Lightning fills the sky behind Corpus Christi Catholic Church, 6001, W. 15th St., last September. The church suffered a lightning strike early Friday causing the bells to ring until they were turned off at about 4 a.m.

Mother Nature provided an im-promptu bell concert for West Law-rence residents early Friday morning.

Lightning struck the bell tower at Corpus Christi Church about 3 a.m., causing a malfunction in the electronic system that controls the bell.

The tolling lasted more than an hour, until Lawrence police officers woke up the Rev. Mick Mulvany in his home across town.

He was able to reprogram the system, and the bells stopped ringing about 4:20 a.m. The lightning didn’t cause any damage to the church.

• 6News video: Lightening strike triggers bell concert (08-26-05)

“We rang the bell quite often around the Holy Father’s death and around the election of the new pope,” Mulvany said. “So, I don’t know if they all immediately thought it was the storm or maybe they thought something else big was going on in the church.”