Did you hear the St. Aidan’s Freedom Bell ring?
Typically St. Aidan’s bell is rung to call parishioners to service, every Sunday at 10 am. On Feb 7th, 2026, 10 am local time, St. Aidan’s rang the church Freedom Bell for approximately 10 minutes. We are ringing with Bells Across America, organized by Minnesota City of Bells. The purpose is to call citizens to safety amid deep uncertainty as well as offering hope and courage for the future of our communities. Bells historically have been used to spread messages to people in times of need and distress. We will ring the Freedom Bell every Saturday morning at 10 am.
“We know that bells perform important civic functions. They signal our oneness as a people, reminding us of our capacity to be united. They stir our hearts to redouble our commitment to the American ideals of freedom and justice for all. All of this by the sound of bells. We believe that bells sound messages of hope that one day our community will be whole. We pray that our bells signal a sign of our strength and unity as a people, a sign of our faith in democracy, and a sign of our commitment to work for liberty and justice for all. When there are no words, listen to the bells.”
The Freedom Bell
The St. Aidan's bell was donated by the Waldron Family about 2012.
Saint Aidan’s church bell came from the Anthony McGill antebellum plantation in Lenoxburg, Kentucky, where it called hands from the field. Just prior to the Civil War, Baptist Abolishonists held a tent revival nearby, and Anthony attended and became a Christian that day. He informed his wife that, as Christians, they could no longer own slaves, and he immediately freed them. The bell then became known as The Freedom Bell. The two youngest freedmen, John and his wife wanted to remain so they became free share croppers owning a portion of what they grew. There, they lived out their lives and John died at the age of ninety nine.
Anthony, as a committed Christian, donated a parcel of land and helped build the First Baptist Church of Lenoxberg. After he passed, the bell remained in the McGill family. Years later, just before it was to be shipped to Malibu, the town was nearly destroyed by a flood. The bell remained inundated by tons of water and mud for weeks.
Once it arrived arrived in Malibu, Don McCrae laboriously restored the bell from almost two centuries of corrosion. He then designed a metal yoke and built a standing post on which it stands today. Finally, Don and Anthony McGill’s great, great, great grandson, Jamie McGill Waldron, hung the bell in place.
The “Freedom Bell” rings again calling Saint Aidan’s faithful to worship.
McCrae Bell
St. Aidan’s also has a second bell hand-crafted and donated by Don McCrea.