As in much of Europe church bells are ever-present in Switzerland. They mark the time by striking every quarter hour and on the hour indicate the actual time. Of course, that means that most church bells are electronically controlled and on automatic timers.

Church bells are also rung before church services and in some places also at the end of church services. Every day they are also rung for times of prayer. At 12 noon and at 8 pm the bells ring for about 5 minutes calling people to prayer. Normally for these times of prayer not the whole peal is rung, but just two or four (sometimes only one) bells. In Europe instead of method ringing, as is common in the British Isles and the Commonwealth, the bells are rung together to give a wall of sound. Having grown up with that sound, I do prefer it and think that at St Paul’s the ringing down is the best part of ringing.

When we lived in Switzerland previously, I took the opportunity to follow the call to prayer of the evening bells. This year I also heeded the call to prayer. Our apartment was about 200 m from the Reformed Church and 200 m from the Roman Catholic Church in the other direction. We got the bells in stereo. So whenever we were home and the bells started to ring, I gathered the children for prayer. Five minutes was just short enough for the children to last without fidgeting too much. On Saturday evenings the Catholic Church’s bells rings for 15 minutes. That tested the children’s endurance.

I heard the noon bells mostly in the library where I spent quite some time. I normally was alone in the Old Testament / Archaeology room and the church was just outside the former chocolate (Toblerone) factory that now houses the theology faculty and one of the key libraries of Bern University. So I normally ended my morning of studies with prayer.

At times when we were out and about and we heard the bells, we also often prayed. For example, one day we were waiting at a station for a train to arrive at 20:06. As the church bells started, the family stood in prayer. Another day we were swimming in a lake when the church bells began to ring. I prayed while swimming. My daughter asked me whether you could also pray while you’re swimming. I affirmed that and we swam some time in silence, I at least looking up to the mountains, from whence cometh my help.

I found the bells calling us to prayer a helpful way to connect to God. I will miss them. Of course, it is sad that while bells ring so often in Switzerland, only few people really pay any attention to them.