Bells Fail to Get Ringing Endorsement From All : Neighbors: The Crystal Cathedral’s $5-million carillon has some residents up in arms.

GARDEN GROVE —  The Crystal Cathedral broadcasts hymns of praise to an international audience of millions, but a few of its neighbors want less joyful noise and more peace on earth.

The problem, according to former member Max Stauffer, is the bells.

“It’s the most gosh-awful noise you ever heard. It’s not even music,” said Stauffer, who has complained to police about the church’s $5-million, stainless steel carillon, which began ringing in 1991.

“My wife had a migraine headache, and they played that thing and it drove her batty,” said Stauffer, 63. He and his wife, Ann, live two houses west of the church’s bell tower and have lived in the neighborhood since 1961.

The evangelical Protestant church was built by the Rev. Robert H. Schuller from a drive-in ministry to a Southern California landmark where services are broadcast to 20 million people.

The Stauffers aren’t the only neighbors to protest the bells--the volume as well as the selections.

The carillon has been known to ring out “Three Blind Mice” and “I Dream of Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair,” said Mark McDaniel, Stauffer’s bell-side neighbor on Anzio Street.

“It’s aggressive playing,” McDaniel said one recent evening as a baritone organ dirge blanketed the neighborhood. “I couldn’t even watch TV. It’s thunder, OK?”

The bells ring on the quarter hour every day from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., but not after 6 p.m. unless there is a special event or concert at the church, said spokeswoman Claudia Holloway.

Two years ago, McDaniel carried around a noise meter, trying to build a case against the church. The city changed noise ordinances from one that limited decibels to a more subjective standard.

McDaniel and Stauffer aren’t the most popular folks on Anzio Street. Since 1976, Crystal Cathedral Ministries has acquired 19 homes, about one-third of the neighborhood, for employees or church members.

“I bought one of those bells in that tower. My name’s on it. That’s why I moved into this neighborhood,” said member Betty Dixon, whose front door opens toward the tower. “Where else can you get live organ music?”

“It’s just like living by a train,” said Valerie Noot, who lives across the street from McDaniel. “But I like the music. It’s pretty.”

Church officials said they planned to meet with McDaniel and would do some things more quietly, such as leaf-blowing and early morning work on tents and risers. But they won’t turn down the music.

Charles J. Todd, chief operating officer of the Crystal Cathedral, said the church had made an offer for McDaniel’s house. He suggested the flap was McDaniel’s attempt to get more money.