This was really quite some weekend!

What you need to know (according to Wikipedia): Lambeth Palace, London is the official London residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury in England.  And the Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury…

And this past weekend was my first time for both.  My first ever visit to Lambeth Palace, AND my first time to meet the Archbishop of Canterbury.  YES!

This year, Taiwan is marking the 60th anniversary of the 823 Artillery Shell Bombardment of Kinmen, and on Monday September 3, I was honoured to present an artillery shell cross on behalf of the Bishop of Taiwan, David J. H. Lai, to the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, during a lunchtime Eucharist in the chapel at Lambeth Palace. It was a really wonderful occasion, and Archbishop Justin and his staff made me feel really welcome.  Later that day, the archbishop wrote in his Facebook post, ‘The cross shows us the transformation of hatred into love. Today I was given a special gift by the Diocese of Taiwan – a cross made from artillery shells. Made as part of the diocese’s peacemaking ministry, these crosses show us that the love of Jesus turns hate into love, and war into peace. Thank you Catherine Lee for presenting this cross on behalf of the Bishop of Taiwan, David Lai.’

This is the artillery shell cross on the Lambeth Palace chapel altar after the service…

I also had a short tour of some of the other rooms, the crypt chapel, and the state drawing room. Many of these rooms were badly damaged during World War II, so extensive restoration work had to take place after the war. Fascinating place to visit!

The chapel has an amazing ceiling, ‘From Darkness to Light’ (Leonard Henry Rosoman, 1988)…

Before the service at the chapel, Archbishop Justin introduced me as working for Church Mission Society (CMS).  In fact, the Archbishop of Canterbury is the patron of CMS.  During the service, we prayed for our CMS executive leader, Philip Mounstephen, who has just been appointed as the next Bishop of Truro, Cornwall, and for the CMS trustees as they start the search for a new leader.  Archbishop Justin also mentioned that before I worked in Taiwan, I had been in Mwanza and Dodoma in Tanzania, places he knows well.  Ah, yes, I was just so happy to hear the Archbishop of Canterbury mention Mwanza and Dodoma!

Y’know, many of my closest friendships date from my years in Tanzania, and I’ve spent this weekend in London catching up with some of them, including Tim and Sarah and their family ~ and I’m grateful to them for their generous hospitality this weekend.  They are long-time members of Brandon Baptist Church, Camberwell, S. London….

The minister of Brandon, Steve, kindly invited me to speak at their church on Sunday morning – and I showed the congregation the artillery shell cross that I was about to present to the Archbishop of Canterbury the following day.  Steve followed up my sermon by sharing how this artillery shell cross and its message, of hatred transformed into peace, is so relevant for their local community, struggling with unprecedented levels of knife crime and violence.  And many of the prayers of the congregation during the service were also related to their desire for peace on the streets of London. The words written on the wooden artillery shell cross stand say in English and Chinese, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” Matthew 5:9.  Yes, indeed.

The Brandon Baptist Church congregation were so lovely, and those originally from Nigeria, Ghana and Jamaica in particular were wearing the most amazing variety of stunning outfits. Had to take some photos. Loved them all!

After the service, Tim and Sarah took us on a wonderful outing and picnic to the Horniman Museum, in Forest Hill, where we had a very lively and colourful carnival to entertain us as we ate…

The museum is really incredible. There is THE very huge and very famous walrus in the centre, and all around are a real mix of interesting things from all over the world. Highly recommended. And it’s not often that I recommend museums, or even go in them to find out. So make sure you go. Just make sure you don’t touch the walrus or sit on that iceberg! 🤣🤣🤣

The walrus even appears on the street art sign (by Lionel Stanhope) of Forest Hill under the railway bridge, he’s a local celebrity!

Actually my London weekend got off to a really lively, exciting and fun start, when I had the chance to meet up with Eshita and her parents, who I knew from Isamilo Primary School, Mwanza.  She was one of my pupils there when she was, well, just 5-6 years old! Y’know, not everyone feels really comfortable meeting up with their former primary school teachers, but Eshita is completely delightful and I am honoured that she arranged to meet me, at a delicious S. Indian restaurant (Sagar in Hammersmith).   It was the first time I’ve seen her parents since I was in Mwanza, so we had much to catch up on.  Thank you Eshita!

Also visited a few more friends over the weekend, and the rest of the time, I spent walking round London. And on the underground. And on the bus. Seeing all the sights. Catching up after 3 years away. Seeing what’s new. And what’s not. Loved it all!

So, here goes.  I went to Southwark Cathedral. There was only one other person in there, a lady taking photos of the cathedral cat. The cathedral is free to go in. Make the most of it, guys, this is a cathedral, and what’s more, it’s FREE!

And across the Millennium Bridge….

To St. Paul’s Cathedral, where the Bishop of London was in the middle of rededicating the cathedral bells…

Along by the river…

Past the Globe Theatre…

The Houses of Parliament, under restoration and renovation…

The London Eye…

Westminster Abbey..

Methodist Central Hall (good coffee shop in the basement)…

Around Buckingham Palace…

St. James’ Park…

Kensington Palace…

The Round Pond and Hyde Park – swans and geese everywhere!

The Albert Memorial and Royal Albert Hall…

Christo’s beautiful art installation in Hyde Park, called ‘The Mastaba’, and made out of over 7,000 oil drums…

And more art at Carrie Riechardt’s mosaic house out at Chiswick, ‘The Treatment Rooms’…

Piccadilly, St. James’ Church and Piccadilly Circus….

And not forgetting Trafalgar Square, and St. Martin-in-the-Fields….

And finally on Monday afternoon, the last place to visit was my most favouritest shop in all of London, Stanfords in Long Acre, near Leicester Square where they sell maps of every kind and every place and every style. Go there if you want to travel. Go there even if you don’t want to travel, and maybe you’ll get inspired. Could have spent a fortune, but restrained myself.  Had tea instead, lol.  Ah, I love that shop!

‘When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life’, so said Samuel Johnson in 1777 and it’s been true ever since. And for women too, of course. Tired of London? Ain’t gonna happen, I’m sure of that. As long as you have legs that carry you, you can walk around that great city seeing everything. And on a sunny September weekend, with blue skies, friends and fellowship to enjoy, what more can London do to make us smile?  Thank you London, and all my friends in London, you’ve done it again!  YES!