EASLEY—When members of Arial Baptist Church began making plans to celebrate the church’s 80th anniversary, all seemed to love one proposed idea: Building a tower to house the bell that had been part of the church’s former location.

But members soon found a problem: The bell, which had been removed from the church’s former location in 2003, was no longer where it had been placed on the back stoop of the church fellowship hall. A quick check in the church storage facility confirmed what members had feared – the bell was missing.

One of the church’s neighbors reported that about a year ago she had seen a man driving near the church in a pickup truck. The man’s truck got on her property, so she went to him and asked why he was there.

He told her he was looking for scrap metal he could sell. She informed him that he was on private property, and asked him to leave. He did so.

Nobody knows whether the man returned to take the bell, or if the bell was taken by somebody else.

“It took six or seven men to carry that bell because it was so heavy,” said church member Michelle Earnest, “So I don’t think one man in a pickup truck could have taken it.”

The loss of the bell has many of the church members upset. As the church prepares to celebrate its history, many feel as if a part of that history has been taken away from them.

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In 1928, as Arial Mill was being built, there was excitement in the community. Arthur J. Rampey went through the community to see what interest there would be in creating a Baptist church for the community.

The church was formed in 1929 with 28 charter members. The member originally met in the attic of the company store each week. Eventually, they shared facilities with Arial Methodist Church, in the building where the Methodists still meet, sitting on a hill off Gentry Memorial Highway.

In 1947, a young man came to serve as pastor. Marion Hudgens, who passed away earlier this year, suggested that if the church was ever going to grow, the Baptists needed to build their own facility. Hudgens helped set up a building fund, and a new facility was built on land owned by the McKissick family, who also owned Alice Manufacturing and Arial Mill.

Nobody can remember when the bell was not part of the 1949 building. Older members remember the dedication of caretaker Felton Childress, who would arrive at church an hour early to sound the bell across the community.

“I guess that was kind of a warning to the community,” Earnest said. “To let you know to hurry up, because church starts in an hour.”

The actual origin of the bell is something that has been lost to history. One story is that the bell came from the former Prater’s Creek schoolhouse.

Another story tells of a new pastor mentioning in his first sermon that he believed the bell came from his hometown of Chester.

“We’re trying to find out more,” Earnest said. “The story about the bell coming from Prater’s Creek school seems most likely.”

Through the years, the church membership continued to grow, until in the early 1980s church leaders had to make a difficult decision. While they shared many memories from more than 30 years of worship in that facility, a new building was needed to make room for any further growth.

The Rev. Nick Price, who passed away earlier this year, led the church in another building fund drive, and a new facility was constructed on Rice Road. The new facility was dedicated Nov. 22, 1981.

The former church facility was rented by another group that wanted to use it as a house of worship. The agreement then was that if the group ever decided to quit using the facility, the members of Arial Baptist Church had the right to take the bell and move it to its new facility.

In 2003, that opportunity came. Several men from the church got together to move the bell. A heavy-duty “cherry picker” truck was used to bring the bell down from its tower in the old church. The frame and clapper were taken off the bell, and both are still in the church’s possession. The dome part of the bell – which is the part that is now missing – was more difficult to lift, causing the cherry picker to lean forward on two wheels as it pulled the object down onto a flatbed truck.

“That bell was so heavy, we know that somebody just didn’t pick it up and walk away with it,” Earnest said.

Earnest said that realistically, she knows the bell may have already been melted down and sold as scrap metal.

“If it has, it has, and we’ll live with it,” she said. “But I just want to make sure we do everything we can to find out more about it, and hope that it is still out there somewhere.”

Plans for the 80th anniversary of the church go on with or without the bell. If the bell isn’t found, the church may still build a tower with a shadow box where the bell would have been.

Earnest said the church is not looking to prosecute anyone for taking the bell.

“We just want information,” she said. “We don’t want to hurt anybody. The bell may have been gone a year for all we know, so who knows how it may end up in anyone’s hands.”

A committee is still ironing out details for the anniversary celebration, set for Sunday, May 31. Member and former members are likely to return to the church for the service, led by current pastor Danny Parton.

Several members are hoping that the bell will be one more former part of the church present for the celebration.

Anyone who has any information about the possible whereabouts of the missing bell is asked to call the church at 859-7234.