posted 12/05/08 12:11 PM | updated 01/09/09 12:06 PM

Broadway church's Christmas chiming every 30min

All Pilgrims Church

EDIT: Over one month later they are still playing religious songs that can be heard at least six blocks away. The songs marking noon and 6:00pm go on for a minute. I understand that church bells evoke a nostalgic response from many of the commentators, but I find it hard to believe that if an Islamic call to prayer were blasted over the neighborhood you would approve.

 

 

For those of you who live within earshot you have probably already heard the All Pilgrims Church Christmas chiming. Starting on November 30 they have been banging out such classics as "Oh come all ye faithful" to mark the passage of time.

I have lived four blocks from them for over three years and this is the first December that they have chosen to create noise pollution every half hour. While Broadway is far from a quiet street and it has its fair share of obnoxious music (think Panache's love of Cher for instance) the bells at All Pilgrims have a far greater radius of impact.

While All Pilgrims should be commended for their inclusive style to proselytizing (i <3 rainbow flags on churches) it does not excuse their decision to force Christmas music into the homes of people like myself who neither celebrate Christmas nor subscribe to a religion. Please take the time to let them know that their broadcasting of hymnals is not appreciated.

 

Thank you.

Add Your Comment(15)
Add Your Comment
Name:
Email:
(will not be displayed)
Subject:
Comment:
or

CommentsRSS Feed
I'll keep an open mind
But is it really that loud? I live very close to St. Joe's and while I have nothing to do with religion myself (never been to church in the USA except to vote), I'm fine with their "religious" chiming bells.
Comment by jseattle
11 months ago
( 0 votes ) Recommend this
RE: I'll keep an open mind
chimes aren't themselves religious, of course, they are playing religious songs.
Comment by jnana
10 months ago
( 0 votes ) Recommend this
haven't noticed
I live 1.5 blocks from this church and I haven't noticed anything. I do love bells, though, and I love the old hymns -- every half hour is a little excessive, perhaps.
Comment by Katelyn
11 months ago
( 0 votes ) Recommend this
no, thank you.
I thought I was hallucinating a deranged ice cream truck when I heard it last night (from ten blocks away).
Comment by josh
11 months ago
( +5 votes ) Recommend this
I like it
I noticed the bells and rather liked the added layer they add to the tapestry of our neighborhood (I'm 2 blocks away). It reminds of the church bells in homes I've lived in in Mexico. I hadn't noticed whether they were playing Christmas songs or not but wouldn't particularly bother me if they did since I know that this particular church is very inclusive and not trying to force me to be a certain way though I'm certainly not a church goer to begin with. I'm also wondering if some folks might actually find comfort in the bells.
Comment by Brian
11 months ago
( 0 votes ) Recommend this
this hardly seems worth complaining about
perhaps just because I used to live above WET and had to put up with simulated gunfire, screaming and other things associated with experimental theater, I wonder how much of a nuisance this is. probably just runs during daytime hours, for a couple minutes every hour, if that? but I may be biased because I tend to enjoy such noises and city noise in general.
Comment by carmen2
11 months ago
( 0 votes ) Recommend this
I liked it!
I am an Atheist through and through, but last night as I was climbing up Republican the church bells were the first thing that actually made me feel Christmasy this year.
Comment by Carling West
11 months ago
( 0 votes ) Recommend this
RE: I liked it!
That sounds about right to me.
And anyway, Charlie Brown's views to the contrary, Christmas isn't really a Christian holiday anymore--I'm happy to celebrate it, beliefs and such notwithstanding . . .

Ring on, bells!
Comment by yancy
11 months ago
( 0 votes ) Recommend this
Pedant alert
"Bi-hourly" means "every two hours." I don't think there's a single word for "twice an hour."
Comment by Jason
11 months ago
( 0 votes ) Recommend this
RE: Pedant alert
Twice an hour would be "semi-hourly"
Comment by CapHill
11 months ago
( 0 votes ) Recommend this
RE: Pedant alert
fixed that for you...
Comment by jnana
11 months ago
( 0 votes ) Recommend this
If bells were really a bother...
I live within 3 blocks of 4 churches and though I haven't figured out which ones have bells, they haven't bothered me even in the summer when we have the windows open 24/7. I am very touchy when it comes to feeling like someone is pushing a religious view on me, but if we're going to live in such a compact neighborhood, we need to have a bit of compassion and patience towards others. It's only for a few weeks, then it will go back to the normal schedule.
Comment by Wesa
11 months ago
( 0 votes ) Recommend this
Not quite annoying yet...
I live less than a block from the church. While I haven't noticed it every half hour, I still feel it might be a bit too frequent. If they keep playing it now, it's going to get really annoying in three weeks. I think I'm already on Christmas overload, though, so maybe that's part of my bias.
Comment by avitania
11 months ago
( +5 votes ) Recommend this
QFC is driving me crazy already
I hate grocery shopping now, because QFC is playing Christmas music. It's fine for about 20 seconds, and then I go nuts. Thankfully I don't live close to the Safeway anymore, because their music is 10x worse. I don't know how... it just is. Alas!
Comment by Uncle Vinny
11 months ago
( +5 votes ) Recommend this
The None-Too-Subtle Sounds of Cultural Dominance Ringing in My Head
Thank you for clearing that up. I'd heard what I thought was "tolling," and had wondered who died. Oh, O.K., it's that majority-religion God-man thing again, except we're ALL supposed to be CELEBRATING the human divinity's sacred (except, no, not to me, thanks) BIRTHDAY! YIPPEE! Except, NO, that's not my religion. Why should I be getting another headache from it? Why can't Christianity BACK OFF a little... isn't it enough that the Christian Right Wing has terrorised committed gay couples, women seeking birth control, and, well, just about everyone who isn't part of their ideology? Isn't it ENOUGH that even the nicest Christians, with a very few (Unitarian-mostly) exceptions, kinda sorta believe that I'm going to Hell for my failure to worship a particular human being, a don't-rock-the-boat political figure from 2,000 years ago? For me, that'd be idolatry, which is a no-no. If I'm not worshipping Lenny Bruce, I'm not going to worship some other, less-my-style, deceased charismatic Jewish troublemaker, so, really, thanks but no thanks. And no, I don't want songs about the deified man's "birthday" pumped into my ears loudly and repetitively. Or at all, in fact, without my consent.

Can you imagine the reaction if ANY OTHER RELIGION filled the air with loud, assertive anthems about its beliefs... religious tenets many people DO NOT hold, such as "Worship This Mythical Animal Now Or Else!" and actually might find offensive or bizarre? After 2000 years of forced conversions, pogroms, the Inquisition, denial of civil and human rights, forced wearing of badges and clothing to identify non-Christians as virtual non-citizens, and other details of Church-fueled antisemitism and anti-everybody-else-isms either too annoying or too stomach-turningly unspeakable to add here... ISN'T IT TIME TO STOP THE INVASIVE, "NICE" SHOWS OF CULTURAL DOMINANCE? Just until our nation's most recent flirtation with Almost Fascism fades a little from our nightmares? Wouldn't it be friendlier?
Comment by Tikkun Chatzot
11 months ago
( 0 votes ) Recommend this
advertisement