(RNS) — As churches across the country observe Good Friday, more than 100 congregations will also ring their bells to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Boston Old North Church’s Lantern service, which marks the beginning of the American Revolutionary War.
The “Let Freedom Ring!” project, initiated by the Center for Media and Democracy, invites churches and individuals to ring bells on Friday (April 18) “in solidarity with the Old North Church and to honor America’s historic struggle against tyranny,” per a National Council of Churches press release.
“We’re exceptionally moved that so many churches and faith communities want to share this anniversary with us today,” said the Rev. Matthew P. Cadwell, Old North’s priest.
The Old North Church’s Lantern service commemorates the night of April 18, 1775, when parishioners lit two lanterns atop the cathedral’s steeple to warn colonists of the arrival of British troops in Massachusetts. Paul Revere, a silversmith, became a central figure in the episode, known for his “Midnight Ride,” when he embarked on a horse-riding journey through the colony, warning minutemen of the British advance hours before the Lexington and Concord battles.
The 250th anniversary comes at “a profound time in our national life, when so many are feeling uncertain about what our future is and what the meaning of democracy is today,” said Cadwell.
In an echo of Revere’s warning, this year’s Lantern service aims to raise the alarm about today’s threats to American democracy and ideals, said Cadwell. “We all have to fight and work for it in the same way that ordinary people like Paul Revere did.”
(Photo by Anthony Lim/Unsplash/Creative Commons)
Through the event, congregations aim to prompt reflections on the meaning of freedom and America’s history of welcoming people from diverse backgrounds. Cadwell said his sermon will urge congregants to be “shining beacons of justice and light in the nation and world.” He hopes the service will inspire attendees to contribute to upholding democratic principles.
Revere and those colonial-era church members who lit the lanterns that night 250 years ago are examples for America today, he said. “They were ordinary people who believed in a different way, and a different kind of country that could be theirs, that could include them in a better way.”
Old North’s bells, the country’s oldest, will ring at 6 p.m. to welcome attendees in the sanctuary. The ceremony will begin with an interpretation of Katharine Lee Bates’ “America the Beautiful.” Old North’s choir will sing other patriotic hymns, including Abraham Wood’s “A Hymn on Peace” and “This Is My Song, O God of All the Nations.”
The ceremony will include remarks from Heather Cox Richardson, a Boston College American history professor and the author of “Letter from an American,” a 2.5 million-subscriber Substack channel that chronicles news events and adds historical context.
The event’s keynote speaker, Richardson, frequently comments on the Trump administration’s latest policies. In recent days, her newsletter has focused on the deportation of a Maryland resident, Abrego Garcia, to an El Salvador prison after he was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on allegations that he was a member of the criminal gang MS-13. In early April, ICE admitted Garcia, who isn’t a member of MS-13, was arrested due to an “administrative error.”
A 1798 letter in which Paul Revere retells the Midnight Ride story will be read during the service, and Massachusetts’ Episcopal Bishop Julia Whitworth will deliver blessings.
The ceremony will also include a reading of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem “Paul Revere’s Ride.” A famous line of the poem, “One if by land, two if by sea,” refers to Old North’s custodians’ intent of lighting one lantern if the British troops arrived by land and two if they came by sea.
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and Secretary of the Commonwealth William F. Galvin are also expected to give remarks.
Old North’s lanterns will be lit at the end of the service by two teenagers chosen to be lantern bearers.
“They are the future of our country. They will be able to lead us, and they will be able to take the light and lead us in new ways,” said Cadwell.
Because the anniversary falls on Good Friday, when Christians commemorate Jesus Christ’s crucifixion, Cadwell expects the 104 participating churches to merge the two celebrations in various ways.
Let Freedom Ring social media post. (Courtesty image)
As the 1 p.m. Good Friday service began at Wake Forest Christian Church in North Carolina, the congregation rang its bells 10 times in observance of the Lantern service. The church joined the initiative through the North Carolina Council of Churches.
“We believe in freedom. We believe that there is tyranny in the United States, and there’s very little freedom, and so at 1 o’clock today, we’ll be ringing our bells, and the congregation knows why,” said the Rev. J. David Griffin, the church’s minister.
At 6 p.m., the Laura Spellman Rockefeller Memorial Carillon of New York’s Riverside Church, a 74-bell instrument, will ring “against tyranny and in support of freedom and justice for all people,” said the church’s senior pastor, the Rev. Adriene Thorne. Members of the congregation and press will be invited to stand in the bell tower to witness the moment.
Inspired by Revere’s story, the congregation will ring the alarm to denounce what they see as an attack on religious freedom and on American neighbors, whom they are called to cherish as Christians, noted Thorne.
The diversity of churches participating in the effort is also an encouragement, said the reverend, who finds being connected to other congregations in this effort emboldening.
“We’re not just ringing our bells. We’re also girding ourselves up and strengthening ourselves for what we believe is an ongoing fight to protect democracy (and) religious freedom and show love for our neighbors,” Thorne told RNS.
Other churches participating in the initiative include St. Vincent DePaul Catholic Church in Los Angeles, St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Atlanta and the Arizona Faith Network.
The initiative is sponsored by the National Council of Churches, the Maine Council of Churches, the North Carolina Council of Churches, the New York Council of Churches and Repairers of the Breach, a social justice organization.
This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Old North Church’s priest’s last name, Reverend Matthew P. Cadwell, not Caldwell.