Getting Ready for a Revival!

Before leaving for England, the pastors that meet on a weekly basis, Tuesday mornings, at city hall to pray with the mayor had been talking about bringing a joint church revival here to Sullivan. They were thinking about doing this in April - 8 months away.

While I was in England, as I've mentioned before in this blog, I had been gaining more and more of a sense of urgency. Something needs to happen in Sullivan - I don't know what that looks like other than it needing to be led by the grace of God and the Holy Spirit. When I come back to the mayor's office the next Tuesday morning, no longer were they talking about this revival through Revive Indiana being 8 months away - they were already going through logistics and how to pull this revival off in 2 months! While I was gone, feeling the Spirit tugging on me, the pastors back here in Indiana were feeling this same push!

I stop and I think about what John Wesley did for the church: he organized and executed a revival, yet he didn't do it alone. The Spirit was working through him, his brother, their classmates, friends and acquaintances. Often times when we talk about the Methodist movement, it often times sounds like John Wesley gets all of the credit and he did it all by his lonesome - and that couldn't be further from the truth.

There are many things which I am impressed by concerning this upcoming revival. For one thing, it is all of these different churches which are coming together as the Body of Christ. Sure, we might not all agree on every doctrine, but we recognize that the main and unifying point of Christianity is our relationship with Jesus Christ - that we are all called to grow closer to God through His Son. As long as we keep our eyes on that truth then we're golden!

The other amazing thing to me about this is that the Spirit literally knows no bounds, either spatial or chronological. God was working on my heart while I was in Salisbury, England while He was working on the hearts and minds of the pastors back home, 5 time zones away. Even though there is a part of me that wants to throw up my hands in exasperation at the lunacy of pulling off an event this big in 2 months, I find myself at peace, trusting that no matter what happens, God will use this for His glory. Good will come out of it - and my part of this process is to trust and obey.

So here I am, in the midst of sermon planning and writing, studying, visiting parishioners and trying to get ready for the Fruitful Congregation Journey which will help lead Sullivan First UMC into being a more fruitful and vibrant congregation (a revival in and of itself), at the same time, I am actively promoting and helping to get this ecumenical event off the ground. All I can say is that I am incredibly blessed to be given the opportunity to be a part of something like this alongside some truly wonderful and gifted people from the various churches in this city.

If you want to learn more about Revive Sullivan, you can check out our Facebook page (just search for "Revive Sullivan"). I am going to be looking into a website and likely building that if Revive Indiana (who we are doing this revival under) does not already supply us with one.

Prayers, please, for the community of Sullivan. May this city come to know the grace of God as it is actively working in all of our lives, and may the Spirit cut through the attitude of apathy which Sullivan has taken on. May we all come to understand that we are loved and valued children of the Most High God!

Pilgrimage: End +1 Day

At the time of writing this blog, I am approximately halfway through my flight home, midway through writing a (hopefully) coherent sermon and hoping that what winds up being written here is worthwhile for whenever it is that I manage to post it...

This morning has been full of anxiety for me. I'm anxious and eager to get home and hold my son and kiss my wife. The plan of who was going with me and John on the Underground to Heathrow was constantly changing. Got on the wrong DLR train which meant that I had to spend more money and readjust our path through the Tube. My reading comprehension failed which meant that John and I had to navigate how to get from Terminal 5, where I thought we were supposed to be, to Terminal 3... (that one just made me feel dumb) It was not the relaxing and boring wait I was hoping for before boarding. We made it through TSA smoothly and I'm expecting the same when going through customs at the airport. I just think it was a lot of change and adjustment, and for someone who doesn't like things to be unexpected... well, I think you get the picture.

This pilgrimage has been something that I still can't quite put to words. Sure, there is this sense of spiritual enlightenment - something that a pilgrimage should have as a part of it. It was a time where I was able to meet new and incredible people that have helped me to realize that I need to keep the kid in me alive and affirmed by many that I do have a lot of potential (evidently my sermon actually made an impact at worship at the Methodist Central Hall in London, for which I fully thank the Holy Spirit for). I walked in the same rooms and streets that John and Charles Wesley walked through... More than those things, though, I have this sense of urgency growing within me - a sense of urgency to make sure that I am helping those in my pastoral charge are seeking Jesus in their own pilgrimage. I feel as though I've been getting ready for a run even before leaving for England, and I have this burning in my heart to start running and pray to God that I don't run out of stamina!

John Wesley really seemed to take to Paul's metaphor of the Christian life being a race which we will never finish. We are to be constantly striving to be closer to God in everything we do. We will never get to the point where we will understand or fully experience the fullness of God's love for us, but we can strive for and work in growing our relationship with our Creator through Christ. Learning to love like Christ loved, along with everything that entails, is what John Wesley meant when he spoke about Christian Perfection and never ceasing to obtain it. If we actually do manage to reach Christian Perfection in this life, it would likely be for the slightest moment where we get that ever so brief understanding of what God's love means in all things before it escapes our imperfect human mind... yet that still doesn't mean that we do not keep trying. It is in this pursuit that we realize that faith in God is not the end game, but putting that faith and love in Jesus Christ into action.

I know that it seems that I'm hopping around between subjects, but here's how I understand these things to tie together: I am running for Christian Perfection, and I am running to help usher and guide my brothers and sisters in Christ towards that same goal. I will continue to mess up (I've messed up plenty already), but I will keep moving in God's grace until I can get to the point where I sin no more, and the mistakes I've made will dissipate over time as I learn from them.

