By Verna M. Fausey Vfausey@aol.com
With passport, proof of identification and pounds (British and other wise) in hand, I joined other pilgrims on a Sunday afternoon (July 19) in the Philadelphia airport to board the flight to London. As the plane cruised at 37,000 feet over St. John's, Newfoundland, and then headed east, we were pleasantly surprised to discover that U.S. Airways' in-flight magazine, Attache, devoted its special issue to pilgrimages--both religious and secular. Its map showed only one pilgrimage site in England--Canterbury Cathedral--our destination a few days from now. When we changed our watches forward five hours, it was Monday in England.
Other pilgrims already in England joined us during the day and the next morning. While most of us had a free day in London (three others and I took a two-hour bus tour ), representatives from the Anglican Pacifist Fellowship (APF) and the Episcopal Peace Fellowship (EPF) traveled to Canterbury to deliver concerns to three leaders of the Lambeth Conference. EPF vice chair, Janet Chisholm, a member of the deputation said "At the hour-long meeting, we emphasized and discussed in detail three major areas of peacemaking outlined in our submission: war as a method of settling international disputes is incompatible with the teaching and example of our Lord Jesus Christ; declare conscientious objection as the normative response by Christians to the moral challenge of war; the international need for restorative justice which involves rehabilitation, forgiveness and the righting and renewal of relationships. Some of international concerns were reflected in several resolutions.
The first Lambeth Conference met in 1867 at the Archbishop of Canterbury's London residence, Lambeth Palace, thus the name. The conferences met every ten years except during the world wars. Due to its size, the conference was moved in 1978 to the University of Kent and Canterbury Cathedral. That year APF held its first pilgrimage and returned in 1988 to raise its issues of concern to the bishops. EPF members joined both pilgrimages. Now we were in England to participate in the third.
The pilgrimage begins. On Tuesday (July 21), black taxis took us across London Bridge to Southwark Cathedral where we joined ten or more APF members from England plus two from New Zealand. Around sixty people attended the blessing to kick off the pilgrimage.
APF chair Sidney Hinkes noted that pilgrims have left their mark at Canterbury Cathedral over the years. He cited Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (which held three pilgrimages) and APF/EPF's three pilgrimages. Hinkes' homily focused on the theme of "Let the shoes on our feet be the gospel of peace."
The service of blessing included the universal prayer for peace:
Lead me from death to life,
from falsehood to truth.
Lead me from despair to hope,
from fear to trust.
Lead me from hate to love,
from war to peace.
Let peace fill our heart,
our world, our universe.
After the blessing, we made sack lunches and traveled by mini-vans and/or train to a site outside London. Then we assembled at the footpath leading to North Downs Way, a footpath that incorporated parts of the medieval Pilgrims Way. By this time the pilgrimage had grown to around forty walkers. They came from four countries - England, New Zealand, Canada and the United States. They included EPF, APF plus the Baptist Peace Fellowship and Christians for Nuclear Disarmament.
For parts of four days we walked much of the way--some more than others. Most of us spent four nights in various churches while a few stayed at bed and breakfasts. A brief devotional each morning preceded our day's walk. The pilgrimage leaflet provided interesting facts about our itinerary and included thoughts for the day. Tuesday's thought was: Remember communities divided by religious strife, especially where Christians fight each other.
On the first day we walked on shaded trail, over a stile, past nettles which stung, crossed grain fields dotted with red poppies, climbed a steep hill, rested in the woods where we could see the hills. On the way, the pilgrims began to share stories and ideas with each other--issues in each others' countries, the church, and personal stories.
We crossed Medway Bridge, a very long structure over the Medway River high above the marina below. Then we walked through the streets of Rochester (pop. 31,300)--part of it uphill--and finally reached St. Peter's (who weekly schedule announced that the pilgrimage would spend the night there). Hot cups of tea awaited us. Later we ate supper, did some singing and finally bedded down on the floor. Hard floors and numerous snores made sleep hard to come by.
