"Father, Forgive"

(ORIGINALLY WRITTEN 12/3; POSTED FROM U.S. 12/7/05)

Good morning SOTH family! As I write from our hotel this Saturday morning at 6:00 AM, most of you have just settled down for a good night’s sleep.

The last two days here have been outstanding, with a trip on Thursday to Manchester, for a lecture at the Nazarene Theological College, a seminary connected to the huge University of Manchester.

We learned much about Charles Wesley that we did not know before, including much about his skills as a preacher. Nazarene has a tremendous collection of original materials from John and Charles Wesley. When our group sang together the Charles Wesley hymn “And Can It Be,” I realized immediately its connection to the worship chorus “Amazing Love” that we sing at SOTH. The chorus is nearly word-for-word from Charles Wesley.

From there, we visited the ancient city of Chester, where there has been a continuous settlement for over 2,000 years. There the only “rows” of England exist – “double-decker” sorts of pedestrian shopping built alongside the streets.

Yesterday we toured around Birmingham and saw the tiny cottage where Francis Asbury grew up. He lived there with his family in about 500 square feet of space until he was 26 years old. At that time he left for America, and told his mom he’d be back by the time he was 30. When the revolutionary war broke out, he sided with the Americans and never returned home, spending the next 30 years preaching in the USA. Bishop Davis said that he believes much of the incredible strength of Methodism in Georgia today can be attributed to Francis Asbury.

Yesterday afternoon we saw Coventry Cathedral, and for me, this has been a true highlight of the trip. Coventry’s church was built over 1000 years ago and elevated to Cathedral in the 18^th century. The priceless holy place was fire-bombed by the Germans in November of 1940. Over 600 people died that night in Coventry and all but the stone floor and walls of the cathedral were destroyed.

The Cathedral is now a testimony to the power of forgiveness and the power of God at work among his people. The morning after the bombing, two beams from the massive roof had fallen in the shape of a cross. A local wired them together and propped them in the place where the high altar had stood. That cross was preserved and remained in place until it was lost to vandals in the 1970’s. Today a replica remains, with the inscription behind it, “Father, Forgive.” The ruins of the ancient cathedral are now joined to a space that is the greatest example of modern church architecture that we have in the world today.

The rebuilt cathedral mixes ancient symbols with modern art and technology in powerful ways. Built in the 1960’s, the modern cathedral is a place that immediately inspires a sense of awe and God’s presence. I met a wonderful lady there was has volunteered at the cathedral throughout her life. She is now in her middle 70’s, and she took Holly and me aside and gave us the “real” tour. It was an amazing thing to talk to her about the cathedral, about the people who lived in Coventry in the 1940’s, and what it was like for her to experience the bombing first-hand.

Today we are off to Bath, a very ancient city where John Wesley was nearly attacked by a mob during his ministry. The socialite crowd there didn’t really appreciate many of his methods, to say the least. Then, we will be in Bristol where we will see the “New Room,” a space employed by early Methodists for worship and their work of evangelism in England.

Tomorrow we will worship at the Wesley Memorial Church in Epworth, the Wesley’s hometown. We will stand at the grave of Samuel, John’s father. Even though Samuel had been the parish priest in Epworth for decades, after his death John was not allowed to preach there. The parish church yard was also declared off limits, and defiantly, John walked to his father’s tomb, climbed on top of it and preached to the crowds. The grave was considered family property and no one could stop him. I can only imagine that seeing that place will be very powerful.

Have a wonderful day in worship tomorrow and know that we miss you all. Keep us in your prayers! We fly back to Atlanta on Tuesday next week and I hope to post one more installment to the blog before our trip is over.

Peace –

Adam