Even more significant, though, is that this pilgrimage isn't ending. I've been on a pilgrimage for a long time already. Sometimes that road has been robust and lavish in spiritual highs... and at other times I have experienced my lowest lows where I had to question if God was still there - even if this gracious God still cared. A pilgrimage is simply seeking God, regardless of where you are or what time it is. It is more than learning as much as you can as a student or taking in as much as you can like a consumer: it's learning and taking in everything God is opening up to you in that moment so that you might apply it in your ministry context - and everyone has a ministry context.

This pilgrimage isn't over yet - it is something that stretches over the course of our lives. I don't know what shape mine will take, or even if I will necesssarily keep this blog going with that realization. No doubt I will grow weary and tired on this journey at times just as I will be filled with boundless energy at others. Through it all, though, I will remember one of the last things that John Wesley said before his pilgrimage ended:

The best of all is, God is with us!

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Pilgrimage Day 10: London

This post isn't going to be terribly long, despite the fact that we covered a lot of ground.

This morning we showed up at Wesley's Chapel in London. At the sight is also John Wesley's house, where he lived for the last 17 years of his life. Behind the church is where John Wesley himself was buried. Across the street is the cemetery where his mother, Sussanna Wesley, is buried. It's a very prestigious appointment, one that has been held by Lord Griffis for close to 2 decades now. It is a congregation that is represented by more than 50 nationalities.

We had lunch around the area, then we did a walking tour that was over 2 hours long, walking London to various places that are significant to the story of the people called Methodists. We visited the Foundry, which was a meeting space / clinic / school / place to feed the homeless... as well as a place to worhsip. Welsey purchased it and fixed up the place so that he could do all sorts of ministries. We then walked to Aldersgate Street to the place where John Wesley felt his heart "strangely warmed" - what we refer to as his conversion experience which he wrote so much about. The end of the tour was at St. Paul's Cathedral. Unfortunately, we were unable to enter into the cathedral because of a special service that was taking place instead of the usual Evensong which we were planning on attending.

Our time table was moved up drastically as a result of the cancelled Evensong. We went to The Centre Page pub early for dinner as a farewell meal with everyone. We returned to St. Katharine's retreat center after dinner for closing worship. I'm not going to lie: it was a long worship, but it was a good time where we were able to share testimony with one another, sing together and share in the Eucharist. Most certainly it was a meaningful time that seeingly none of us wanted to have end.

Several of us spent some time in the lobby, almost begging for time to slow down or halt altogether. This is an increbly diverse group of people age wise, several nationalities and many different levels of experience. Some were clergy and others laity, some deacons and some elders. At the end of the day, however, we seemed to all realize that we're all God's children.

Here I am, the night before heading to Heathrow airport with several of my fellow pilgrims, all about to head out our separate ways. We will never again meet altogether in the same place like these past two weeks again, but I know that I have more prayer support as I head home than I had before. New friends and new partners in ministry.

Perhaps the greatest lesson that I got out of this trip, however, is that the Methodist movement did not happen over night. I want to help revival come back to Sullivan, IN, but it's not going to happen overnight. I want to help the church grow spiritually and into having more love for God than they have already. But, like all things worth doing, it'll take time.

Right now, though, I am eager to get home to my family. Praying for safe travels home tomorrow!

 

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Pilgrimage Day 9: London

Today was kind of bittersweet. We left Salisbury which has been a "home away from home" kind of place for many of us and headed to London where we are staying at the Royal Foundation of St. Katharine. Primarily, this place functions as a retreat center.

The first thing we did when we got to London, though, was go to the Methodist Central Hall. It seems to be the heart of Methodism for London. It is a massive building built in the 19th century directly across the street from Westminster Abbey. It seems to be half church, half conference hall. It was in the Methodist Central Hall that hosted the first United Nations Conference.

 

I had the opportunity to share a message with the Pilgrimage Group as the young adults on the trip were asked to do a worship service. I shared the message from John 21:20-24 where Jesus is telling Peter to worry about the ministry that he is called to and not someone else's. I applied that to how we are called to follow Christ and not try to replicate another person's ministry because we all have our own unique gifts and talents.

After we left Methodist Central Hall and got into our rooms, it was free evening. That was spent finding Abbey Road and walking across it like the Beatles, adding to the grafiti wall in front of Abbey Road, walking all around London and using the Underground and taking pictures of Stoney (Micah's bear from Stonehenge) everywhere.

It was a good day, and right now I am wondering if I really should have agreed to running at 6am tomorrow morning... But it'll be good. Looking forward to it!

 

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Pilgrimage Day 8: Bristol

Today was spent in Bristol - back in John Wesley's day, it was the second largest city in England, coming in at 40,000 people (today, it is the fifth largest by population at 420,556 according to the 2001 census). It is also known as the "Cradle of Methodism" because it is in Bristol that the first Methodist Chapel, built in 1739 and later enlarged to handle more people in 1748. Now, there were Methodist Chapels later erected in Wesley's day - the other two being in London and then up north in Newcastle, but it was the Bristol one that John Wesley spent the most time at (a total of 6 years, which is actually a lot of time considering that John Wesley never seemed to get off his horse).

Being in the New Room (as it is referred to) was a neat experience. It was here that Methodist preachers were taught how to preach as well as Wesleyan theology. The architecture of this meeting space was very Quaker (because a Quaker designed it...) with a gallery along the second story and it had a double pulpit - the one below for the liturgist / scripture reading and the top one for the sermon. Above the actual meeting space was living quarters for preachers, one of these rooms being reserved for John Wesley himself. From this living quarter space there are two windows - one looking towards the back of the meeting space and the other looking down towards the pulpit. It is well believed that when John was in Bristol, he would sit in the common area of the living space upstairs and critique the sermon being presented. No doubt, if I had seen John Wesley from that window above, sitting or standing there and listening to me preach, I would get very nervous...

