The message is very clear: if you cross one bellringer, you cross them all.
The bells of York Minster are expected to remain silent this Christmas after another team of campanologists snubbed an invitation to fill in for sacked local volunteers.
The Leeds bellringers said that they had rejected the approach as an “act of solidarity” with their York counterparts, who were fired by the cathedral this year in a row over child safety.
The bells of the minster have not been heard since the cathedral dismissed its 30 ringers in October amid a dispute about “safeguarding” concerns over one member’s conduct.
Cathedral bosses are now looking for stand-ins to cover key services over Christmas, but the world’s top bellringing body has told other ringers that they must “follow their own consciences” in deciding whether to accept any invitation to replace the sacked team.
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A team from Leeds Minster were invited to ring over Christmas, but voted to turn down the offer, stating that they felt it would be “the wrong thing to do”.
No other bands have made public their invitations or decisions.
The cathedral, which will host ten services between this Sunday and Christmas Day, said it was still “exploring options” for volunteers to ring at Christmas services, but added: “[We] are not yet in a position to confirm if we will go ahead.”
The row came to light in October when York Minster announced that it would be dismissing all 30 of its volunteer bellringers. The Very Rev Vivienne Faull, the dean, told the BBC that the decision was part of a review of voluntary roles.
It emerged that York Minster Society of Change Ringers had protested against a decision by the cathedral to ban the society’s president from its belltower for life amid concerns over his conduct. The individual had no cautions, convictions or civil findings against him, but the ban was issued after the cathedral conducted its own risk assessment.
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The Most Rev John Sentamu, the Archbishop of York, said the ringers had been dismissed en masse because they had “challenged the authority” of cathedral bosses over the implementation of child-protection policies, a claim denied by the society’s members. The rector of Leeds Minster had given the team permission to ring in York, but Robert Childs, deputy ringing master, said members had voted against it, with 13 voting “no” and two abstaining.
He told the York Press that many of his team knew members of the sacked York group and preferred to turn down the honour of ringing the cathedral’s famous bells. “They felt it would be the wrong thing to do,” he said. “You could see it as an act of solidarity.”
The Central Council of Church Bell Ringers, the umbrella body for ringers worldwide, said this week that fellow enthusiasts must “follow their own consciences” in considering any invitation.
Chris Mew, president of the CCCBR, said there was a “complex” relationship between the cathedral and the bellringing community and it was a pity that some of the ringers dismissed in October could not be invited back after undergoing any checks required under the cathedral’s new volunteering policies.
The cathedral also faces a challenge because the bells at York Minster are far heavier than those at an average parish church, limiting the number of people capable of ringing them. Many ringers will also already have commitments to ring at their own Christmas services.
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A senior member of the local bellringers said it was a “delicate situation” and added: “Most people are very saddened that it has come to this situation.”
