Ringing the changes

Ringing the changes, lit: to employ alternative methods, derives from the practice of bell ringing. Each pattern of the order of striking the bells is called a change. In order to 'ring the changes' all the variations of striking pattern are rung, bringing the ring back to its starting point. St Mary's has a number of boards commemorating the change ringers of Shenfield.

Today I took a service here for the local school. I can't show images of the children so here's an alabaster carving of Elizabeth Robinson and her baby, located at the back of the church. Her death in childbirth during the Civil War, when she was only 15, united the families of her husband and her father: one a Roundhead, the other a Cavalier. Apparently,

"She like a Phoenix, lost her life to another, that she might unite in a closer bond of love the families of her father and her husband."

I think we need more people ringing the changes in church.