We made a pretty significant mistake on Saturday at Old North, and did not manage to get the gates and church properly locked with all the comings and goings. Chelsea (the Old North sexton) had to chase about thirty tourists out of the building. Especially with the construction going on, this was an unacceptable situation. 

I've heard a couple useful suggestions about how we can ensure this does not happen again, and I hope to send an email to Chelsea/Old North on Monday detailing the steps we will take thusly. If you have commentary or other ideas, please let me know. 

1) it was suggested that we get a padlock of our own, and give Chelsea a key, so that we can fully lock the gate instead of pretend-locking it as we have been. (Obviously at the end of practice we would return to using their padlock)

2) If we are using the door mid-practice, sending a spare person down to make sure both gate and front door of church get fully locked behind people arriving or leaving. 

3) potentially restricting bellringer entry and exit to set times --we all come in at 11:15 and leave at 1:15. (I personally would disprefer this, especially as it would make communication with visiting ringers more difficult, but is a possible solution). 

I don't want anyone to think it was the fault of a specific ringer --it was a collective mistake where none of us were thinking sufficiently about church security. But it was a preventable mistake, and I'd like to make sure we don't make it again. 

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts. I will keep everyone posted on further communication from the church. 

-Kat