by Eileen Scott
Special to The Leaven
GREELEY — For decades, the bells of St. John the Baptist Church here rang across the open fields and throughout the town, calling the community to Mass, celebration and mourning.
Then, roughly five years ago, something odd happened. And it took the efforts of a brand-new Catholic, an electrical crew and a word from God to set it right.
The smaller of the two bells in the tower went silent. It wasn’t obvious at first because the larger bell kept ringing. But once parishioners looked up, they saw something wasn’t right.
The smaller bell got stuck upside down. Because of the fragility of the aging terra-cotta roof and the precarious location of the bell, the parish leaders decided to leave it alone and only the large bell was used.
The predicament of the smaller bell caught the attention of Barb Hicks, who entered the Catholic Church during the Easter Vigil this year. She inquired about the bell and heard speculation that it became locked when an altar server pulled too hard on the bell rope, thinking it was the one for the larger bell.
Recently, while driving between the church and her home, Hicks came upon an electrical crew working at a substation. She wasn’t thinking about the bell as she marveled at the large bucket truck used to reach the tallest utility pole.
However, the moment she looked up at the bucket, everything changed.
“God said [to me] that truck would reach the bell,” said Hicks. And she couldn’t just drive away.
She identified the crew as Black & McDonald and called their offices. Hicks explained the bell’s predicament to Todd Newell, a superintendent from Topeka, and asked if they could help.
Hicks was surprised when Newell responded, “That’s the kind of thing we like doing: helping people.”
A few days later, the truck rolled up to the 80-year-old limestone church. The crew positioned the truck to reach the bell while avoiding damage to the sidewalks. The bucket was raised, and the crew members used a long fiberglass utility pole to dislodge it.
With that, the bell flipped right side up and then . . . nothing.
Hicks thought: What if after all this the bell doesn’t work? What if it was damaged?
But after a few moments, the bell pealed, and its joyful noise resonated across the fields and the community.
“I’m grateful for these kind men who went out of their way to help us,” said Father Thomas Maddock, pastor of St. John the Baptist and Holy Angels Parish in Garnett.
“It was a moment of joy,” he continued. “All the people there were cheering, all of us collaborating to make it work.”
However, a few days later, when it came time for the bells to ring for Sunday Mass, there was silence.
It turns out that two small altar servers couldn’t pull the bell rope hard enough. Father Maddock surmised they were afraid to get the bell stuck again.
“I’ll have to do more training with them this week,” he said.
According to Father Maddock, the story isn’t just about fixing the bell. It’s an example of humility, faithfulness and kindness.
“Barb is on fire with her Catholic faith. She’s not afraid to dive into Catholic life,” he said. “I do see this as a genuine act of childlike faith. Barb knows she has a heavenly Father who says, ‘Ask and you shall receive.’
“And the Father likes to give good gifts.”
