Pastor Ruth Bullwinkle will return to First Lutheran Church in Parkersburg for a one-woman handbell concert at 3 p.m. Saturday. The concert is free and open to the public. (Photo Provided)

PARKERSBURG — First Lutheran Church will welcome Pastor Ruth Bullwinkle back on Saturday to perform a one-woman handbell concert.

The performance is set for 3 p.m. Sunaturday at the church at 1701 19th St., Parkersburg.

Bullwinkle has been ringing handbells for about 40 years. She first tried to ring one at age 6 when a choir performed at her church, and she joined at age 12 when her church started its own choir.

As her church choir began losing ringers, she started playing more bells and her director eventually suggested she learn how to play solo. Thanksgiving Eve of 1989 was her first bell solo.

Bullwinkle has played for many bell festivals and for worship and concerts at churches. She has played with the Main Line Ringers, Philadelphia Hand Bell Ensemble and Philadelphia Bronze, all auditioned community choirs in the Philadelphia area. She’s been from Colorado Springs to Riverside Church in New York City, playing and taking classes with renowned people in the handbell world.

Bullwinkle has served as pastor of St. John’s Lutheran Church in Davis, W.Va., for nearly 13 years. She earned her master’s of divinity from the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia in 2010. In her spare time, she loves to read, do pottery and hike with her loyal canine companion, Dexter.

Bullwinkle will be accompanied by Matthew Enders, a music educator and pianist with more than 20 years of teaching and performance experience in the United States and abroad. He serves as general music teacher at Keyser Primary School in West Virginia and previously taught at international schools in Bangkok,Thailand, and Beijing, China. He holds a bachelor of music in music education from West Virginia University and a master’s degree in curriculum and Instruction from the University of Virginia. He is a member of the American Orff-Schulwerk Association, and the National Association for Music Education.

Enders has directed and accompanied choirs, handbell ensembles and local music groups, along with appearing in community theatre productions.

The concert is free and open to the public. The church’s sanctuary is handicap accessible.

For further information, call the Church office at 304-428-6174.