We need primary school places!

London has a major shortage of primary school places for young children starting school. In Lambeth, the area hardest hit is West Norwood and the council is working hard to find the funding to expand existing schools and build a new one.

Lambeth is working with Hitherfield, Sunnyhill and Elmwood schools to provide extra reception classes for the school year from September 2010 to 2011. The aim is to meet the growth in demand until more permanent solutions are in place.

Looking ahead, the council is seeking government funding for a new primary school in West Norwood and is in talks with a number of landowners about possible sites. If it goes ahead, the new school could be open by 2013 and earlier on a temporary site.

Lambeth would also like to rebuild and expand Julian’s School. Work could start in 2011, if funding is confirmed.

Finally, the former Norwood Park School in Gipsy Road, which was the temporary home of the new Elmgreen secondary school for the last two years, is being refurbished as  Kingswood’s Early Years Centre, due to open in September 2010. This will house reception classes, a children’s centre and nursery and will enable Kingswood to expand to three-form entry from September 2010.

There’s lots of information about primary schools in the booklet “Starting School in Lambeth” For a copy of the booklet go to www.lambeth.gov.uk/eadmissions or look in your local library. The deadline for applying for a reception place in the 2010 to 2011 school year is 1st February 2010.

Make your views known – sign the e-petition for more primary school places HERE.

Kids Company are pleased to be helping the growing number of children at risk

by Emily Bakosi

London based charity set to break previous record and feed more than 2,000 on Christmas Day

Kids Company,  a london charity that deals with homeless, vulnerable, and troubled youth, will feed up to 2,500 with nowhere to go on Christmas Day.  Recent reports have claimed that London has one of the highest rates of neglected children in the UK, with Lambeth and the Southwark borough having the greatest number of children on the protection list.

More children and youth  needing support

Jodie Smith, a spokesperson for the charity, said: “Every year we feed the least fortunate youth in London, and last year we fed around 1,500, but this year we expect well over 2,000. This year has been particularly hard due to the recession I think. There are more young people opting out for support for a range of reasons. It is always great to be a part of the christmas events at Kids Company - making a difference in the life of young people, at an important time of the year.”

Kids Company also supports struggling families that are unable to provide meals and gifts for Christmas Day.

London Liberal Democras gathered at City University in Islington today for the last autumn regional conference before next year’s elections. Most pundits believe that the general and local polls will be held on the same day (first Thursday in May, 2010), which is something much of the rest of the country often has to cope with but is a distinct rarity in the capital. The prospect is viewed with mixed feelings, as was clear from contributions from several speakers at the conference, including councillors who may have to garner twice as many votes (on an increased turnout) this time round than they did last time, in order to to retain their seats. However, the mood was nonetheless upbeat. True, few shared Simon Hughes’s rosy forecast that the LibDems might almost double their number of London MPs — from eight to 15 — next year. But even the most theoretically vulnerable sitting MP — Susan Kramer in Richmond Park — was surprisingly confident because of positive feedback she’s been getting on the doorsteps. Ed Fordham (Hampstead and Kilburn) spoke on behalf of target seat candidates who are increasingly making their voices heard among the electorate. And both Ashley Lumsden (Lambeth) and John Macklin (Waltham Forest) were hopeful that there could be strong gains in several London borough councils as well. I am looking forward to being part of the regional support team for all this forthcming activity, having today been elected to be the next Chairman of London Region LibDems (taking office on 1 January), as well as working with colleagues to improve dramatically the party’s performance in London list elections.

Norwood Road shops

In early November local entrepreneurs from across West Norwood met for the second West Norwood Business Club.  The meeting, held at the Kahvah café on Norwood Road, involved lively networking sessions and valuable speeches and advice on the issues facing local business owners.

A wide range of businesses were represented, from industrial services to creative industries.  This shows the vibrancy of the business and wider community in West Norwood and underscores the opportunity for Lambeth to promote the area as a business and cultural hub, to help realise the area’s economic potential.

The business club heard from 3 expert speakers, giving valuable and practical advice such as how to secure a business loan during the recession, when many commercial banks are reluctant to provide finance, even to profitable businesses.

You can find out more about the West Norwood Business Club and about future meetings by emailing Huw Morgan-Thomas, Lambeth’s Enterprise Officer, at hmorgan-thomas@lambeth.gov.uk or by calling 020 7926 2471.

