Yesterday was marvelous. It was "London Day!" Breakfast beginning at 6:00 a.m. and then almost 1600 of us loaded onto many buses at 7:15 and headed into London. The ride was about 3 1/2 hours and we assembled at Whitehall Place for the "Walk for Witness" against Poverty (and for the MDG's.) It was an amazing feat to pull off, working with the London police, etc. Approximately 600 bishops in their purple cassocks, plus spouses, and others marched. We walked past Parliament/Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, and crossed the bridge to Lambeth Palace where the Archbishop of Canterbury lives. Media was everywhere! There were speeches by the Archbishop, the Prime Minister of England (Gordon Brown) and my boss, Hellen. (Gordon Brown said it was the largest religious gathering of this kind the city of London had ever seen. I will send the link for his talk - it was remarkable.) Then lunch in the largest tent I have ever seen - 1600 seated. I sat at a table with our bishop, Mark, and his wife Marilyn. I also introduced myself to the Archbishop, as one of his "staff" members and he was most gracious and said if there is anything he can do to help Hellen and our office, he would.
Then a bus to Buckingham Palace - arrived around 3:00 - for the "garden tea party." We could walk the grounds (small lake, flower gardens) for an hour - it was unbelievable to be there. THEN, the queen and her husband, Prince Philip, came out at 4:00 -- we had created two lines with a path in the middle. (The beefeaters were stationed along the pathway... looking very hot in their full uniforms!) I didn't get to shake either of their hands but I was probably about 5 feet away. She was delightful - she slowly moved down the line for about an hour, greeting and chatting with many. Then she took tea with about 100 invited guests and then left to applause at 5:30. She wound her way back to the steps behind the palace, where they began, and gave us her famous wave. We were served drinks (iced coffee, juices) and tea sandwiches and desserts. Apparently, we were a small tea party -- we were only about 2000 (there were other Church of England guests) -- most tea parties apparently are 8,000! All in all a memorable day that will live with me for a long time.
Our bus home took us past Trafalgar Square, Covent Garden, Tower Bridge and the Tower of London and then it only took about 2 hours to get home. I had dinner with George Councell - bishop of NJ, and his wife, and Bishop Councell summed up most of the feelings of folks from the day, especially the walk of witness - THIS is what the church is about.
Today, Friday - our 7:15 Eucharist was done by the Church of North India and Bangladesh. I spent the rest of the day visiting the spouse's conference (who had a speaker on the environment), talking with folks about the UN Office and visiting the Marketplace (exhibitors) I went to two "fringe" events - one sponsored by the International Anglican Women's Network and one by the Anglican Urban Network - both of which I will work with in my new job. I'm also making my list of tasks to do when I get home -- especially working on some big events we will do in September around the special UN General Assembly Day (September 25) which the secretary general has called for to discuss MDG's. We are working with the UK Mission and will be doing an interfaith service and hopefully some symbolic act (like yesterday's march) - stay tuned, since we'll want as much participation as possible. Tonight's Evensong was sponsored by the Spouses' Conference and Jane Williams' (wife of the Archbishop) reflections were right on target as to how the spouses see themselves with their husband/wife's ministry and the ministry of the church. Tonight's plenary was on the environment with a scientist and two bishops - one from the "north" (Australia) and one from the "south" (Mozambique) challenging us. And since it's now 12:20 a.m. Saturday morning, it's time for me to walk back to my dorm to catch a few hours of sleep before tomorrow's 7:15 Eucharist (being led by the Australians with reflections on the environment.)
Martha
BE the pig...
1 week ago
