PARISHIONERS of All Saints in Merton, which earlier this month had three bells stolen while they were being repaired in a Tavistock workshop, are determined the setback will not take its toll on the life of the church. The three bells were worth £30,000 and police fear the thieves might have stolen them to melt them down for scrap value. But after three years without churchwardens or a parochial church council, All Saints now has two volunteers to take over the responsibility. The two who have joined the flock at All Saints and volunteered their services are Mike Ford as a churchwarden and treasurer and his wife, Mary, as churchwarden and deanery synod representative. Mike, 55, and Mary, 47, who came to the village a year ago, said it was love at first sight when they set eyes on the 15th century church. Mary said: ?It?s such a lovely building with such a wonderful atmosphere ? you can feel the centuries of worship that has gone on there. ?We were just drawn to the building. We walked down the path of the church and it just struck both of us; this real sense of peace. I just fell in love with the place and we decided we just wanted to become involved. ?There is a lot of work to do as the church has a leaking roof, dry rot and woodworm, but you have to keep smiling!? The couple said they have had tremendous support from fellow members and it is very much ?a team effort? to maintain the church and support its services. The churchyard has also seen a new beginning with the historic part kept as a managed wildlife conservation area. Mary added: ?The Rev Christian Merryvale and lay reader Christine Wright have done a tremendous job just keeping the church open when they were without churchwardens and a PCC. ?The church means so much to the village, not just physically but also emotionally and spiritually. Mr Merryvale, the retiring vicar of All Saints, told the Times: ?Mike and Mary have been a real blessing and made a huge difference to All Saints. ?It is very difficult for the Church of England to operate without such churchwardens so their contributions, with others, has been invaluable.? Church life goes on at All Saints. On Sunday there was a Songs of Praise and flower festival for parishioners to enjoy and on Friday, September 28 starting at 7.30pm there will be a special harvest festival service with a modern worship band, which everyone is welcome to come along to. ?Of course it was sad about the bells being stolen.? added Mary. ?The church had been silent for 20 years and we were so close to getting the sound of the bells #ringing again in the village. Mary was upbeat and looked at the positives from the church?s loss. ?The response of the public has been marvellous and we have had loads of telephone calls and letters of support. ?The police have gone out of their way to be helpful and have done all they can; so has the media ? we never expected to receive such coverage.? Three businessmen even offered a reward of £11,000 for information leading to the return of the bells. ?One thing we are determined though is that the church bells will ring once again sometime in the future at All Saints Church,? said Mary.