Cllr Jackie Meldrum supports the petition to save Kahvah

This week Cllr Jackie Meldrum handed in a petition to the Lambeth Mayor from hundreds of local residents who support the  planning application  (ref 09/02740) for  521 Norwood Road (Kahvah) to become a restaurant.

To ensure a shopping centre is mainly shops Lambeth has a rule that only 2 out of any 5 successive premises may prepare hot food. The empty Wimpey next door to 521 and the nearby KFC mean the planners have to refuse permission for 521 to prepare and serve hot food.

Jackie is hopeful that, due to the high level of local support,  the councillors on  the Planning Committee will make an exception in the case of 521 Norwood Road at their meeting on Tuesday 3rd November 7pm in the Town Hall.

It would be helpful if you would let Jackie or Mr Sheraz at 521 Norwood Road know if you, as one of the petitioners, would be attending the meeting on 3rd November.  You can also let the members of the Planning Committee know your views directly by contacting the chair Cllr Toren Smith ( tjsmith@lambeth.gov.uk 07946 218 109) or the clerk of the committee, Antoinette Duhaney (aduhaney@lambeth.gov.uk 020 7926 3133)  both at Lambeth Town Hall, Brixton Hill, SW2 1RW.

You can see the papers for the Planning Committee on the Lambeth website http://www.lambeth.gov.uk/moderngov/ieAgenda.aspx?A=6863

Can someone tell me how it makes sense for Rowan Williams to on the one hand endorse Anglicans moving to Rome which does not ordain women or homosexuals, while on the other hand allowing these same errors in his own church? I guess praying to Saints and bowing to images is fine to him, it’s just the man sleeping with man thing that Rome needs to catch up on.

Only one in a hundred reported crimes in London actually gets solved, which means that those criminals who do get caught feel very hard done by. That was the gruesome message delivered by former senior Metropolitan police officer (and LibDem London Mayoral candidate) Brian Paddick at the Blackheath Supper Club this evening. He was very much on home territory, having been Chief Inspector in Lewisham for a while (though his name is usually more intimately associated with Lambeth). The solution to this lamentable record in getting more convictions, he said, was in building a new kind of trust between police and community, so that people in areas where the criminals are well known would actually feel confident enough in the police to share the necessary information. Interestingly, when he toured a problem estate with some black youths not so long ago and asked them what they thought the police should be doing, they replied, ‘More stop-and-search!’ But what they meant, of course, was stopping and searching armed thugs whose identity is well known within local communities, rather than the current practice of blanket stop-and-search based largely on ethnic profiling. Neither the Conservatives nor Labour seem to have found the answer to London’s policing dilemma. The question now is whether the LibDems, benefiting from Brian’s advice, can offer a viable alternative.

In the same vein as any creative adapter of journalism,

The Hopeful Episcopalian presents this “news” story.

October 24 has been designated as National Make a Difference Day.  For 19 years, there has been a day designated for community volunteerism, in the hopes that a culture of giving back can be built in the United States.  Endorsed by every president since George H.W. Bush’s inaugural “thousand points of light” speech, this past year has seen an increase of 60 per cent in terms of volunteer sign ups since September 2008.  Volunteers for the Obama campaign have used that network’s momemtum to make direct contributions in terms of improving the quality of life around the United States and even internationally.

One would think the leadership of religious institutions would be support of the growth in volunteerism but  The Episcopal Church is wary.  When Presiding Bishop, Katharine Jefferts-Schori revamped the primary focus of The Episcopal Church to include addressing the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), a conflict arose between the core identity of this small denomination with a national trend for millions Americans to address indistinguishable issues.

A spokesperson for Episcopal Life, the primary news outlet for the greater church commented “With all these grassroots volunteer projects going on, it’s impossible for us to take the credit.  It’s like the Wizard of Oz is pinning that ‘good deed doer’ pin on anybody who helps someone else for the sake of giving.  And a lot of those people aren’t Episcopalians. We’re Episcopal Life!  Our editorial policy is unless the work of the kingdom is done as a program from 815 and by members of our own team, we can’t publish it.”

“Everyone’s asking me what my diocese is doing for Make a Difference Day” said a suffragan bishop in the north east, “and I’ve got nothing.  On October 24^th, I’ll be giving a speech in one of the developing nations explaining why listening to members of the Anglican Communion was so important to me at Lambeth.  It cost the diocese nearly 15,000 dollars to send the bishops in this diocese there – and that’s not counting what it cost to send our spouses.  But they did go on a big march for the MDGs.  I’m sure it was in all the US papers. Oh…you didn’t hear about that?”

