September 12, 2017
Today was a “free day” on our trip and I think that everyone tried to cram as much of England as possible into the day! Many went to the Tower of London – it was started in 1066 by William the Conqueror. We were able to see the White Tower which was the original structure of the site.
September 11, 2017
This morning we were driven around the heart of London before reaching City Road Chapel. The Chapel was built in 1778 by John Wesley. It had an incredibly beautiful sanctuary. Around the interior bottom of the balcony were flags from all around the world. Each of the countries that were represented was connected to one of the members of the church. It was fun to meet the new pastor of the church who had only been there one week.
September 10, 2017
This morning we left our hotel in Oxford and drove to Bristol. Bristol is a port city and at the time of John Wesley the second largest city in England after […]
September 9, 2017
This morning we made the short walk to Oxford University. Oxford is a collection of several colleges including Christ Church College. Christ Church is one of the many colleges of Oxford. Famous people […]
September 8, 2017
We left our beautiful hotel in Leeds, England and made our way to Epworth. We went to the Rectory where a young John Wesley lived with his parents and brothers and […]
September 7, 2017
Today we had a great breakfast in our hotel restaurant. I tried black pudding (sometimes called “blood pudding”) for the first time ever and I have to say, it wasn’t bad. I […]
September 6, 2017
We encountered intermittent rain, but its always seemed to stop whenever we got off the bus for photo opportunities! We went to Checkpoint Charlie, one of the checkpoints that provided passage between the former East and West Germany. Our bus parked on the former Russian side and we walked over to see what used to be the American side.
September 5, 2017
After breakfast we headed out for Wittenberg. Our first stop was Lutherhaus. It had formerly been a university with 20 students when Martin Luther arrived, when he left there were over 2000. We saw the converted living quarters of Luther and his wife Katherina.
One of the most exciting things to me was getting to see the painted portraits of Martin and Katharina Luther. I was very familiar with the famous portraits – I had used them in many Bible studies. I asked our guide if they were prints and was told they were the original paintings. It was quite surreal to see the actual paintings that I had looked at so many times on the internet.
September 4, 2017
After a great breakfast we traveled to Halle, Germany. It was here that Martin Luther was part of Market Church. When we visited we were blessed to hear the beautiful organ being […]
September 3, 2017
This morning we left our beautiful hotel in Eisenach and traveled to Erfurt. Our first stop was the Augustinian Monastery and Church. Martin Luther entered the monastery in 1505 and took his vows in 1506. He was committed to growing as a Christian and worked hard to be the most serious, dedicated Christian – but he despaired over his continued lack of faith. It would be the beginning of his struggles that helped him to realize that salvation did not come from the things we do, but by the grace of God alone.