After being in the New Room, we went out to the city's edge to where a plaque is, taking notice that it was immediately around there that Wesley first preached "in the open air." Imagining that it was then a brickyard compared to today, where it was the edge of a parking lot for new office buildings was an interesting stretch of the imagination. We were also able to visit Charles Wesley's home. He settled down with a Welsh woman in Bristol, and the house that we visited (which the family only stayed at for about 6 years) was centered around this tall and skinny staircase... There were 5 stories to this house with the kitchen and storage area at the bottom in the basement, the main receiving room on the entrance floor, the main bedroom with another room on the second, the third floor was a couple more rooms - bedrooms no doubt - and the top floor was Charles' study where he very well penned many of his thousands of hymns.

The last bit of our Wesley tour in Bristol ended between St. James Cathedral and St. Mark's Church, which are across a courtyard from one another. England finally decided to be its rainy self today, so our guide was telling us about John Wesley's confrontation with the bishop who was telling Wesley to leave Bristol, and Wesley telling the bishop that he was not going to leave because he believed that, "The world is my parish" and that the only way he was going to leave Bristol is if God told him that he was needed elsewhere instead. Near the end of his life, John was invited to preach at St. Mark's, the Lord Mayor's church, where his sermon was calling out the leadership of Bristol. John Wesley seemed to be an equal opportunity critiquer, and that no one was safe from being held accountable by John.

When it comes to Johnn Wesley's open air preaching (which George Whitefield encouraged him to do), it began to show Wesley really flexing himself. Up until now, John was convinced that the only proper way to preach was to do so inside of a church. Those few individuals who were preaching outside on a market square or in the fields were completely inappropriate. Eventually, however, after seeing the need for the citizens in Bristol to know Jesus, John recognized what he had to do. So, according to his journal, he "submitted myself to be more vile" and went out to the city's edge (so as not to technically step on the Bristol diocese' authority) and began to preach the word, where as many as 3 to 4 thousand showed up to hear him according to Wesley's figures.

We were not able to really explore Bristol much. A large group of us actually found a tea and coffee shop and hunkered down there. It was a good opportunity to talk with the district superintendent of the the East district in my conference. It has been a lot of fun getting to know Dave Byrum better on this trip. In the short amount of time we spent in Bristol, though, I had seen more homeless people than my entire stay in England so far. Granted, this likely means that I was not in the right place in London to see many who were in need, but I still felt myself disconcerted. As we were walking out to Charles Wesleys' family's graveside I gave the remains of my sack lunch to one man. It wasn't much and I found myself wishing there was more than a piece of fruit and some candy in it. About an hour later we passed 3 or 4 more in a different area of the city and half of the group I was with immediately began to do the same for them. It was certainly one of those moments where I recognized just how fortunate I was. Not only do I have enough and then some but I'm travelling the world for the sake of learning more.

We came back to Sarum College in Salisbury for a late dinner. Compline was earlier tonight to give us time to pack. This is our last night in Salisbury. In the morning we board the coach with all our things and head to London for the next two nights until the end of our pilgrimage. Salisbury's been a nice home base for us - and you can't really beat being right across the courtyard from Salisbury Cathedral! Thank you, Salisbury, for all that you've done for us here.

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Day 7: Church then Bath!

Today has been a good Sabbath day. It started super early for me, though! By the time I had finished my blog post last night and talked over Facebook Messenger with Eva, I wasn't going to bed until 12:45am, then got up at 6:30am to go running. I sent some messages to Sarah Knapp-Ellis after I got back (thanks again for covering the pulpit for me this morning!).

We went to worship at Salisbury Methodist Church this morning. It is a very inviting church with wonderful congregants. The sermon had to do with needing to find time to recharge - in a way, withdrawing for some times in order to re-engage with those in need. The pastor's interpretation was that when Jesus sent out the 12 disciples to do healings and casting out of demons, Jesus "went on holiday" for that short time to recharge. Then, when the crowds recognized "them," the text is saying that the crowds recognized the disciples as having done awesome things. So now, not only does the crowd want a piece of Jesus, but they want a piece of the disciples, too! In the midst of their enthusiasm (when they wanted to keep on telling Jesus about all of the good things that they were doing), Jesus suggested that they take a break and head to the other side of the lake. Even though the text does not mention this, the indication is clear: Jesus is trying to ensure that burnout does not happen for the disciples. Even though it seems counter to logic, often times the best time to take a break is when things are going exceedingly well. Waiting until times get rough (in this instance, waiting for when ministry gets near impossible) is too late to be able to recharge one's batteries because that's when you need the energy most! It's about setting a rhythm in life of engaging, recharging then engaging again.

After the service, it seemed like the entire congregation stuck around for tea and coffee. They had what looked like a gift stand, second hand books and movies, even baked goods for sale in their fellowship hall. It's always good to see community in a church that doesn't want to leave.

We headed back to Sarum for a quick lunch, then we hopped on the coach for Bath! Like Stonehenge, the past two times I have been to England I was unable to visit Bath. While at bath I visited Jane Austen's home where she grew up. I did not, however, feel the inclination to pay money for the tour - so instead myself and two others in my group went down to the park just down the street and rested there for a bit. There was a group of people playing patank (the spelling I'm sure is wrong there...). It's like bocce ball but with smaller balls evidently. Once the two in our group who went through the tour were finished, we headed on to the main event (for me, at least, considering I'm not a huge fan of Jane Austen): The Roman Bath!

