Wednesday, July 8. London. Continued
Moments later, Ian came from the garden behind the church with an intern in tow, and we renewed our acquaintance, first made at a Clergy Day at the Diocesan Center in 2008. He apologized for being out of touch, and that he was just getting back to work after a long illness following his return from the fundraising trip. He said he'd look forward to seeing us at the Meditation, but that the Quest event had been canceled. Instead, there would be a special Moot Standing Group meeting of the community's leadership to consider strategic planning. I gladly accepted his invitation to attend that meeting, as it would give me the opportunity to see the inner workings of an Emerging Church community.
After leaving the Spirituality Centre Ingrid and I had lunch, and then, with the afternoon before us, we decided to revisit the area around Southwark Cathedral. I first visited Southwark Cathedral during my Sabbatical in 2004, and I brought Ingrid and Jim Collins and Mike Miller there when our August vacations overlapped in 2006. So Ingrid and I walked across London Bridge, and first stopped by the Southwark Borough Market. The semi-open air market, with meat, vegetable, fish, poultry, cheese, and flower stalls, offers an extraordinary visual, auditory, olfactory, and gustatorial feast. Next we crossed Stoney Street and walked down Park Street to Neal's Yard Dairy. Here's a picture of the shop, where we sampled some delicious and unusual farm cheeses, including Stinking Bishop cheese:
The Cathedral itself was our next stop.
I sought out especially the Tomb of Lancelot Andrewes, a great preacher, author of prayers, and translator of the Pentateuch for the 1611 King James Version of the Bible. I copied into my Moleskine notebook two of his writings which I found on a pillar alongside his tomb:
Be silent, still, aware,
for there in your own heart
the Spirit is at prayer.
Listen and learn,
open and find,
heart, wisdom,
Christ.
And
"Thou, O Lord, art the Helper of the helpless, the Hope of the hopeless, the Saviour of them who are tossed with the tempests, the Haven of them who sail; be thou all to all. The glorious majesty of the Lord our God be upon us; prosper thou the work of our hands upon us, oh! prosper thou our handiwork. Lord, be thou within us to strengthen us; without us to keep us; above us to protect us; beneath us to uphold us; before us to direct us; behind us to keep us from straying; round about us to defend us. Blessed be thou, O Lord our Father, for ever and ever."
After visiting the Cathedral we walked along Tooley Street toward Tower Bridge.
We saw signs for Winston Churchill's Britain at War Theme Museum and decided to go in. You can go in, virtually, here. Technologically the Museum is dated, but the exhibits were interesting and informative, including an Anderson air raid shelter, originally intended to be built inside the house, but almost always built outside in the yard; period dresses and suits; and all kinds of war memorabilia.
At about 6:15 pm Ingrid and I entered St. Mary Woolnoth for the Meditation. We were immediately greeted warmly by other early arrivals, and began conversations with those seated near us in a growing circle of chairs. The leader of the meditation, Pete Johnson introduced himself to us when he came in, although we didn't know he'd be leading the meditation until later. In all, there were about a dozen of us, perhaps a few more women than men. Ian was there, as well.
Shortly after 6:30 pm, Pete welcomed everyone to the meditation. He explained how the use of a word or a phrase, commonly called a "mantra," from the Sanskrit word for "thought," helps to keep the mind focused when distracting thoughts or outside noises intrude. I was surprised that he didn't link the repetition of the mantra with the body's natural rhythm of breathing, but perhaps that was because he introduced an alternative way to keep the mind focused that couldn't be linked to one's breathing. This alternative way, new to me, was to keep the mind focused visually. On a small table in the middle of our circle he placed three candles and lit them. (Flickering flames and peaceful breathing don't synchronize easily!) I tried the visual approach for most of the meditation time, but in the end reverted to the mantra as the better option for me. Another new element for me: Pete began the meditation with calming music, which gradually tapered off into silence. When it was time to emerge from the meditation, the music began again, softly at first and then gently increasing to its original level.
Three or four of the meditators then proceeded to St. Edmund's for the Moot Standing Group Meeting, and over the course of the next quarter hour additional members drifted in and sat down in an expanding circle of chairs. Coffee and tea appeared, and some snacks were passed around. In all, there were about a dozen of us, six men and three women in addition to Ian and Ingrid and me. Three immediate observations: first, they were all friendly and welcoming to these much older American strangers who had somehow shown up at a crucial leadership meeting; second, they listened carefully, didn't interrupt, and gave each speaker as much time as he or she needed to organize and express his or her thoughts, opinions, or suggestions; and third, everyone participated equally-- no one person or group of persons monopolized the discussion. There was also a good deal of humor and laughter, and considering that several of the members were new to this leadership group, a remarkable sense of community. This is not to say that there weren't occasional moments of intense discussion and disagreement about some of the agenda items, but the group managed these in healthy ways, reinforcing the impression that this was a solid community.
Ian handed out an Agenda:
1. Prayer
2. Introduction of new Standing Group Members, and plans about handovers – All
3. Consideration of spiritual needs & Moot Services – Tim
4. Finances – Trin [she had been the first to welcome Ingrid and me at the Meditation]
5. Strategic Planning – St Mary Aldermary
6. AOB [this was new to me; I gradually realized it means Any Other Business]
7. Prayer
Agenda item 3 concerned the need to provide spiritual follow-up after Moot's worship services in order to help process the experience or extend pastoral care.
Agenda item 5 included the distribution of The Constitution of The Moot Community Of the Diocese of London. Section 1.0 Aims and Objectives includes these points:
"Moot is a developing project of the Diocese of London that is part of the 'emerging church' movement. It has the support of Fresh Expressions, an initiative of the Archbishop of Canterbury that promotes a vision of the Church that is mission shaped.
"Moot seeks to make connections with, and find inspiration from, the meeting of faith, life and culture.
"Moot looks to the Christian call for justice, equity and balance as a means of living politically and ethically. It recognises the inspiration of saints, mystics, philosophers and artists through the centuries.
"Moot seeks to live a Christian, spiritual rhythm of life through the practice of presence, acceptance, creativity, balance, accountability and hospitality.
"Moot seeks to promote worship, mission and community through gatherings, events and services, with and for people who are un-churched or de-churched, but interested in spirituality.
"Moot does this by exploring new ways of being church while holding on to the ancient Christian faith in our new post-Christian, post-modern cultural context" . . .
The Constitution has sections dealing with membership, election of officers, the responsibilities of the Priest Missioner, accountability to the Archdeacon and the Bishop of London, funding and finances.
When the Standing Group Meeting ended, a half dozen of us went to a favorite local pub for a late supper and more conversation. Afterward two of the men accompanied us through the confusion of lanes and streets to the Tube station, and Ingrid and I caught one of the last trains to Tunbridge Wells.