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Rockville resident Marilyn Converse could play the piano and organ, but it was the ringing of handbells at a Pittsburgh church that resonated with her.

She picked up her first bells in 1981 and has not wanted to put them down since.

"It's become my passion in life," she said. "The sound of the bell is just so glorious. I feel it can bring joy, it brings comfort and I think it's a wonderful medium for meditation."

Four years later, Converse brought her love of bells to Trinity Lutheran Church in North Bethesda and founded its handbell choir.

The 16-member Heavenly Handbells, which includes Converse's husband Bob, practices weekly from September to June. The members play 61 English handbells and 49 choir chimes. The smallest handbell the group rings weighs 8 ounces, while the largest is 7 pounds, 2 ounces, Converse said.

In addition to its holiday performance on Sunday at Rockville's Glenview Mansion, the Heavenly Handbells has performed at church services, weddings, funerals, ordinations and other events and rings each spring at a conference sponsored by the American Guild of English Handbell Ringers in Ocean City.

Converse said a good handbell player has to have at least two traits: good attendance and a sense of rhythm. It is helpful to be able to read music, but not required.

"Each ringer is responsible for two notes and the sharps and flats that go with those two notes, so together they really make one instrument," she said. "It's like 15 people sitting on the bench at a piano, each of them taking two of the notes on the piano. So it's the ultimate in teamwork because they have a piece of music that they are reading like piano music and they're just picking their notes out of the chords or the runs and they have to come in precisely with each other."

Ione Linke, who has been playing with the group for 18 years, said the choir works as a team and if just one person is missing, the music does not sound quite right.

"The biggest thing is to show up regularly," the Potomac resident said. "If your notes are missing, it bothers everybody."

The choir was in full attendance at a rehearsal last week in preparation for its Glenview Holiday Open House performance this weekend. Converse says this will be the group's eighth year performing at the Rockville event.

Lined up behind two long tables in the church's large, open sanctuary, the Heavenly Handbells stood at attention as members waited for Converse to begin conducting them.

With a flick of her wand, the silence was broken as a bell chimed and then another and another until the tune of "O Come, All Ye Faithful," often known by its Latin version, "Adeste Fideles," filled the air. The ringers swung the bells in front of their bodies in an upward, sweeping motion and placed the instruments to their shoulders to silence the sound. At times, some even played with two bells in each hand.

"There are also a lot of different things you can do with the bells," said Cristina Griffin, a Silver Spring resident, as she demonstrated how one of her bells created an echo above the tabletop.

The group also uses mallets to play the bells, which are struck on the outsides of the bells. The group utilized that technique during "We Three Kings," either striking the bells as they lay on the tables or clicking both mallets together in the air.

Converse said playing in the choir requires complete concentration, which can be demanding but also relaxing.

"I think one of the reasons that handbells are therapeutic to the ringers is because if you let your mind wander at all while you're ringing, you're lost," she said. "So it takes a tremendous amount of concentration and, therefore, it creates a lot of relaxation."

Carol Bosley, a Bethesda resident, joked that the bells will also keep the members' minds sharp.

"None of us are going to get Alzheimer's [disease], I can guarantee that," she said, laughing.

Pat Freitag, a Potomac resident, had her eyes glued to the sheet music as she alternated between bells during "In the Bleak Midwinter," one of the group's more complex pieces.

The notes hung in the air as she swung the instruments before silencing them on the shoulder of her purple sweater.

Freitag said she began playing 10 years ago on a whim.

"I go to church here and she had a beginner's [bell] choir, so I thought I'd give it a try," she said. "But once Marilyn gets a bell in your hand, she never lets you go."

The same was true of her husband, David, who has been playing for seven years. Freitag said he was a "roadie" for the group until Converse began asking him to fill in on bells. He now plays the two heaviest ones.

Freitag said while it is interesting and challenging to play so many different songs, her favorite part is hanging out with her fellow choir members.

"Marilyn really fosters a connectedness between everybody," she said. "The music is fun and we play a lot of great music, but we also know each other well and care for one another like a bigger family."

The Heavenly Handbells of Trinity Lutheran Church in North Bethesda will perform 3:15 p.m. Sunday during Glenview Mansion's Holiday Open House. The event, which will be held 1-4 p.m., will also feature arts and crafts activities for children, appearances from Santa, Frosty the Snowman and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and performances from The Supertonics and Home School Talents.

Glenview Mansion is located at 603 Edmonston Drive in Rockville Civic Center Park. For more information, call 240-314-8660.