It was rather interesting for me to learn that the Roman Bath wasn't excavated until around John Wesley's time in the 18th century. One would think that such a big deal of Roman architecture would have been studied and preserved since it was built - but such is not the case. Then, when one realizes this, it becomes even more humorous that those that wanted to use this place as a tourist attraction commissioned Roman looking statues to be put up to try and make people believe that these were original statues of some of Rome's famous Caesars. Kind of cool, kind of funny. It's neat that (with some preservation, mind you) this structure's main pools are still working. The geo-thermal pool is still working, feeding the main pool where those who visited would bathe and soak in the warm water. It was also interesting of note that the room housing the geo-thermal pool that fed everything was the room devoted to worshipping the Goddess Sulis Minerva (I know I have the Minerva part right at least). For me, the biggest surprise was that this was a place of worshipping at least one Roman god - I had always assumed from hearing about it that it was just a gymnasium / bathing area / day spa deal going on. At the end of the self-guided walk through tour we had an opportunity to drink some of the water that came out of the spring. While some others thought it was the worst water in the world, it actually reminded me of straight-up well water that hadn't had the high mineral content filtered out (kind of like the showers at camp, I guess...).

I forgot to mention that before even going to Jane Austen's house, 6 of us visited the oldest tea house in Bath (c. 1482), Sally Lunn's, which is the home of the "world famous Sally Lunn Bun." Now, I'm not sure how world famous these buns are, but I can tell you that they are delicious! I had cinnamon butter on mine and it was awesome!

Bath wasn't what I had expected. I don't know how much sense this makes, but Bath seemed much more European than the rest of England. Now, I recognize that the UK is part of Europe, but there seemed to be a much heavier influence of Italy and France than I had expected. It's lovely, it's just that the architecture and gardening reminded me a good deal of the few days I had spent in Paris and pictures of Italy. It didn't seem as British in that regard... I'm sure I'm making little sense with that statement but that's how I feel. Regardless, awesome stop!

If you notice in my pictures that will be posted, I took the bear I got at Stonehenge yesterday and brought him along for the trip, snapping photos of him doing things like drinking and eating at the tea house, purchasing a ticket for the Roman Baths, getting his picture taken with the Jane Austen statue, etc... I thought that it would be fun to take these pictures then make a photo book for Micah. Maybe one day it will be a fun way to talk to him about my trip and possibly get him excited to go visit England someday in the future - giving me an opportunity to share my enthusiasm and love for this country. Besides, it's cute!

It's almost unbelievable to think that we are 7 days into the start of the pilgrimage and have only 3 more full days to go. This has been an awesome and inspiring experience and I am eager to see what these final days will have in store for us all!

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Day 6: Stonehenge!

This morning for Eucharist we switched things up by going to Salisbury Cathedral for the service. For a service where the normal attendance is maybe a dozen, us ~40 pilgrims showed up! It was nice to be able to share in the Eucharist in an Anglican church again. It's been good to be able to partake of the sacrament as often as we have. Truthfully, I am considering making communion a weekly occurance as a separate service back home in Indiana for any of those who would like to participate in this spiritually forming practice.

With consideration to how lecture heavy yesterday was, Steve Manskar and Paul Chilcote (the leaders of this pilgrimage) decided to shorten this morning's lecture and allow for a question and answer session with Paul. Granted, I didn't mind the lectures - I actually have been getting a lot out of them! The Q and A was an awesome hour, though, as we were all able to share questions and begin to address the possibility for praticality in a ministry context. Hopefully, another session like that will be made available before the pilgrimage is over.

After lunch we had free time for the rest of the day, and we packed it! I went with a group out to Stonehenge - first time seeing it! When you stop and think about the fact that this monument was completed around 2300 BC and it's still standing, the rock originating from at least 19 miles away, it's very impressive! At the same time, though, we don't know who built it. Evidently, scholarship within the past 100 years or so have disproven that the Druids built it. So not only do we not know who made it, but we don't know why or even how these massive rocks were transported - it's a lot of speculation.

One of the guys in my group, Chris Abel, brought up an interesting point: people gather from all over the world to be impressed by these massive rocks in their formation that have been standing there for 4000+ years, but we don't know anything about the reasoning or the people behind them. We have these Scriptures, these stories, some of them pre-dating Stonehenge's construction, and we know about the why and the people in them. Taking that one step farther, whoever built this monument built something physical that, even though it's lasted a very long time, has still dilapidated over time and has required maintenance to put some of the stones back in place and even patched up a bit. God's Word has built a spiritual foundation on which our souls can stand stronger than any rock or monument... how awe-inspiring is that?

We go back on the bus for Salisbury and ate dinner at a nice pub that we hadn't tried out yet. It had an outside eating area by the river that runs through Salisbury. After that, we found another pub that had really nice couches to sit and chat for awhile. Realizing that essentially everything closes (except for the clubs and pubs) during the evenings, we realized that we did have one other option: the movies! Now, I did kick myself a little bit, but it was a fun time with 3 other pilgrims. It wound up being rather a good move, though. The movie was fun - Ant-Man (I was going to see it eventually anyway), but the theatre that we were in was a converted live-performance theatre. The seating didn't start for quite a distance from the screen because that's an actual stage floor. There was some tapestries and the original beams in the ceiling. So we went to the movies and wound up watching a modern-day movie in old theatre: kinda' neat, actually!

After the movie ended we hurried ourselves back to the Cathedral's close because we didn't want to be locked out of our rooms at Sarum College (which is inside the close). (A close is a gated area, and our close's gates are locked around 11pm). Luckily, the gate hadn't been locked yet. The Cathedral is beautifully lit at night, so we went over there, took some pictures and were hoping to play in the art installation lighting that is in the main entrance archway to the Cathedral. Unfortunately, they had locked that area off from being able to enter into it while we had been out so we couldn't take nice pictures actually inside the lights. When I can, though, I will be sure to post what I'm talking about. If you're Facebook friends with me, you be able to see them within 24 hours!

