I just returned from a week spent in England: two days in London, five studying in the Tyndale House at Cambridge.
In London, I visited an Anglican Church (Holy Trinity Brampton) where the Alpha Course began (see alpha.org). The ministry is thriving: four services, exciting (and perfectly performed) worship, a book store, and a relevant sermon (by Archie Coates)on Moses' encounter with God at the burning bush, entitled "How to Live Confidently". The lead pastor, Nicky Gumbel, was warm, humble, and generous. I especially appreciated the way he took time to pray for the people after communion. His prayer was not pre-formed; he would pause, waiting for direction from the Holy Spirit to offer healing words. The church building was beautiful: stained glass, a salmon-colored ceiling made of wood, and masoned stones. Their target audience is clearly the young professional.
That night I also visited Eden Baptist Church (at Cambridge) where the worship reflected more of a community value. The band was a bit out of sync, but you got the feeling that everyone could participate in the worship service. Genevieve Jennings, a "pastoral worker," offered one of the sweetest, doctrinally-sound prayers I have ever heard. A young man, who is being taught to preach by the lead pastor, Julian Hardyman, offered an exegetically precise sermon on one of the Psalms of Ascent. The church building is plain, but faces out in a mall which, I would assume, is a wonderful means to evangelism. (It is interesting to see the difference between state-funded and independent churches.) Julian related that during the normal term many of the University students attend. Otherwise, the church had no target audience, but reflected quite a diversity of ethnic and social backgrounds. I met my first "knight" there along with people like myself.
Tyndale House is a ministry for doctoral students and visiting scholars. They have a wonderful theological library. Every day at 4:00 p.m. we would break from our study for tea. I had a chance to meet two scholars I cited in my dissertation: Drs. David Instone-Brewer and Peter Head. Both men were gracious and willing to discuss some of the challenges of my research.
Another highlight was having dinner with Pastor John Piper, his wife, Noel, and their daughter, Talitha. He is one of those people that after meeting you want to be become a better man. (Of course, he would disagree with the Pelagianism of that comment.) By God's grace, an operation probably took away his cancer. But as many of you know, he treated his illness as an opportunity to give glory to God. I had fun trying to get him to eat ice cream; he ate none, I ate too much.
Overall, the trip was an undeserved blessing, a blessed opportunity to step outside of my quiet life for a time of reflection. The Spirit has given me fresh wind to teach and preach.
