CALGARY -- They’ve been without a bell since 2007 when the All Saints Anglican Church in Cochrane bought St. Mary’s Catholic Church — and the previous owners took the bell with them when they left.

Parishioners are now on a mission to get a bell for their church.

Lynda Alderman has been at the parish for 15 years and said more people are talking about putting a bell in the tower above the church. She’s been searching for a replacement.

"I’ve had phone calls, one from Ontario a couple of days ago, but their bell is twice the size of what we need, one from Lady Smith, B.C., and they’re still going to get back to me," said Alderman.

Father Matthew Perreault said bells have a long history throughout Christianity dating back to the 1600s.

"The priest, who was required to pray daily in a public fashion in the church, was able to do so but farmers and people far away wouldn’t necessarily be able to,

"So you would ring the bell and to call them to prayer, they wouldn’t be able to come to the parish but at least they would be able to join you in prayer and to know you were praying for them," he said.

Alderman has placed an ad in the Anglican Journal that is distributed across the country. She’s confident the right bell will be found for her church.

"When you do go online to Kijiji and Amazon you actually get to hear the bells and some of them are absolutely terrible, you would never want them anywhere near your church," said Alderman.