It's been a fun day getting to know some of the others better on this trip and making new friends. I'm planning on keeping in contact with a number of the people on this pilgrimage! I know that sounds like something a camper would say before heading home, but it's true. This is a short-term community with the goal of growing spiritually as we learn about how we might help our congregations at home grow as well - and that is fantastic!

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Pilgrimage Day 5: Salisbury!

Today was an odd day. It has not been unusual to have a lecture, however today was three. They were all very good, there is a lot to chew on and digest as I go back over the notes and powerpoints in the future. Primarily, they had to do with the role that Wesleyan theology has to do with shaping the church and why we should be using this theology.

Even though they were all very good lectures, it was a lot to ingest. Much prayer and discernment will be needed to take it all in.

Before going to compline, I went and spent time with some fellow pilgrims that I didn't know before this trip. Then we returned for evening prayers, and immediately following that, I went out with John and Jim (another fellow pilgrim) primarily for a change of scenery. We were able to discuss a lot of theology and just get to know each other better overall.

Today really wasn't a picutre day, however a highlight was the Evensong service which took place before dinner at Salisbury Cathedral. Three shires were represented by a combined boys choir at this festival performance, a part of the 800th anniversary celebration of the Magna Carta. Within the first 3 minutes of the service, almost immediately after the choirs began singing, tears were going down my face. There was just something about the sound the choir was making reverberating off of the stone walls in this massive place... it was moving.

Today was a good day. A lot to think on / pray on. Overall, I find myself fortunate to be in the midst of this opportunity of a lifetime.

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Pilgrimage Day 4: Epworth

Usually whenever I hear "Epworth," it's always in the context of Epworth Forest, one of the 7 campsites for the Indiana Conference Outdoor Ministry - the place where I felt my call to ministry... Where many other pastors and Bishop Coyner felt their calls to ministry. Today, I visited Epworth, where John and Charles Wesley grew up.

Epworth was an isolated place for the most part. It was hard to get to due to heavy flooding. All the towns in that area of the country are up on hills, and when all of the rains came they were all on their own islands. In a very real way, Epworth was in a similar situation to the hollers in the mountains of Kentucky (as far as isolation is concerned). The people were generally not well educated, poverty was certainly not uncommon and a lot of crime (theft particularly) was hard to combat because the king was unable to send in his soldiers to help enforce the law. This isolation was such an issue that one of the Kings actually hired a Swiss architect to come in and design a drainage system for the whole area so that Epworth and the other towns like it would be accessible. This drainage system is still in effect today.

Politically speaking, the citizens of Epworth were not pro-King. Then here comes Samuel Wesley in 1696 to be the Pastor at St. Andrew's Parish Church - who was well educated and very much pro-King being a Torie. Samuel didn't make very many friends in Epworth it seems... On at least 2 separate occasions the towns people set fire to the rectory (parsonage) as a way to send the message, "Get out of town!" The second burning of the refectory that happened, John Wesley had not gotten out of the house with the rest of the family. As the townspeople and Wesley family looked up, they saw 5 year old John at the window on the second story. There is a painting that depicts the townspeople building a human ladder, grabbing John Wesley out of the fire just before the thatched roof caved in. Susanna Wesley would hence refer to John as her "Brand plucked from the fire," an image that John would later use in his sermons to describe God's grace in our lives saving us from destruction.

Susanna Wesley had a major impact on John's life, really showing him how women can be great pastors and spiritual mentors. Likely because of her influence in his life he was a strong supporter of women in ministry. Unfortunately, that did not stick around in the Methodist movement following his death; within 10 years of his death, the movement had restricted women from preaching or being in positions of leadership (an unfortunately unbiblical reading of the Scriptures driven primarily by patriarchal structures of society).

It seems like a decent sized enough off a home until you at stop and realize that Samuel and Susanna Wesley had 10 children... In one of the rooms, we saw a life sized was statute of John Wesley which was made by Madame Tussaud.

The home that stands today is in the process of being renovated back to what it originally looked like. Until the 1950s, the home was still being used as a rectory for St. Andrew's Parish Church, so one can see the various updates to the building - particularly the fireplaces having been updated.

Following the rectory we headed down to Wesley Memorial Methodist Church in Epworth where the ladies of the church served us a wonderful lunch. We were able to see the communion table where Samuel Wesley served communion on (St. Andrews had given it to the Methodist Church some time ago). After that we headed to St. Andrew's Parish Church - the beautiful church is at least 900 years old - and on that site, the place of worship For closer to 1200 years! This is where Samuel Wesley is buried.

After looking around Epworth a little while (a small town about half the size of Sullivan, IN, where I am serving; a city of only 4,200) we got back on the coach to head back to Sarum College. At the time of writing this, we have been on this coach for about 6 hours. A lot of beautiful country side and conversations with my fellow pilgrims have helped time to go by, however. We even went ahead and did our evening prayer service on the coach which was a change of pace.

It's been a good day - a bit more relaxed than some of the previous days. It's been especially good considering that it's helped to flesh out the Wesley brothers' background and possibly helped to explain why they stood for what they stood for.

 

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Pilgrimage Day 3: Off to Swanwick, Derbyshire!

This morning started off with a run through drizzle. Wasn't bad - just the whole time I was hoping it wouldn't start actually raining because my phone is not so much water proof... Now we move onto the pilgrimage portion!

 

Morning Eucharist followed by breakfast, then we loaded up on the coach where we spent close to half our day on as we headed north to Swanwick in Derbyshire. On the way we stopped at Francis Asbury's cottage - just a small place with 4 rooms. We had the fortune of having a very knowledgeable and humorous man telling us all about the history of Francis Asbury, though. Also, I saw my bishop's business card in a bowl on the table of the front room that he had left, maybe last year when he did his own Wesleyan Pilgrimage.

