AN ALLOA church is looking for residents to regularly ring the bells as it celebrates a major milestone in the community.

St John’s Episcopal Church, located on Broad Street, will be marking 150 years since the current building was completed.

To honour the occasion, Reverend Stuart Gray has put out a call for Alloa residents to be trained in pealing the bells on a regular basis.

Rev Gray has much planned for the anniversary, set to be celebrated officially on September 8, and is appealing for any interested parties to help ring the church bells.

“The tower here in Alloa is of fairly national importance,” the reverend said. “It’s a small tower but it has eight bells on it.

“It’s a rare thing to have, usually saved for cathedrals and English abbeys but we’re hoping to have the bells rung more regularly.

“We’re going to try and get a training session to have the bells tolled a bit more often, at the moment they’re only really pealed on holidays.

“Groups all around the UK come and ring them because they’re so important but it’d be great to get local people from Alloa to ring the bells again on a regular basis, possibly a couple times a month.”

This year is an important year for the church, which will mark not only 150 years since the building being completed but also 300 years since a priest was first appointed there.

St John’s Episcopal Church has a firm place in Scottish Protestant history, holding a regular congregation for four centuries and holding the title of one of the oldest in Scotland.

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“We’d like to do this to highlight the anniversary of our church,” Rev Gray added. “It’s an amazing little building here in Alloa.

“St John’s is an amazingly stunningly beautiful little building and it’s in his 150th year since being completed.

“There has been a congregation here for over 400 years which is pretty amazing in Scottish Protestant reformation stuff.

“In 1724, the first priest was appointed in Alloa so a lot of big landmarks for us and the congregation this year.

“We’re one of the first Scottish Episcopal congregations in the country so a lot of big landmarks for us coming up.”

In addition to ringing the bells, the reverend is also looking for people with any photographs or memories of the church to get in touch and share them ahead of the anniversary.

Anyone with any memories or who is interested in ringing the bells can contact the church by email at office@sjea.org.uk.