15: Porch, plaques and bell pull

Porch

A church porch is a room-like structure at a church's main entrance.  A porch protects from the weather to some extent.  Some porches have an outer door, others a simple gate, and in some cases the outer opening is not closed in any way.

The St Mark’s porch has both outer and inner doors.  This helps considerably with noise control and keeping the warmth inside in winter.

Plaques

Plaques are used to acknowledge contributions from parishioners.  The plaques have been gathered from around the church and located in the porch to create a library of the gifts to the church.

Bell pull

St Mark’s still has a real bell.  The handle hanging down in the porch connects to the bell in the tower.  Every Sunday we ring the bell to call people to church.

Every day during COVID the bell was rung at midday for the Angelus.  People living around the church often stopped Father Stuart to let him know how much the regular ringing of the bell helped them feel connected to community even though they were not church goers.