As the bell tolls once again: Church of the Good Shepherd's bell tower restored

Time has stood still in more ways than one in the historic building Church of the Good Shepherd calls home. 

Ten years ago, the clocks at the top of the church's bell tower stopped working. As time ticked on in other ways, the bell began to see rising problems.

Not original to the church, the bell tower was constructed as a memorial to Susanna Keith Tobey, grandmother to Alice Virginia Tobey Jones, Tobey Hospital's namesake. The bell tower turned 110 years old in 2025. 

The parishioners who tended to the tower had said the issues were becoming too big to fix on their own according to Reverend Dan Bernier. With other projects needing more attention, the church decided to wait on repairs. 

Until two years ago when the tower demanded more attention.

"There was some water that would seep in through the rocks and come down all the way into the church," Bernier said. 

The church enlisted an engineering firm to evaluate the tower. The structure was sound but issues arose with the roof, bell and seals on the clocks.

"We really wanted the clocks to start working again," he said. "It just didn't look good that the church stood still in time. It's not a good thing— it's not who we are."

Thankfully, the church found a solution close to home, something Bernier attributes to the spirit and God. Contacting Steeple Jacks out of Orleans, the bell tower was looking at a $70,000 restoration price tag. 

The wheel of the bell, flooring structure, moisture prevention, clocks, repainting the steeple and spire and gold leafing to the cross at the top all came at a price the church decided they couldn't pass up.

"We turned to some key people in our community that have more resources than most have here," he said. 

The turn to the public yielded success with three $15,000 donations that totaled up to $45,000. Bernier said that the church has maintenance funds left over that covered the rest of the restoration— and the process began.

"Through the generosity of the people past and present we were able to do the work," he said.

Now finished, the bell and clock are functioning once more to the delight of parishioners. 

"They're really excited to have the clocks working and to be able to use the bell again," he said. "They know that it's in good shape for many years to come because we've taken the time to ensure that." 

The clock is now fully electronic while the bell remains manual, sending rings of history throughout town once more. 

"You will hear them Sunday mornings about five minutes before eight, and five minuets before 10," Bernier said. "And if we have weddings I invite the couple to have someone be the official ringer of the bell as they're coming down the aisle."