 

We got back in the coach and headed the rest of the way to Swanwick at the Hayes Conference Center. While here, we had Dr. Phil Meadows share with us an awful lot, particularly on bands and the importance of small groups, even in contemporary Christianity. Also, he shared a whole lot about the importance of putting faith into action - something that he referred to as Mission Spirituality. There was very little that he shared with us that was new to me, however it was presented in such a way that it started to shed some new light on the potential and importance of this subject matter. Effectively, the illustration that I've used of God's love overflowing within us, like too much water overflowing a cup, can't help but to spill out and influence others. Out of the outflowing of God's love for us, we are so motivated to go out and share that love with those around us through all sorts of missions. It's out of a heart for the love of God - a zeal for God - that the pulse of a church can remain steady and the life of that church can grow. Needless to say, there's some ideas that I'm toying with in my head to take back to Sullivan with me - some ideas that hopefully will help to foster and grow the Discipleship at Sullivan First UMC.

 

After compline (evening prayer), we stepped outside and noticed that the conference center had hired musicians to help entertain the guests - there is an orchestra camp for youth and another conference happening here as well (this is a huge conference center...). I spent some time listening to the music with my fellow pilgrims. After the music was over, I spent some time with some of my fellow travelers, getting to know them better and having some laughs.

 

Now, I'm back in my room, wishing that I could connect my iPad to the wifi network to upload this blog post, so that is why this post is a day late getting to you - I had to wait until I had wifi, and since we are headed to Epworth tomorrow which is even further north east from Sarum, it's going to be quite a while before I'll be able to post this unfortunately. Thank you for your patience!

 

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Pilgrimage: Day 2 - to Oxford!

Today was a big day. As we will be doing every morning, we got up and shared Eucharist, followed by breakfast. Then, we got on the coach (bus) and headed 2 hours north up to Oxford - which, of course, is the home of Oxford University with its 40 colleges.

Upon getting off the coach, we headed to Wesley Memorial Methodist Church where we were fortunate to have a great Wesley scholar, Revd. Martin Wellings, share with us about that first movement of Methodism which happened at Oxford University. We were given insight into the culture of Oxford in the 18th century, a little bit about how John was sociable but Charles really seemed to be the one who got along with everybody and knew how to have a great time, and how the University wanted to start cracking down on the party school mentality that had been going on there for quite a while now. It was about that time that John came back to Oxford University as a teaching fellow at Lincoln College and, together with Charles and friensds from the various colleges like Ingham and Morgan, began meeting in groups in 1729. It was Morgan who began to talk about doing prison ministry and tutoring children 1730 and 1731 respectively, but it was John who seemed to take the ideas and run with them, making them happen.

So often, John Wesley seems to get credit for nearly everything the Methodist movement did, especially early on. That's not fair, though, because many in the group (Charles and it appears Morgan before his untimely passing in 1733, and many others) suggested or came up with the ideas. John seems to have had a great ability, however, to organize and make sure that it could run efficiently. Originator of ideas: no. One who can creatively make things happen: yes.

After eating sack lunches, Paul Chilcote, one of the leaders of this Pilgrimage, took half of us on a walking tour from Wesley Memorial Methodist Church to Christ Church - the college where all of the Wesley brothers studied at. I haven't been here for 8 years - the last time being during my Shakespeare in England course while attending Hanover. Once again I saw the Great Hall with John Wesley's portrait being the first one in the long line of famous and influential Christ Church students (and yes, where Harry Potter ate in the films). Then, once again, I was able to enter into Christ Church Cathedral, which just happens to be the chapel for Christ Church. While there I lit a candle for a friend of mine who died much too young. Progressing through the Cathedral, I came upon with my group the plaque that is laid right in front of the steps to the pulpit with John and Charles Wesleys' names upon it, saying, "Students of Christ Church, Leaders of teh Methodist Revival, Ordained in this Cathedral." I was tempted to ask if I could stand in that same pulpit that John had preached in but decided not to - surely I would be told no. Then John, shortly after I had left I think, actually did ask, telling the chaplain that he had just been ordained. He was able to stand up in the pulpit himself for a few seconds. Yes, I am jealous a bit!

After Christ Church my small group went to Lincoln College where John's teaching fellowship had been. We saw his bust and the little chapel that he would have preached in regularly, along with taking pictures of "the flat Wesleys" who evidently have been traveling the world... kinda' neat.

After that and a quick pop into a fancy stationary and pen store, we headed off to The Eagle and Child for dinner - where C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien sat, discussed, ate, drank and wrote their respective master works. The nerd in me was satisfied!

Then it was back on the coach for 2 hours, compline shortly after we returned, and then to write this blog. Tomorrow will be another day on the road and an overnight at a conference center elsewhere. I'm glad I'm on this adventure and am having fun getting to know the other pilgrims on this journey with me!

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Pilgrimage: Day 1

• Please note, due to difficulty to upload my blog with pictures, they may not appear until I have time to update the blog with some visuals. So sorry - I know pictures are better than words in many respects and I hope to figure something out, even if it means pictures not appearing until I have better wifi in the states.

 

For whatever reason, I did not sleep very well last night, so when John's alarm on his phone went off, getting up for a run did not sound like a brilliant idea... I did get out of bed and used that time of quiet to continue in my daily reading through the Bible. I've been reading through Job since Tuesday of last week - so optimistic! ...

