples are also spiritual markers. When we look up to the cross atop the pinnacle of the spire, our eyes lift upward to the sky. This can be a reminder of Jesus’s ascension up into the clouds. Mark 16:19-20; Luke 24:50-53; Acts 1:6-11. Or it can remind us of the Gospel of John, chapter 3:14-15, “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.” For others who look up to the steeple’s cross they are reminded of heaven above as we live here below.


Because of the power of symbols and signs in architecture, it was important to Immanuel’s founding members that their church have a cupola, bell, and steeple. 



ImmanuelUCC was first named Friedens Evangelical Church. The original structure was built in 1881.

In 1923, the Immanuel congregation was 43 years old when she outgrew the first building. The congregation enlarged and remodeled the structure to look like the church we are familiar with today, minus a steeple. Only the cupola, or bell tower, crowned the top of the church for 52 years.



As Immanuel inched closer to a 100th anniversary in 1980, the 1970s became a checklist of projects to be completed in time for Immanuel’s big celebration. Near the top of that list was repairs to the aging cupola and a sky-high construction of a steeple atop the bell tower. 


Engineering a high steeple for the cupola was a massive undertaking for Immanuel. Bill Flesch, skilled as a carpenter, and his friend, Neil Ordelheide, a skilled ironworker, who had access to boom trucks, led the daunting project. Junior Collins of Elsberry ran the crane. Everyone was nervous about the sky-high job on the morning of the steeple’s arrival. When Neil Ordelheide pulled up with his equipment, Bill Flesh breathed a sigh of relief and said, “Everything is going to be okay. The expert is here!” 




After combing through history on Immanuel's evolving architecture, I was curious about the old bell inside the cupola that we never see, but hear each Sunday. I needed to climb up into the structure and take a look for myself. Along with Kelvin Lashley, Immanuel’s Council Chair, I had no problem climbing to the landing of the rosary window. But one look upward at the tall, rickety ladder to the bell landing, and I decided Kelvin was on his own. 🙂 Many thanks to Kelvin for these pictures and his bravery!



Immanuel's Church Bell.

I learned a lot from the pictures taken of Immanuel’s bell. The bell has a casted imprint that it was made in St Louis, Missouri in 1879 by L.W. Rumsey & Company, who was a major manufacturer of agricultural implements, pumps, wood and iron working machinery, plumbers', steam and gas fitters' supplies, and apparently, church bells! 


The joyful ringing of the bell each Sunday morning at Immanuel is created by pulling a rope that is hanging inside the double red doors of Immanuel’s front entrance. This rope extends up to the bell and it is wrapped around the large metal wheel attached to the bell’s left side, allowing the bell to swing and ring from the striking of the metal flapper.



The tolling striker on Immanuel's bell.

Tolling of the bell is all together different. A separate rope located at the back of the church sanctuary is connected to the tolling striker found on the right side of the bell. Tolling is a muted sound created when the flapper is struck against the wall of the bell and held in place, creating a low hum on somber occasions. 


The bell is really the soul of the cupola and the steeple. Two visual aspects and one auditory, all three working together like the Trinity to direct us toward spiritual connection with God. For it is God we worship, not the building.


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