TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - As the Capital City reflected on the one-year anniversary of the Orlando nightclub shooting, a local church paid a special tribute Monday to the 49 men and women who died that day.
The church bells at St. John's Episcopal Church tolled 49 times at noon to remember the lives of each one lost in the shooting. Other churches across the country also took part in what is being called the 49 Bells Movement.
Since 1915, the bells at St. John's to commemorate significant events, including recent national tragedies like the Sandy Hook school shooting and the September 11 attacks.
On the one-year anniversary of 9/11, the church rang a bell for each life lost. The tolling lasted about three hours for the nearly 3,000 victims.
Monday's ringing took four minutes. Assistant rector Reverend Abi Moon said this was a special way to pay tribute to the victims.
"Church bells are used to ring out good news and sad news -- to remind the community to come together, both in times to be quiet and to reflect -- and also to call them in a space where common ground can be found," Moon said. "So, we felt it was important to ring them on the one-year anniversary of the shooting in Orlando to remind the community that we're here. We're sad about the loss, and we want the community to come together."