“I was asked to give an opening prayer for the restocking of the county food bank, but turned it down,” commented a parish priest. She continued “October 24^th is right between St. James of Jerusalem and Alfred the Great – I couldn’t make it work with the liturgical calendar.  Then it’s a Saturday and I have to work on my sermon.  Besides, we do all our local work like that in early May because it’s Americares day.  We’re in the middle of a discernment process to decide on our local mission – who needs this to distract us from that?”

The continued secularization and normalization of volunteerism has taken its toll on The Episcopal Church’s identity.  The revamping of the church’s mission to be primarily an institution that addresses MDGs could be a factor in why the Church is losing 19,000 members annually.  A former member states “Every week the message I got was to leave everything up to the experts – clergy and the organist.  Our worship, adult education, even our fellowship and outreach were determined by the rector together with the most powerful people on the Vestry.  So I get my prayer life in private and my service through my community. “

None of the quotes are real.  What is true is:

Under Katharin Jefferts-Schori’s leadership, The Episcopal Church has devoted itself to MDGs.  Check out the bizarrely affected video “Who we are” on YouTube. The resources used to produce that video, which has gotten less than 2 thousand hits,  most likely entailed more money that the Rotary Clubs could ever  hope to raise and bring water to villages in developing nations.

Episcopal Life has asked the smaller communities in The Episcopal Church how they are contributing to the MDGs, not publishing ongoing work such as the aforementioned Rotary-sponsored water wells, or individual contributions; only projects with the brand name of The Episcopal Church.

Attending the Lambeth Conference cost approximately 3,000 dollars for the program.  Air fare was extra. Some bishops didn’t like the housing provided and rented pied a terres off campus.  Several piggy-backed vacations on to the visit since travel was likely paid for by dioceses. Spouses attended, and everyone patted themselves on the back for marching in support of the MDGs in London.  That was right before the Queen’s garden party.

Re: local mission finding the church rather than the church finding local mission. I once approached a local priest in a coffee shop about hosting a fundraiser sponsored by a local grassroots group a week after Katrina. She said she was still on sabbatical and couldn’t think about it.

The Episcopal Church is losing 19,000 members a year.  That’s true.

]]> http://englandspastures.wordpress.com/2009/10/16/watching-the-hood/ Fri, 16 Oct 2009 11:26:59 +0000 The Generic Photographer http://englandspastures.wordpress.com/2009/10/16/watching-the-hood/

Sit for long enough at your desk at home and the sounds from below become familiar to the point that you learn to identify a neighbour’s faint mumble, the rumble of wheelie bins towed to the kerb or even the Woodpecker’s toc-toc-toc-ing a dying Ash.

As I was reading about yesterday’s boy-in-the-box-not-in-a-helium-balloon sensation, a man-in-a-van stopped outside and pulled out a set of ladders. I watched from my first-floor window as he reached up to position a yellow sign but realised I couldn’t quite make out its writing so grabbed a pair of binoculars that are kept at hand to spot any impending mischief around here.

I peered through the glasses and the words Neighbourhood Watch came into focus. I was .. watching the neighbourhood.

God, it felt great to be here. Looking and listening, sharp as a razor, athletic and honed, on guard, on my toes and and prepared like a scout: This eagle-eyed citizen spy maintaining his surveillance from the safe-house, a sentinel in the canopy, a lookout scanning the horizon from his cliff-top lighthouse. I was Jimmy Stewart sitting by a front window and it smelled like .. victory. Oh, yes!

*

Three months before. A summer dawn, 4.15am and there are noises downstairs. An elbow has nudged my ribs awake and very slowly, I realise there is someone halfway up the stairs. And it’s not one of us.

I don’t notice the glass in my bare feet as I pad along the carpet, nor the last faint disturbance from outside when I pad sleepily through the ground floor. Nor does it occur to me why there is a faint cool draught blowing through the living room or that the shattered aperture punched through the double-glazed window panel might be anything more than a sleep-walking collision.

Lights are on and my wife is standing in the doorway holding a tennis racket, a grimace of adrenalin and fear in her face as if she’s about to fight for her life .. on Centre Court.

