South Petherton and Salisbury
We drove through Somerset this morning headed for South Petherton. Annette and Jesse had done a pulpit exchange here in the 80's. We stopped at Ilminster for a potty stop and a bit of shopping before arriving at South Petherton and Coke Memorial Methodist Church a little bit earlier than expected.
Thomas Coke was a curate (like an associate pastor) at the Parish Church (Church of England) at South Petherton before he went off with those dissenters and became a Methodist. We walked by his home, as well as toured the Parish Church, which has had a church on the same site since Norman times (10th or 11th century... yes, that's over 1,000 years).
The bells were playing and we got to go up into the bell tower to see how they pull the bells. That was very interesting, but I didn't feel safe up there. The bells are "up" when not in use, which also means if something went wrong, they could come crashing down. Scary. We didn't actually see the bells, but the largest one weighs over a ton. Amazing.
The people of Coke Memorial Methodist had tea and coffee for us, and served us a lovely lunch of quiche, salad, bread and dessert. Our host talked to us some about the current work of the church there... they are a smallish congregation (50 people), and they open up their church for community use as well.
After a nice long visit there, we hit the road for Salisbury. We drove down 303 so that we could skirt passed Stonehenge. It is now quite an expense to go there, and they have closed the road so that you can't drive up close... so Jesse said we would see just as much by driving passed on the highway. Not a bad look at it...
Tomorrow we will see the Methodist Church here, but for our evening activity we walked over to the Salisbury Cathedral and attended Evensong. It was simply beautiful to worship in that sacred space. Because it was a worship service, I didn't take pictures... but did manage to get one afterwards. The choir was angelic. This is the first COE worship service I've ever attended, so I didn't really know what to expect. It's moving to hear words that have been used for centuries sung by young children. I wondered whether the children in the choir were moved by it, or just did it by rote because it's an activity they do. A little of both, I imagine.
After Evensong, the Jacksons and I had a nice dinner in the pub connected to our hotel, The Kings Head Inn. Then we took a stroll along the Avon river, taking pictures of the mallard ducks and a majestic swan who didn't seem bothered by the attention.
A peaceful end to another beautiful day in England.
Thomas Coke was a curate (like an associate pastor) at the Parish Church (Church of England) at South Petherton before he went off with those dissenters and became a Methodist. We walked by his home, as well as toured the Parish Church, which has had a church on the same site since Norman times (10th or 11th century... yes, that's over 1,000 years).
The bells were playing and we got to go up into the bell tower to see how they pull the bells. That was very interesting, but I didn't feel safe up there. The bells are "up" when not in use, which also means if something went wrong, they could come crashing down. Scary. We didn't actually see the bells, but the largest one weighs over a ton. Amazing.
The people of Coke Memorial Methodist had tea and coffee for us, and served us a lovely lunch of quiche, salad, bread and dessert. Our host talked to us some about the current work of the church there... they are a smallish congregation (50 people), and they open up their church for community use as well.
After a nice long visit there, we hit the road for Salisbury. We drove down 303 so that we could skirt passed Stonehenge. It is now quite an expense to go there, and they have closed the road so that you can't drive up close... so Jesse said we would see just as much by driving passed on the highway. Not a bad look at it...
Tomorrow we will see the Methodist Church here, but for our evening activity we walked over to the Salisbury Cathedral and attended Evensong. It was simply beautiful to worship in that sacred space. Because it was a worship service, I didn't take pictures... but did manage to get one afterwards. The choir was angelic. This is the first COE worship service I've ever attended, so I didn't really know what to expect. It's moving to hear words that have been used for centuries sung by young children. I wondered whether the children in the choir were moved by it, or just did it by rote because it's an activity they do. A little of both, I imagine.
After Evensong, the Jacksons and I had a nice dinner in the pub connected to our hotel, The Kings Head Inn. Then we took a stroll along the Avon river, taking pictures of the mallard ducks and a majestic swan who didn't seem bothered by the attention.
A peaceful end to another beautiful day in England.
Beautiful photos capturing what I know is awesome, breathtaking, spiritually moving, amazing, incredible, humbling...and more...and then wonderful and charming, to see just a town! I'm so happy you went!
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