Pics around Cambridge 1

Helen Ballew trying her hand at punting on the Cam

The Bridge of "Sighs"-

University Library

Natalie and Ana

In front of Kings College Chapel

7-21-2010 American War Cemetery and Memorial outside of Cambridge

Chapel at the American War Cemetery and Memorial

Reflecting pool at the Cemetery

Pictures from Wednesday, July 21

Some pictures of the reception hosted by the Morgans

David and Sally Morgan, St. Mark's members and generous hosts of a reception in the choir's honor.

Ely Cathedral from the street.

Day six
7/21/2010
Ely

Today was spent at Cambridge, with a short stop at the American War Cemetery and Memorial at Madingly. The cemetery is the final resting place for some 3,000 soldiers lost in World War II, either in England during training, in the air, or in nearby waters. This was a solemn, reflective place. The chapel at the memorial was wonderful surprise. Our eyes were lifted to a breathtaking mosaic on the ceiling and apse wall. Again our hearts were touched by transcendent beauty.

Once in Cambridge we had to adjust to the crowded streets and multi-sensory pulse of a busy college town. It’s a wonderful place filled with many languages, color palettes and cultures. A group of us went punting (floating in a flat bottomed river boat) on the River Cam. It was a great way to see the city and University away from busy streets. The highlight of our tour was Kings College Chapel. Simply amazing.

We returned for a reception in our honor given by David and Sally Morgan, St. Mark’s parishioners who are from England and who frequently return to visit family. They were delighted to celebrate the choir and we were all honored by their hospitality.

Tomorrow (Thursday) is spent at Burghley House, a large Elizabethan Estate. After roaming the gardens and playing in the water there we will return to the cathedral for rehearsal and evensong.

Enjoy the pictures the follow! God’s peace and blessing to all.

- Jonathan

Transported by Song

Day five

7/20/2010

Ely

Today was all day in Ely. The morning began with rehearsal at the chapel at the Bishop Woodford House where the youth choir, their chaperones and some other adults are staying. The BWH is a retreat facility of the Diocese of Ely. And it’s perfect for the youth…we are the only ones lodging here throughout our stay so we have lots of space to stretch out, a lovely garden, and we are not very far from the cathedral grounds and the wide open park there.

Our journey with the youth choir has embraced the theme of pilgrimage, focusing on what Benedictine spirituality has for us as we grow in community. The lodgings for the youth are perfect for this. We eat breakfast and dinner together at the retreat house, and that regular mealtime gives us a good rhythm for the day. We begin the day with some quiet, a prayer, a meal and some conversation and teaching, and we end the day the same way. Of course the in-between time is filled with all of the youthful energy you would expect from twelve highly energized students half a world away from home…we are ever grateful for the steady influence of our chaperones.

The majority of the adults in the parish choir are staying and The Lamb, a hotel near the cathedral. It is the only hotel in Ely, and the choir has taken the majority of the rooms there for the week. That location works well for them as well since it is nearby the restaurants in downtown Ely and they are on their own for dinner.

Ely is a very nice town. Right away it feels, and sounds, smaller than San Antonio. There is very little road noise, no highway rumble in the distance. And it seems that every available piece of land is maintained as a garden or lawn. Little gardens are everywhere. Peek down an alleyway and it will be lined on one side with a shade garden. A few feet of space between sidewalk and house becomes a lavender hedgerow filled with honeybees.

This evening was the choir’s second at the cathedral for evensong, and they were better than the first. There is space in the choir seating area for the congregation to sit between the choir and the high altar. We sat there last night. Today many of us sat in the midst of the larger church space during rehearsal and the service to get a feel for how the service fills the larger church space. Once again we were impressed with the quality and strength of our group.

Visitors came to and fro in the rehearsal, and most paused to listen to choir. Many stopped and closed their eyes to take it all in. Helen Ballew, one of the youth choir chaperones said this: “The Cathedral is breathtaking in its own right. But when the choir is added into that space you feel transported.” And that’s what the choir is doing…They are making their voices available for God’s use to touch, transport and transform people. And they do it so faithfully and well.

Wednesday has us touring Cambridge and King’s College, with no evensong in the evening.

More about our day – and many more pictures - later on.

- Jonathan

"Transendence"

Day Four
7/19/2010
Northampton to Ely

Today was move day. Our three day sojourn in Northampton and its environs have ended and our pilgrim journey continues northeast to Ely. Ely is in an area known as Fenland or “The Fens.” These lowlands extend north to “The Wash”, the shallow basin that drains into the North Sea. Once entirely covered in marshland laced with slow rivers and tributaries, the area features occasional high points, or fen-islands, that remained dry amidst the flooded swampland. The island on which Ely was founded is the largest of these.

St. Etheldreda (read more about her at www.elycathedral.org) founded a monastery here in 673. In the eleventh century work began on the present church building for the monastery, which would be designated a cathedral for the newly organized Diocese of Ely a century later.

From the cathedral’s website: The monastery at Ely was dissolved by Henry VIII in 1539. Ely suffered less than many other monasteries, but even so, statues were destroyed together with carvings and stained glass. St Etheldreda's Shrine was destroyed. The Cathedral was refounded with a Chapter of eight canons in 1541 as was the Kings School. Robert Steward, the last Prior of the monastery, became the first Dean.

Like most cathedrals, Ely has had many renovations. Towers have fallen (due to unstable land) and been rebuilt. Chapels have been added, destroyed and rebuilt. One transept side fell, and was not rebuilt- the remaining scarred wall remaining a cautionary witness to architects and builders.

All of this is easily learned from books, websites and pamphlets. And despite all of this learning nothing fully prepared us for what we would see and feel upon entering this marvelous cathedral. Built to awe, inspire, teach and transform, the space is simply breathtaking. I found myself unable to fully take in all that my easy were seeing.

We entered the space and sat at the crossing, the choir waiting for instructions from our hosts. As nervous energy ebbed we began to look around at our surroundings. Eyes widened and mouths gaped at what would be our musical home for the next week. The space began to transform the choir, and voices trimmed to awed whispers as the rehearsal began.

The first notes of the rehearsal filled the cathedral with beauty befitting the space. This choir, these kids and adults that we know so well, became something else in their music. They have sounded good before, even great, but this afternoon and evening they were transcendent. It seems impossible that this is just the first offering of the week. Transformative space, transformative music, transformative faith all have conspired to make this choir an instrument of transformation themselves. Visitors paused during the music and lingered during evensong instead of departing with the tours, even turning to one another and whispering “They’re good!”

The day has drawn to a close, and we are settled into a new rhythm here at Ely. Tomorrow will bring a more thorough tour of the cathedral and more time to get to know our host town. For now we rest.

God’s peace.

-Jonathan

Kenilworth Castle