Church bells to ring out `full peal' for Obama

By: | Alabama's13.com
Published: January 14, 2009

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NEW YORK (AP) - President-elect Barack Obama and his message of change will get a ringing endorsement on Inauguration Day from 12 "change ringing" bells at a church near ground zero.

The full peal, which lasts 3 1/2 hours, has rarely been heard in New York City since the bells were installed three years ago at Trinity Church in lower Manhattan.

Unlike stationary bells known as chimes or carillons, the change-ringing bells swing or rotate 360 degrees on a wheel as ringers pull on ropes.

Jeremy Bates, a Manhattan lawyer and former Obama campaign worker, will be among the 12 skilled ringers who will pull on sturdy ropes in the bell tower to celebrate the inauguration. He says change ringing expresses the joy of the community.

Twelve bells offer a staggering 480 million patterns in which the bells can be rung without repeating a row or "change." A full peal uses at least 5,000 changes.