After our first two days of surveying London and seeing how secular that culture is, it prepared us for how would you minister in such a place like this, where only 5% of people go to church. 8 Million People live in London.
We went to three churches on Sunday. THe first was a place called Glory House. It was an african penecostal church. London is one of the most diverse cities I have ever been two, includding Tornoto. The church worship was inspiring. It was a prosperity gospel church. The caption below (it was taken at Harrod's department store) could sum up the theological framework of the church. The sermon illustration the preacher gave was that you have to see things into reality. He gave the example of wanting someone's tie and claiming that for himself. While I think God is more concerned about things other than having certain kind of ties, I celebrate the work they are doing in that community.
Our Next church was St. Paul's Chadwell. Pictures of it can be seen on my fellow Beeson Pastor's blog which is www.aaronwymer.blogspot.com. This church had gone downhill and was down to about a dozen people. The main church I will talk about in a minute (Holy Trinity Brompton, also known as HTB). They had 100 people commit to being a part of this church plant from the mother church, as well as providing resources and a pastor and curate (associate pastor). These folks moved into this community (not the best place to move) to build relationships with them. The church has about 200-250 in attendance now and is a vital christian church. It would remind you of many of the contemporary churches that are like in the states. Interestingly the children were encouraged to go to the Crypt, which is the basement of the church where they have their childrens ministry. I find that if we did that in the states, people would freak out!
The Sunday night service and the primary reason we came to London was to go to Holy Trinity Brompton Church. This church is in a nice part of the city and had a respectable congregation of about 175 folks in the 1970's. During that time Sandy Millar was the sr. Pastor (seen below). He had a speaker by the name of John Wimber come to speak at the church one Monday evening. John is famous for what is known as the charistmatic movement which beleives the Spirit operates today and they often practice speaking in tongues, pray for healing, and have Words from the Lord. WHile he shared with this group, God began to move and people were healed. John felt like he should pray for someone who wants to have a baby but can't. THere were only 5-6 women present and John didn't know in London that you don't talk about that. After some time a lady stood and said, "You are talking about me!" They prayed for her and 9 months later gave birth to a child. They had a total of four and Sandy wondered if they would ever stop.
Over time the church transitioned to become more focused. They stopped paying their choir to worship God. They changed the music in the service. Primarily what this church is known for is Alpha. alpha was a program run by the church designed to instruct new believers. WHen Nicky Gumbel became the associate at that church, he saw the potential for it in reaching non-Christians. It flourished under his leadership and many came to Christ. At least three times a year they have alpha courses. The one we attended on Wednesday night at about500-600 in attendance. This has many if not most who are not Christians but whose Christian friends bring to the program to answer their questions. You can find more information out about it at www.alpha.org. They are all over the world. I encourage you to check out the website and get in one if you are able.
These pictures are from their Sunday evening worship service. About 900-1000 were there that night for the 5pm service. They have four services on Sundays. You have to get there early to get a seat and you can really feel God there.
On Monday we attended a Practical Theology course led By Graham Tomlin. This was an in depth course on the history of Chrsitainity and its relation to real life. Many of these people are seminary students for whom this class is part of their theological training. It was also attended by many lay people who want more theological depth.
My personal highlight from my trip was our meeting with Sandy Millar that afternoon. Sandy left the church about 2 years ago after 20+ and is now a bishop of CHurch planting in the church of England. He is a man raditating with God's love and has a contagious smile. He told us about the story how HTB came to be what it is today.
He talked at length with us about speaking in tongues and praying for people to be healed. He shared with me something I never thought of before. He said that Jesus sent out the disciples to do three things: preach, teaching, and healing (Matthew 4, or Luke 9). In Matthew 28 he told the disciples to make disciples and to teach them to obey everything that he had commanded them. So when we pray healing for people, we do it not because of the results, but because of obedience. He put it this way. God wants me to share my faith with people but I can't convert them, only he can. I am not responsible for the results. THe spirit has to work. So it is with praying for healing. I pray for healing for folks because God wants me to, and I don't have to be responsible for the results. While I certainly want to be careful, I don't want to stand in the way of God working. THey have seen lots of people healed. I could tell a couple stories but will do so later.
We had a prayer time with people praying for us individually. The person who prayed with me was named Rick. Rick was in charge of the church we had visited that morning, St. Paul Chadwells. When he prayed for me, he sensed God had something to say to me. It hit me right on. Even though I did not know this guy, he sensed God was saying don't worry about where you will serve him after this program. My focus was just to be obedient and Jesus would take care at placing me at the right church. This thought had been on my mind for some time and I would like to control where I go. But after this prayer I felt at peace. I felt like God was controling me and I didn't have to worry about it. I will still pray about where I will go (i encourage you to pray about it) but ultimately it is in his hands.
A Few final picturs of London I want you to see. This pub is in Oxford. It is where the Inklings group got together. They consisted of CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien (Lord of The Rings Fame). Here they would eat, talk, and drink beer together. I only did two of the three there.
This is the Lecture Hall where divinity students would be given oral exams. These exams would last for 3 hours or up to 3 days. This dates back to the 1500's. Amazing!
This funny gargoyle was in front of a building by Christopher Wren. There were 12 of these and this gives you a taste of their comic nature. 
This is all I plan on blogging about London. There is more but I must address other things. Feel free to comment to me your questions.
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