For nearly three years, The Neepawa United-Anglican Shared Ministry (NUASM) has been working on a special project that has captured the interest, efforts, and hopes of Anglican and United parishioners alike, the resurrection of St. James’ Church bell!  When the parish of St. James’ sold their historic church on the corner of The Yellowhead highway and the main drag of Neepawa to facilitate their amalgamation with Neepawa United Church, one item that could not be left behind was their thousand-pound bronze bell.  

The people of NUASM were excited at the prospect of having the bell find a new home in their newly shared space, especially as no one wanted to lose the beautiful tones it had lent to the community sound scape for so many years.  However, no one was sure how or where to install St. James’ bell at the United Church.  The modern United Church building did not have a bell tower, or a bell for that matter, which meant there was no pre-existing structure to house or support the weight of the bell.  Until a plan could be formulated, and funding secured, in good prairie fashion the bell was temporarily stored at a parishioner’s farm in an old barn.

Given the excitement around this project, and relentless requests from the wider community as to when the sounds of the “Anglican bell” would return to Neepawa, it didn’t take long for Father Chad McCharles to sort out a solution.  In consultation with Tridekon, a local metal fabricating company that is famous for their crop-divider attachments for crop sprayers, a design was settled on that would honour the modern architectural design of the Neepawa United Church, as well as elevating the large bell to a height that would allow the clear ringing tones to reach far and wide. On the day of installation, the owner of Tridekon and a local construction company volunteered an entire day’s labour and their heavy equipment to hoist the 48-foot tower and bell into its new location at the main entrance of the Church.  This huge effort brought to fruition many months of hoping and planning through the efforts and generosity of the whole community.  

Father Chad shared “That is what truly warmed my heart in all of this, seeing how the community made this happen and willed it into being. This project truly symbolizes our Ecumenical Shared Ministry in a tangible, steel, concrete, and bronze kind of way! The bell is from the Anglican Church, the new home of the bell is on the United Church property, and the tower is a new creation erected by the shared vision of Christians who feel called to build something new in God’s name and for His glory.”

This project is about so much more than a church bell.  It is a sign of the new life in Christ that is rising up throughout the Diocese, wherever the faithful are willing to set aside their own ambitions for God’s will and way forward.  “That is the message we want to ring out as clear as a bell every time we pull on that rope to call people to worship.” Father Chad concluded.  Bishop William Cliff rang out that same message crystal clear on Sunday, October 16 when he was in Neepawa to rededicate the bell, reaffirming for the folks of NUASM his commitment to supporting their shared ministry as he too gave the bell a good ringing in its new tower!      

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The first part of the process was to speak with Bishop William to acquire permission to move ahead with the endeavour, which was an easy “yes” from the bishop, as the bishop was quick to point out that it was a real opportunity for community connection in Neepawa and area, and for the Anglican cleric to live out his vows to serve those in need. 

Once Father Chad entered the lengthy, in-depth, highly detailed, multi-stage process of qualifying to be a bus driver, he was quickly reminded of another depth of meaning to this endeavour, one from his childhood. As a farm boy who grew up South of Shoal Lake, riding the school bus was a daily routine for Father Chad, but one that was kept from being monotonous by his bus driver, Mr. George Isaak, or Pastor Isaak as he was known in the Shoal Lake Baptist Church and wider community. Mr. Isaak was a very kind, friendly, good humoured man, who always had time to listen to Chad’s boyhood ramblings when he would stand behind him and chat away as one of the last kids on the bus route each afternoon. Through this relationship, Pastor Isaak invited Chad to attend Pioneer Kid’s Club at the Shoal Lake Baptist Church one evening each month, which turned out to be one of the key steppingstones towards the priesthood for Chad. Mr. Isaak’s friendly smile and daily greetings came to embody Christian love for the young farm boy, although Chad wouldn’t realize it until stepping onto a school bus years later to train as a driver. It was this realization that galvanized Father Chad’s decision to complete his school bus driver’s certification, and he has been driving the big yellow buses ever since. 

His parish, Neepawa United-Anglican Shared Ministry, has supported him in this endeavour too, realizing that having their Minister on the school bus allows for important community connections with children, parents, teachers, and division staff, all of which stands the faith community in good stead to be better able to reach out through those connections to share and live out the Gospel. Jesus got into boats with fishermen, into the temple with the faithful, into the country with the crowds, and came alongside the suffering in the streets, all to share the Good News. It is this model from Jesus that drives Father Chad to climb the steps of the bus each day and be the first and last encounter each child has with the school system, offering them a warm greeting, smiling eyes behind a mask, and a wish for a good night at the end of each school day. All of which leaves him feeling like he has received more than he has given, emblematic of the peace and perfect freedom promised to us by Christ if we choose to give freely of ourselves. 

This is the best theology lesson Father Chad has learned since seminary, he says, as it has remined him that it is through such simple, everyday acts that we learn and live radical Christian love. The wheels on the bus go round and round, and we as Christians carry the love of God in Christ to the world as it goes round and round, through simple, everyday acts that transport us ever nearer each other and God. 

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