The Faith Bell.

Topics: Faith

Starting in 1881, the college of William and Mary closed its doors for
nearly seven years. Battles of the Civil War had been fought up and down
the peninsula and had left the college physically in ruins. Although it
struggled to keep going during the better time of reconstruction,
financial catastrophe finally swamped it. But every morning during those
seven barren years the school's president, Benjamin Stoddert Ewell, rang
the bell. It was a gesture of defiance. It was an act of Faith! And
there came a day when William and Mary opened its doors once more and
grew into one of the outstanding educational institutions of the nation
(Cecil Taylor in Proclaim).

In surveys year after year, William and Mary is able to stand at the top
of the nations colleges because the president believed in the mission of
the college and would not let it die. It is because their are faithful
men and women who believe in the mission of [Asbury United Methodist
Church] that this church continues to serve Christ. Without them this
church would surely be in ruin.

Brett Blair, Sermon Illustrations, 1999.