We decided to head over to Salisbury Cathedral for Eucharist service at 7:30am. Immediately following the service, a man named Andrew Wells approached me and was very eager to talk and to share about some of the stories within this cathedral that have obviously been speaking to him for awhile. He wanted to know if I had noticed the Amnesty International candle which was just off to the left of the altar. This tall candle is standing on a pedastal made to look like the thorns that surrounded Christ's head - and even standing on this pedastal, the brutal and violent appearance of this piece of further emphasized by the cage with nails that look like they could have been driven into Christ himself sticking out of it. Yet, as one notices, even within the most violent of confines, being held up by violence and brutality, the light which is God's for the world cannot be confined by the cage, and it continues to pierce the darkness even from whence it came.

Andrew pointed out in the stained glass windows where Jesus was, being interrogated by Pilate. He then reminded me of the seemingly simple thing when Pilate asks the Pharisees if Jesus really was their king. Their response: "We have no king but Caesar." It's one of those things that is easy to gloss over as you think about the physical brutality that is happening in the story - but effectively what we see is the religious leaders, those supposed to be leading others to God, denouncing God's authority over them and instead deciding a human being would be better suited. This begs the question: What makes a man abandon the Immortal Author of Creation for a man? I enjoyed my time talking with Andrew - this retired lawyer who is now a chaplain for the courts in Salisbury.

 

After breakfast, I went for a walk with a fellow pilgrim, who happens to be in my small group for this journey. After visiting the Post Office, we took the walking path to Harnham, continually seeing these beautiful and scenic views of the Cathedral.

Lunch came at 1pm as everyone on this journey had gathered at Sarum College. Short introductions followed, then we took a walk to The Methodist Church which stands on the sight where the first preaching house was located at. The history of how this church has evolved over time was shared with us, and it was pretty amazing to see pictures documenting the drastic changes that had been made to not just sanctuary but the entire building itself. We will have more opportunities to be at Salisbury Methodist Church as we join the congregation for worship this coming Sunday.

After our return, a reception and then dinner, we gathered for the first lecture of our Pilgrimage. Rev. Dr. Paul Chilcote gave a presentation on Renewal of the Spirit, sharing characteristics of declining churches (Being stuck in a "Preservation" mode of thinking, being stuck in the Institution, focusing solely on the Theory and not practice of our faith and remaining Separate from those in pain instead of engaging and being in solidarity with them). Various churches and people have gone about the issue of how to make renewal happen in many different ways.

As for the Wesleys, their paradigm of a renewal of the Spirit within the church had to do with tackling those very things that landed the church in a Spiritual "low ebb" through:

1. Rediscovering the Living Word,
2. Saving Faith (which came as a result of engaging the Bible),
3. Holistic Spirituality (which comes from devotion, compassion, justice and worship),
4. Accountable Discipleship,
5. Formative Worship and
6. Missional Vocation (putting faith into practice).
   

Then here's the important thing to keep in mind: that renewal can happen anywhere. As long as there are people, renewal can happen because they will have the ability to experience this renewal in both personal and corporate ways and able to put this renewed faith into practice by missions (acts of justice, mercy, etc...).

I know, that's an exceedingly simple overview, but there's been an awful lot of theology already in this post and the day isn't over yet!

After the lecture, we met with our small groups for the first time. Finally, we gathered in Sarum College Chapel for compline at 9:30pm, where we ended the day in song and prayer before being dismissed to our rooms.

During small group time, the 5 of us each shared what we believe a "Pilgrim" to be. I haven't ever really sat down and contemplated this particular question before, but here's what I have come to understand. A pilgrim isn't someone who goes to a place to simply learn - that's a student. A pilgrim isn't one who just goes to a place to experience it - that's a consumer. A pilgrim is one who is open and willing to allow what they learn and experience to transform them.

Truthfully, I'm not entirely sure as to all of the reasons that I'm here. I thought it would be a great opportunity to come back to the UK, a place that I love and feel a little at home at, oddly enough. I knew it would be a learning experience to walk the same roads and hear what the Wesley brothers said and did to help revival in the church happen. But now that I'm here, learning that this is going to be more than what I was expecting it to be, I truly hope to be a pilgrim on this trip, not just learning and not just experiencing, but being open to whatever transformation the Spirit needs me to undergo on this journey.

I'm glad I'm here and taking advantage of this opportunity. My prayer is that I go back to America on July 23 more of the person that God intends me to be.

 

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Sunday in England

After all of the traveling and running around of London which was done Friday and Saturday, I slept great last night after FaceTiming with Eva and Micah!

My 5:45am alarm came all too soon, but I got up, put on my running clothes and ran 5k along the Thames. On Saturday, the same walkway I was on was busy and crowded with tourists, bicyclists and runners. This morning, though, this same route was barren. I only shared this river way with 3 or 4 other runners and a couple droplets of rain. Didn't break any records, but got a selfie with Big Ben (it's not a flattering one, but I didn't feel like taking 20 before finding "the one") and memories of now one of my favorite runs!

John and I went to the Eucharist service at Westminster Abbey at 8am. We followed the Book of Common Prayer's worship order. One thing I found interesting is that the service opened with the pastor reciting the Lord's Prayer, cutting short of the ending, and then was bookended with those attending worship reciting it in its entirety. I was surprised at how few people were there, though. I remember watching the series "Rev" on Hulu and finding it sad that he only had about half a dozen parishioners for services in this massive sanctuary. In a very surreal sense, I experienced that juxtaposition as maybe 2 dozen of us gathered in this historic and beautiful cathedral for the Eucharist service. Granted, the main worship would be later in the morning which no doubt will be packed - it just struck me as odd this morning.

