July 11, 2005
07/11 - A Week In London
We have spent a "month" walking this past week.
On Monday we took the bus tour of London, and then walked the five floors of Harrods Department Store, around Buckingham Palace and back to our hotel. I wanted to thank the British for our freedom, but no one on the tour mentioned it was our Day of Independence.
Tuesday, we walked the British Museum and St. Paul's Cathedral - not an easy task in one day.
Wednesday, we took a bus tour to Firle Place in Lewes, Sussex. This was a much anticipated trip for us. We traveled to the home of one of my ancestors. Written into the original grant was the opportunity to visit the birthplace and 500-year-old estate of Gen. Thomas Gage, Commander of the British Army until he was relieved of duty in 1776. It was a wonderful day spent at the home and burial cript at St. Peter's Church of someone somewhat remotely responsible for my existence.
On Thursday, as you know, our travels were restricted. We did manage to walk to Westminster Abbey for Evensong. We had planned to walk back to Holy Trinity, Brompton, but the shops were closed and everyone was off the street. We decided it was best to go back to our hotel.
Friday was normal. We were afraid that our bus tour would be cancelled but it ran right on schedule. Everyone seemed quite calm and even the BBC reported with very little attention given to the bombings of the day before. It appears that the British as a group are quite understated, and although the tabloids print sensationalized pictures; as a whole, there was very little mention of the horrific events the day before.
We were glad to get out of the city however. Our tour included trips to Oxford University, the Cotswolds and Stratford upon the Avon, birthplace of William Shakespeare.
Again, avoiding the London buses, on Saturday we took a guided walking tour called "Spies and Spycatchers." It was exposure to something completely different from everything else we've been doing. It was an informative tour showing us the actual places and events that led to the capture of the "Cambridge Ring" of five spies recruited out of college who agreed to spy against England for Moscow during the Cold War. It was a fun walk, not back, but through their history!
Yesterday - Sunday, July 10th
We had the privilege of worshiping on three occasions. I walked to St. Paul's Cathedral for their 8 a.m. Matins with Holy Communion. We followed the order of worship from the 1662 Book of Common Prayer. It's quite fantastic to think about using the same service for almost 350 years. Although St. Paul's wasn't erected until 1673, it was also equally impressive to discover that there has been continuous worship on this site since 604 A.D. It was amazing to sit in this magnificent church and listen to the rector quietly recite the liturgy with a measured cadence designed to keep his words from becoming a muddle of reverberation against the stone walls of the cathedral.
Our next two services were held at Holy Trinity, Brompton. We attended the family worship at 11:30 a.m., walked all afternoon, and went back for the 5:00 p.m. worship.
There were over 400 people in attendance in the morning, and over 600 people in the evening. It was a wonderful sight seeing people pack-out the house. It was just as crowded as it had been Sunday, July 3rd. It had nothing to do with the bombings of the week before ... people were there because they wanted to be there. There was a feeling, again, as if it was a revival. People just wanted to get their spiritual batteries recharged. When I mention that it was like a revival atmosphere, it had nothing to do with American-style dramatics. Their services were quietly understated with warmth, wit and preaching that was practical. It seemed to speak about the very things that we had been thinking about during the week. In short, Holy Trinity was everything I expected it to be and a model for church ministry in the 21st Century. It has become a center for evangelism in our time.
Tonight we say goodbye to London. Tomorrow we fly to Ireland to complete the fourth and final leg of our Grand Tour.
Posted by roger at July 11, 2005 10:54 AM