An unexpected event

Christ Rests in Peace by Nic Fiddian-Green

What a lovely day I've had at Southwark Cathedral.  I was there for Mothers' Union Festival Service and one of my friend's was being Commissioned as a Trustee.  We were told at the beginning of the service that we would have to leave quickly afterwards because the new Archbishop of Canterbury was coming for the afternoon and all the seats would need to be removed so that a prayer labyrinth could be laid.  However, we were given an invitation to come back after lunch and join in.

Justin Welby was at St Paul's Cathedral while our service was taking place and then he was going to walk over the Millennium Bridge to Southwark Cathedral. After the service my little group went to look at a sculpture by Nic Fiddian-Green entitled Christ Rests in Peace which remains on view in the Cathedral until 29th March.  The head of Christ is on its side and really stunning as I hope you can see from the photo I took on my phone.

We then went off to the Refectory for some lunch and by the time we finished Justin Welby 'was in the building'! The new Archbishop walked around speaking to people.  He seemed very natural and down to earth.

We decided to stay and take the opportunity to meet Justin Welby and also take advantage of the prayer stations organised for the afternoon.  Firstly there were Prayer Maps, you could choose a country to pray for and place a finger print on the map.  What novel idea.  We were all impressed with the Prayer Trees, white trees on which you could attach a a prayer (green luggage label), Lectio Divina (cards to follow), Text Prayer, on-screen guided prayer, Celtic style prayer, candles and prayer in the Harvard Chapel. There were lots of places to sit and contemplate.

About 2.30pm the new Archbishop led us in prayer after which members of the New Renaissance Voices sang a selection of European Lenten music. This was very uplifting and relaxing.

We left soon afterwards but there were a couple of prayer sessions still on offer for those who stayed.  This was a real bonus to our day and we were all thrilled to have been part of this unexpected event.