Grace and Gardens is a behind-the-scenes opportunity to share unique experiences in beautiful settings with fellow parishioners. Joining me, and organizing the details of this trip, will be The Rev. J. Barney Hawkins IV, Ph.D. Director of the Historic Bicentenary at Virginia Seminary, and a Greenville native. Also accompanying us to his native home land will be The Very Rev. Ian S. Markham, Ph.D., Dean & President of Virginia Theological Seminary (where I earned my Doctor of Ministry degree).
Among the many unique opportunities our tour will include lunch in the Jerusalem Chamber of Westminster Abbey which is not normally open to the public. The Jerusalem Chamber is where a small group read aloud the King James Version of the Holy Bible, as it was being edited. While in London, we will also see the Christopher Wren model of St. Paul’s Cathedral. We will receive a special welcome with lecture by the Dean, the Rev. Canon Mark Oakley, at Southwark Cathedral (Roman and Medieval) on the south bank of the River Thames.
Leaving London, we will enjoy the hospitality of the Dean of Canterbury Cathedral. After dinner in the Deanery, we will take a candlelit pilgrimage to the Shrine of Thomas Becket in a dark, closed Cathedral. While in Canterbury, we will take a short coach ride to Sissinghurst Castle Gardens in Kent. This Vita Sackville-West garden took shape in the 1930s.
While in Cambridge we will go punting on the River Cam. At the nearby quaint village of Little Gidding, made famous by T.S. Eliot in the Four Quartets, we will have a celebration of the Holy Eucharist at St. John’s (Little Gidding Church) with the sermon by the widely acclaimed poet and priest, Malcolm Guite.
The last four nights will be in the Lygon Arms in the Cotswolds. This luxury inn with its fascinating 600 years of history will be our base for a Shakespeare play in Stratford and visits to the gardens of Hidcote Manor and King Charles III’s Highgrove.
The cost for the pilgrimage will be $7,850 excluding round-trip airfare. For a more complete itinerary click here or scroll down to view it on this page. In order to provide the best experience to our group we will limit participation to 30 and I expect spaces to fill quickly. The Rev. Barney Hawkins and I will host an information session very soon in the New Year for those interested participating in this pilgrimage. More complete information and a reading list will follow.
Please consider joining me on this special pilgrimage to England next year! It promises to be a unique opportunity to experience England and explore our Anglican faith and history. Reservations will open in January of 2024.
Wishing you a blessed Advent as we await the coming of Christ into our hearts and lives.
Harrison+
