Pictures from England

A Pilgrimage to Our Spiritual Past

A Journey to England

Led by:

The Very Rev. Dr. Michael G. Rowe
St. Mary’s Episcopal Church
Bonita Springs, FL

May 6 – 17, 2011

Trip map

DAY 1, Friday, May 6, 2011 - Arrive London meet our driver and guide and board our private motorcoach.  We will travel to Ely and by noontime we will be settled into our lovely English hotel a block away from its great cathedral.  After a brief rest and lunch, we spend a gentle afternoon visiting the Oliver Cromwell House and walking by the river, concluding with Evensong at the Cathedral.  There will be some time for personal exploring before dinner together at the hotel.  Overnight Ely. D

DAY 2: Saturday, May 7, 2011 - We explore Cambridge.  A “Christen Heritage Guided Walk” will give us an overview of this historic University Town, including Holy Trinity (Charles Simeon’s church) and the Round Church.  Then we will have time to explore its churches, colleges, shops and pubs on our own.  We will end the day with Evensong at Trinity and then at St. John’s (if you are really keen!), dinner in Cambridge then back to Ely for overnight. B

DAY 3: Sunday, May 8, 2011 - We start our day with the choral Eucharist at Ely Cathedral.  We will enjoy lunch in a local pub before visiting three of the countries gems.  We visit St. Wendreda’s Church, a lovely village church festooned with 120 carved angels suspended from the Gothic ceiling; Crowland Abbey, which features a north aisle which functions as the parish church while the rest of the Abbey is in ruins; St. John’s Church, Little Gidding, where Nicholas Ferrar had his community in 17th century and which T. S. Elliot immortalized in Four Quartets.  We will conclude with a visit to Peterborough Cathedral for Evensong.  If we are fortunate, we may have a chance to visit with Beatrice Brandon, the author of Time to Heal, the Church of England’s through official study of the healing ministry.  Overnight Ely. BD

DAY 4: Monday, May 9, 2011 - We visit the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham.  Every year thousands of pilgrims gather on the last weekend of May to worship and pray in this tiny Norfolk village.  We will continue to Norwich to visit the great Norman cathedral which was begun in 1096.  The cathedral contains works of art that include wood carvings, stained glass, works of silver and gold, and paintings – all designed to the glory of God.  We will return to Ely for overnight. B

DAY 5: Tuesday, May 10, 2011 - Today we travel to Canterbury.  The Cathedral symbolizes the whole history of English Christianity and of the Anglican Communion.  St. Augustine and his companions brought Christianity back to England.  There were a few Christians already in England including, significantly, Queen Bertha of Kent and the Celtic monks were bringing the Gospel from the north.  Neither fact diminishes the significance of Augustine’s mission.  It led to the spread of Catholic Christianity in England and to England’s incorporation into Catholic Europe.  Augustine and his companions were Benedictine monks and Canterbury Cathedral was a Benedictine foundation until the Reformation.  Benedictinism was the monastic norm in Western Europe for hundreds of years and has remained extremely influential to this day.  Scholars such as Martin Thornton argue that Anglicanism in character and Canterbury Cathedral played an important role in the revival of interest in Benedictinism under the guidance of Ester de Waal.  Thomas a' Becket and his martyrdom represent an extreme case of the dilemmas of Church and State interactions.  He is himself a remarkable saint, with much to teach about living fully into the state in life in which one finds oneself.  Thomas Cranmer is one of the greatest and most famous archbishops of Canterbury, symbolizing the English Reformation and the Book of Common Prayer.  Lastly, a visit to Canterbury offers the opportunity to consider the new Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams and the role of the Archbishop in the Anglican Communion today.  Our visit to St. Augustine’ Abbey connects the pilgrimage to Augustine and his monastic community itself.  St. Martin’s Church pre-dates his mission and gives a sense of how ancient Christian faith was.  Dinner and overnight Canterbury. BD

DAY 6: Wednesday, May 11, 2011 - Leeds Castle, Dover Castle and the White Cliffs are worth visiting in their own right, regardless of pilgrimage.  However, the Leeds Castle Maze which we will try introduces us to the current interest in labyrinths and mazes which can be seen as pilgrimages writ small.  Dover Castle includes an Anglo-Saxon Church and St. Mary’s.  The town of Dover date back to Norman times.  Aylesford Priory is a medieval monastery refounded by Roman Catholic Carmelites in 1949 and is a significant contemporary place of pilgrimage to the shrine of Our Lady of the Assumption and St. Simon Stock.  Overnight Canterbury.. B

DAY 7: Thursday, May 12, 2011 - We continue our exploration of Canterbury and its themes.  We will worship in the Cathedral in the morning and the evening.  Overnight Canterbury. B

DAY 8: Friday, May 13, 2011 - Our pilgrimage continues to London.  Along the way we will visit Royal Turnbridge Wells.  The Parish Church is dedicated to Kings Charles the Martyr which provides the opportunity to explore the struggles with Puritanism and the iconoclasm of mid-seventeenth century England and the sometimes fruitful, sometimes vexed tensions of church-state relations.  We will ago go to the nearby All Saints’, Tudeley to see the magnificent Chagall windows.  Then to Chichester Cathedral a good example of an ancient cathedral that has embraced modern art and drama in service to the Gospel.  It is also the most “traditional” diocese in the Church of England, having no Bishops that ordain women to the priesthood and providing significant leadership for the “Catholic Integrity” in the Church of England.  This visit provides the opportunity to explore contemporary English (Anglican) Catholicism.  We will enjoy Evensong at Chichester and then continue our journey to London and settle in for the night.  Dinner and overnight London. BD

DAY 9: Saturday, May 14, 2011 - We explore the greatest London churches, St. Paul’s Cathedral and Westminster Abbey.  The day is filled out with a concert at St. Martin’s in the Fields and some time on our own in London. B

DAY 10: Sunday, May 15, 2011 - Today we will get a taste of the breadth of the Church of England.  All Saints’, Margaret Street is one of the great churches of the Oxford Movement and maintains excellent traditional music, ceremonial and preaching.  After a visit to Brompton Oratory we will attend worship at Holy Trinity, Brompton.  This is the leading parish in contemporary charismatic influenced Anglican evangelicalism in England and arguably in the world.  Through its Alpha Course its influence has spread throughout England and around the world.  The worship provides a striking contrast to All Saint’s, Margaret Street.  In both churches we will try to have someone talk with us about current life and ministry of the parish. B

DAY 11: Monday, May 16, 2011 - We enjoy the City of London, first through a London Walk called “Christopher Wren’s London”.  We will follow that with a visit to Lambath Palace (pending confirmation), the home and office of the Archbishop of Canterbury.  The afternoon will be free for whatever we choose to do.  The “farewell dinner” together this evening will provide us a change to begin our transition from pilgrimage to home. BD

DAY 12: Tuesday, May 17, 2011 - This morning we say goodbye to England and travel to the airport for our return flight home. B

Price:  $2,669.00 .  Price is based on double occupancy land only.  $499.00 single supplement.

Pricing based on a minimum of 25 participants.  Air is not included.

$200.00 deposit due with application.

Final payment due February 1, 2011

Cancellation Penalties
◊ Until January 31, 2011: $100 per person plus any unrecoverable fees.
◊ After February 1, 2011: NO REFUND

An application for travel insurance will be included with the receipt for your deposit.  We strongly recommend that you seriously consider this coverage.

Meals: B Breakfast, L Lunch, D Dinner, S Snack

The itinerary is subject to change due to local conditions or at the discretion and direction of the leader or guide.