On Monday, September 16, the Stonewall Methodist Church received a generous gift in the form of a new bell wheel, made by the welding class at JCJC Stonewall.
Stonewall Methodist Church has been established for 147 years, and the love of its congregation has only grown over that time.
Although they have built a new facility over the years, the church has always used the original bell and bell wheel. Every Sunday, Mr. Cleo has rung the bell at 10:45, signaling the end of Sunday school and preparing the surrounding community for the church service beginning at 11:00.
Lately, they noticed where the original bell wheel, which is made of wood, has been deteriorating over the years from different weather conditions. With the knowledge of the deteriorating bell wheel, JCJC stepped up and donated the material and work to create a new wheel for the church.
H&H Welding from Laurel, MS, rolled the metal into a ring section for free and donated it for the wheel. The welding program at Jones took over from there. Not only did the JCJC welding class weld together a new bell wheel for the church, they also came to the church to install the wheel.
“We want to be able to help the community as much as we can,” stated Reggie Richardson, JCJC Director.
The school definitely achieved its goal of helping its community.
The new wheel is securely in place and ready for Mr. Cleo to use at 10:45 Sunday morning.
“We appreciate JCJC for doing this for us,” said Mrs. Becky Harper.
The church will now display the original bell wheel in the fellowship hall for everyone to see.
The new bell wheel shows the strength of the church that will continue on for many years to come.
