Steeples

Ok, so quick update on what I've done so far...
The Natural History Museum
The Virginia and Albert Museum
The Tate Modern
Big Ben
Tower Bridge
Hyde Park
The Millennium Bridge
Buckingham Palace
St. James Park
Trafalgar Square
Leicester Square
Royal Albert Hall
Imperial College
Sloane Square
King's Road
Parliament
Piccadilly Circus
Admiralty Arch
10 Downing Street (home of the Prime Minister)
Prince William's home
Harrods
Brick Lane Market
Church of St. Mary the Immaculate

Stonehenge

Bath
the Abbey
the Roman Baths
the Royal Crescent
the Jane Austen Center
Starbucks

and I've merely scratched the surface of everything London and the UK has to offer. Everyday I am overwhelmed by everything this town has to offer. And some of the most beautiful things are London's cathedrals and churches. Almost every block has another steeple guiding mortal eyes upward to consider the immortal. Each is an architecture masterpiece (well, to my untrained eye they are). The insides are even more ornate and elaborate. It makes me think about all of the money, time, and effort needed to create a beautiful place for church members to worship the creator of beauty. Today, though, I became overwhelmed by something missing from these churches. People. The large cathedrals are filled..but with tourists more interested in the statuesque ceiling than the act of worship. The smaller less extravagant churches are eerily empty. I have heard all my life that Europe is post-Christian, but it wasn't until today that I fully understood that phrase. I went to Bethesda Baptist Church, a congregation of 60. This is considered large for Britain. Most churches have a congregation of maybe 20 faithful. According to the pastor, churches are closing everyday while Muslim mosques are springing up all over. As I sat against my hard wooden bench, it wasn't a clipped British accent that delivered the sermon, but a distinctly American voice. As I looked around the congregation, Philippine faces looked back. Where were the Brits? At the reception following the service, I was served hot British tea and pastries and greeted far more warmly than anywhere I have been to in London. And yet, not a single British accent welcomed me to church or asked my name. It appeared that the only Christians left are those that have brought the faith with them when they immigrated here. Why is it that a nation with such a deep and rich Christian past has turned its back on Christ? When did the cathedrals become crypts of a spiritual past?
This afternoon I also attended a service at Westminster Abbey. After I was no longer dumbfounded by the intricate, ornate, and magnanimous cathedral I began to daydream of what a place like this once was. The tourists are gone and with them the gates, barriers, and guides. Left is the cathedral and its leaders. The congregation is larger, less enthralled by the stately place of worship. This is a place where the people of London go, not to see its beauty, but to worship Christ. Maybe the past is a bit more idealized in my mind's eye, but that is what I thought about. It also made me contemplate my own country's precarious future. Will we follow our European cousin's footsteps?
Next week I hope to check out Charles Spurgeon’s church. Supposedly this is a larger church, so we’ll see.