Before our second days walk, some of us visited Rochester Cathedral (the second oldest in England) and the remains of the old castle across the road. The castle dates from 1088.
The walk during the next three days took us to small villages like Charing and Chilham, by a^_cient churches, through fields and woods, country roads and up and down ridges. Along the way, APF members informed us about local history, By the time we reached Canterbury we had become friends.
On Wednesday we stayed at St. Paul's in Maidstone; on Thursday at St. Christopher's (originally a fourteenth century barn) in the tiny village of Boughton Lees; on Friday at the Friends Meeting House located a few yards from the cathedral in Canterbury.
Thoughts for the other days were: Wednesday-Pray for all who have vested interest in arms production. Pray for the increased conversion of minds and machinery to work for peace. Thursday-Pray for all who promote fear and hatred, that they may be forgiven. Pray for national leaders, armed forces and all who prepare for war. Friday-As we see children enjoying their summer holiday/vacation, think of children who have no time for play, their lives caught up in war and its aftermath. Pray for positive action on so many issues that relate to "children and war."
Arrival in Canterbury. Carrying various banners, we entered Canterbury and passed through the Westgate (built in 1350). At the Gray Friars (a traditional stop for pilgrims), we prayed St. Francis' prayer for peace. Then it was off to evensong at Canterbury Cathedral where the verger announced that we had just completed our pilgrimage from London.
Later that evening, a number of us attended T. S. Eliot's Murder in the Cathedral (a refresher of Archbishop Thomas Becket's death in 1170 in this very cathedral).
The next and final day (July 25), we carried our banners through the crowded square overrun with tourists. One of the assistant deans welcomed us on behalf of the cathedral. "Your witness is crucial" he said as he referred to Eliot's drama. The service, held at the spot where Becket was murdered attracted around one hundred persons including a number of bishops and tourists. After hymns and prayers, Sidney Hinkes gave an account of Becket's murder. He concluded: "Becket defended the claims of the church against the state. We defend the gospel of peace against the church and the government."
Then we proceded to the grave of the Rev. Dick Sheppard in the cloister. As an APF member placed flowers on the tombstone, we learned that Sheppard, a former dean of the Cathedral and a leading English pacifist during the thirties as clouds of war gathered on the horizon, is re^_garded as a predecessor of APF.
All too soon, the pilgrimage ended. We had participated in a unique experience with our new friends from four countries. During the week, APF members shared their friendship and hospitality, prepared meaningful services at the two cathedrals and planned the logistics. After a light lunch at the Friend's Meeting House, pilgrims scattered to attend APF's annual meeting while two companions and I went to London.
On Sunday we attended St. Martin's-in-the-Fields (where Dick Sheppard once served as the rector) and evensong at Westminster Abbey. The next day we returned to the States to share tales of our experiences.
Meanwhile, the Lambeth Conference adopted a number of resolutions of interest to EPF and others. One, on nuclear weapons, calls upon goverments and the United Nations to urge a halt in their production, testing and stockpiling and a prohibition of nuclear war. Other resolutions condemn war, the use of violence for settling disputes (made relevant recently), production and proliferation of arms, encourage peacekeeping forces and commits members to prayer and mediation; call for a commission on technology and ethics; ratification of the Ottawa Convention and funding from all governments for mine clearance programs; reaffirm the 1988 resolution condemning the United States of America's embargo against Cuba and calling for its cessation; reaffirms the biblical vision of creation, recognize human responsibility for averting disasters of climate change, overpopulation, unsustainable consumption, pollution, destruction of forests and natural habitats, loss of plant and animal species, even indigenous peoples.
Unfortunately a majority of bishops adopted a resolution that homosexuality is
incompatible with scripture. If that wasn't enough, another said bishops
should not be compelled to ordain or license women. The positives and
negatives are part of the pilgrimage tales.
___________
Verna M. Fausey is secretary of the National Executive Council of the
Episcopal Peace Fellowship. She is a member of Christ Church Cathedral,
Nashville, Tennessee, USA.
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