By allowing the church to invade our homes with this noise the city is violating our rights to freedom of religion, and by giving the church an exemption to the city ordinance the city is violating the separation of church and state. You cannot give special privileges to religious organizations in a city code because that is not separation of church and state! 

Update : volume of the bells was increased today ! 

Several of the people affected have also now developed ptsd feeling full anxiety and stress when the time comes to the next bell ring and gong. This is very debilitating to these people and cruel.  

This church doesn’t believe in freedom of religion, because their hourly ringing of bells takes away our ability to follow our religion in peace. Every hour we have to hear loud music and the sound of bells inside our home. The loud gong noise echoes throughout our homes so loud forget trying to think, make a phone call, watch tv , or even pray because it’s so loud you can’t even do anything else except cringe and hold your ears. They have taken away our First Amendment rights by using theirs !

 

This church has not only stolen 145 minutes total of our lives every day, it has ripped us of our ability to practice our own religion. We get 50 minutes in between the gongs. Forget studying for a degree or trying to read a book that’s gone too. We want it to stop. Play them on Sunday but not every hour any longer. 

For several years we had peace and quiet, until a new pastor to the church arrived ringing the church bells on a speaker system electronically loud every hour. We cannot enjoy the inside of our homes, much less go outside now because the bells are so loud you no longer can hear anything in your own home.  The pastor and members do not live near the church and have shown no sympathy. Other members of the community have said they love the bells but do not live near the bells to even hear them. We want the hourly ringing to stop invading our homes so we, just like everyone else in the world can enjoy what we pay for. The city ordinances were written to allow the bell ringing of the churches before the speaker, and electronic system were installed. The pastor claims the volume was turned down, however it was turned up and is louder than ever ! They also extended the amount of songs played every hour ! The ordinances in the city need to also be updated to include this noise pollution so it can be controlled so no one else suffers the tinnitus, and hearing loss we have because of this. The Bells can’t be heard toward the street on starling to mulberry yet it’s strongest toward our street as if they have it aimed toward our road. 

 

 

 

Either aim the speakers in another direction, turn it down and or  stop ringing the bells every hour disturbing our rights to live peacefully in our homes. Every hour loud speaker enhanced bells is too much! Anyone who had to live near this would be upset as well 

Also we would like to amend the city ordinance which allows the church to aim their speakers our way and play this music as loud as they want to the point it’s so loud we can’t even go outside anymore and have to count down 50 minutes of outside time before the next ring, and really any part of our home inside. It’s a form of psychological and physical warfare.

Update : 

“We contacted the church and their members and received verbal attacks and threats because we asked them to stop playing the bells every hour. We also were bashed on social media by the preacher and church members. “

 

 

The following verses refer to making music loud:1 Chronicles 15:28; Psalm 33:3; Psalm 95:1-2; Psalm 150:5; Isaiah 12:6; and Zephaniah 3:14.

The voices and instruments used in these verses could not damage hearing.
Electronic amplification was unknown when these verses were written.
It is not God's will that people should be injured or harmed while worshiping Him.
Providing earplugs for those the loud music bothers shows that the leaders know the danger and don't care about it.
People can't hear themselves think when the music is loud.
The still small voice of the Holy Spirit is too faint with loud music.
The rush the loud music causes is adrenaline, not the Holy Spirit.
This last fact shows that the loud music is the work of the sinful nature, not the Holy Spirit.
What About Loud Music Causes the Hearing Damage?

 

Look for the following symptoms of hearing damage:PAIN - You feel pain from the sound
TEARING - You hear a tearing or shredding or sound in one or both ears
BUZZING - The sound makes a buzzing noise in one or both ears
DISTORTION - The sound as you hear it is distorted
MUFFLED SOUND - The sound is suddenly muffled
PAIN - Your head aches from the sound
RINGING IN EARS - You have ringing in your ears lasting longer than one day
WRONG DIRECTION - You hear sounds of visible events coming from the wrong direction
LOSS OF BALANCE - If you have loss of balance and have just listened to loud sounds
If the pastor, any other church official, or the sound man likes music loud, leave.”

 

all of the above is in my and our opinions.

we exercise our right to freedom of speech to write our complaint.