A MEMBER of my immediate family is one of the young people who were members of the recently sacked bell ringers at York Minster.

During their time there they have been welcomed by the rest of the team and not only grown in their ringing ability but also developed many friendships.

I have dared to hope that this young person would also be able to grow in their Christian faith which our family has always tried to nurture.

We are called to be Christ-like in our Christian faith. We are called to love, to forgive and to reconcile with others, irrespective of where any fault may exist. We are called to show grace and mercy to all.

While many simply love to hear them rung, church bells serve as a reminder to all that God is here and that many follow their call to worship Him.

The current silence of the bells of York Minster only serves to remind us that God may be so easily excluded from our daily lives.

It is all the more sad that this situation has occured in the Church of England, yet the opportunity still exists for them to remedy this and correct the surely unintended messages that they have thus far conveyed.

Name and address supplied