 

After the service was over we headed back to the room where just a few last minute packing things needed to happen in order for us to catch a train to Salisbury for what we believed would be the beginning of our pilgrimage. That's when we realized that we had made a mistake... The pilgrimage would not start until Monday at 1, not today. Here we are, about to check out of our room, train tickets already purchased, and no place to stay for the night. There is an expletive that works very well for this situation which I am not about to type. As I write about this part of our day, John and I are on a train, rain just drizzling against the window, and wondering which hotel we will be in tonight in Salisbury. This should be fun!

Waterloo National Rail Station - time to head to Salisbury!

 

First Day in England!

I made it! I'm here! Despite flight delays and arriving close to 2 hours after we were originally scheduled to land, I made it safe and sound in the UK!

Today has been a lot of walking... seeing Big Ben:

eating fish and chips at a well established pub, Blackfriars:

going to the Globe Theatre (unfortunately not able to take a tour due to a dress rehearsal):

And so much more from seeing Trafalgar Square and its many street performers, "mastering" the Underground and even eating pizza out at St. James Park in front of Buckingham Palace!

It's astounding when you stop and think about all of the history within these old historic buildings standing amongst all of these new architectural feats going up between them. London really does seem to be a city that takes pride in its past as it moves forward into the future.

As John Huff and I were going all over London, the Facebook group about our pilgrimage kept being updated by the other clergy that will be joining together in Salisbury. Today has been primarily getting to the country and sightseeing, the class portion of this Wesleyan Pilgrimage will begin tomorrow.

With all that we've done today, both of us are pretty wiped. I'm hoping to get a run in in the morning along the Thames River which means that I need to be getting more than 3 hours of sleep tonight if I'm actually going to pull that off! With that, I'm off to sleep!

 

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Still in Chicago!

"So, one of the most fun things ever in the airport is when your flight is delayed!" said no one. Ever.

Right now, my 6:10pm flight is looking to be 7:56pm according to the updates. It's all good, though.

I recognize this is post #2 today. I expect to not be posting this frequently during the trip. (In all honesty, I am killing some time at the airport!)

Last time I flew to England I was a lot less tethered down by electronics. Now I'm trying to make sure I don't accidently incur international data-roaming charges but still be able to use my iPhone wifi exclusively, and hoping that my Nike running app's GPS data actually doesn't use that expensive data like the internet told me.

I'm also realizing that this trip will be much different from my trip in college. Back then, I didn't have a two year old beginning to potty train and taking his first plane flight. I'm missing some firsts. Back in college - I was surrounded by my friends on a trip for class, which was my life back then. Yes, these are the things you think about when you're traveling as an adult...

This is a good example of how there are give and takes in all your decisions. I'm glad I have this opportunity to take this trip and actually doing it! I am also thankful that I have a supportive family and congregation backing me in this endeavour.

With all of that being said, boarding time is quickly coming up! Next time I post, I will be in the UK!

 

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On my way...

I have made it to Brooke, IN to pick up John Huff - the pastor at Brooke UMC. Going over last minute details, copies of passports, little bit of lunch, etc... Soon we'll be headed up North to Chicago O'Hare International Airport.t

It's hard to believe that it's been 8 years since the last time I was in England. This trip will obviously be very different. Whereas I spent most of that trip in Stratford-Upon-Avon studying Shakespeare at the Shakespeare Institute, this time around I will spend much of my time in Salisbury at Sarum College learning about a very different man. What was only a sight-seeing trip last time around will be homebase. Now I'm constantly wondering what will be different, what will be the same, etc...

But first thing's first: get to London safe and sound!

 

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Introduction

Me being a United Methodist pastor, I have heard an awful lot about John Wesley. For those of you who might be unfamiliar with Wesley, John and his brother Charles inadvertently started a new denomination out of the Anglican Church - a group which would be initially referred to in a derogatory manner, but later appropriately and respectfully known as "Methodists."

John and Charles Wesley both saw in their student days at Oxford that people would go to church, do their holy thing on Sunday morning, but they would not continue seeking God the rest of the week. (Sound familiar?) The Wesley brothers sought to live a life where holiness was constantly sought after - to experience walking closer with God on a daily basis. Recognizing that Christianity is not a solo journey and that others coming alongside you for accountability and encouragement is beneficial in growing spiritually, the Wesley brothers began forming what they referred to as a "holiness club."

In this club, those involved would come together and discuss the latest in theology, seeking out understanding of God's grace in the world and encouraging one another in their struggles. For all of the rules that the societies would practice (which others would deem as "fanatical" in some instances), there were really 3 basic rules that they followed: Do no harm, Do good, and Stay in love with God.

Now, with all of these rules about fasting and reading scriptures and ministering to others, people noticed that there was a method that this group was using in order to try and seek out holiness. Even though many thought this was a group of fanatics, this methodology to better know God was working not just for this small band at Oxford, but eventually all across the nation. The method of using small groups and living life together was actually awakening a love for God in these people's lives! Since this "method" was working, it no longer seemed a negative stereotype but a suitable name for this movement for seeking out holiness.

In July, I have the opportunity to walk some of the same streets and see some of the same sights as John and Charles Wesley. I will have the opportunity to know more about these two and how this movement they initiated was started. I will be traveling with other clergy to Salisbury, England. As we learn about Wesley and discuss what his successes and failures were, the hope is that we might be able to take some of that same zeal back to the States with us so that we can encourage others in our home communities to seek out holiness on a daily basis and not just Sunday mornings.

While I am gone for those two weeks, however, I would like to share some of my experiences of my time in England. Needless to say, I am excited about this opportunity to return to the UK and I would like to share some of this experience with my family, friends, congregation and whoever else would like to join me in my journey!

I would like to ask for prayers during these two weeks; prayers for safe travel, good health and for an open heart to be transformed over the course of this pilgrimage.

Thank you for reading - and I'm looking forward to sharing this adventure with all of you!