*

The man was from Lambeth’s Graffiti Squad and had been up since four-fifteen too, patrolling the borough for graffiti and fly-posters. Later, when his team are out themselves scraping and steaming the offending street art off, he can be found gauging his verticals with a spirit level at lamp post 7.

“I’m pleased because stopping this makes a difference to the community,” he beams, “it sends out a message to everyone.”

I tell him I was eye-balling him through an eye-glass – y’know, being suspicious, which is pretty .. comical, didn’t he think? He shrugged and quickly added how many he’d put up yesterday and how his granddaughter wants to study Forensic Science at Cambridge – to ‘do her degrees’ – and I thought of the young lady SOCO who came to dust our woodwork with aluminium powder and found .. Nought. We on the other hand, now imagine breaking glass every night.

I am the Warden, I am the Watchman, goo goo g’joob.

This was my second year attending the Metropolitan Society for the Blind Annual Church Service. This year it was held at the prestigious Methodist Central Hall in Westminster.

Mayor of Lambeth with Rev Robert Hufton

The service was lead by the Reverend Robert Hufton, Superintendent Minister of Clapham Methodist Church and the preacher The Reverend Lucy Winkett Canon Precentor of St Paul’s Cathedral.

Mayor of Lambeth with a Lambeth resident who attended the service

I was pleased to meet residents from Lambeth, many of whom told me about their long historyin the borough. But most of all they spoke of the wonderful work done by the Metropolitan Society for the Blind – making a real difference in their lives.

(Prosze w komentarzach wpisywac swoje oferty)

The following is one of the most recent articles from Missionary Lambeth. Enjoy…

Most Brazilians are very religious. Few, if any, have difficulties believing in a miracle. And that is the very thing that makes Brazil such an exciting place to work for the Lord: you often see the impossible in action! Among many other cultural differences, there is a small detail that stands out significantly to me—many Brazilians have a “habit” of bringing pictures of their loved ones to be “prayed over.” That loved one may be sick unto death at their home far away, but the family intercessor will bring the photograph along to help the one who is praying get a grip on the need.

Interestingly enough, they do not bring pictures of the loved one in their “fallen” state. No, the photos always reflect the original, previous, much-improved state—before the disaster, before the cancer, before the pain. In reality, the pictures reflect the size of the faith that the intercessor has for the needy loved one or friend. Their faith is big enough to believe that God can restore them to the original state!

What the Locust Ate
Stepping aside, briefly—how big is your faith? Can God, in your eyes, restore what the locust ate? Or is your eye dimmed into grim forgetfulness of what the original state looked like? If we have become so blinded that our own minds blank out what the original looked like, how can we believe enough to see through the eyes of faith up to the creative (i.e. brand new) work that God wants to do in our lives. Not only does God want to restore to the original state, He wants to improve what centuries of sin have done to our generation.

As a missionary on the cutting edge of miracles, I am fascinated with the story of the blind man that got “spit” stuck in his eyes. After the first part of the miracle, he saw “men as trees, walking.” What a tremendous miracle for a man that was blind; at least now he would never again fall blindly into unseen holes. It was an Eye See (I see) moment. However, the second part of the miracle was an improvement on the first miracle! He saw “every man clearly” (Mark 8:23-25).

What’s in Your Picture?
We must break out of our faithless world. We ought to at least have enough faith to go back to the original piquancy that existed before our present necessity, to go back to the original Eye See faith. That is the bare minimum faith level for these days that we live in. We must at least be able to believe in restoration of what the locust ate (Joel 2:25).

Yet for the truly bold, there is another level of faith, one beyond Eye See faith. It’s the faith that makes spiritual heroes out of ordinary men. It is that special faith you read about in Hebrews 11. Each of those extraordinary men looked beyond the Eye See (i.e. what their eyes actually saw); they saw beyond! In reality, they ventured into a progression of faith. Perhaps that is our problem: we stop at a low level of faith and cannot seem to reach up, beyond Eye See.

“. . . having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them . . . for they . . . declare plainly that they seek a country . . . if they had been mindful from whence they came out (i.e. Eye See), they might have had opportunity to have returned (the original state) . . . but now they desire a better country, that is heavenly (i.e. seeing through God’s eyes) . . .” (Hebrews 11:13-16)

We all must learn new lessons of faith. We need to look up and beyond this limited world where we live in order to see creative faith in action, pulling the Apostolic Church above Eye See faith into the realm of a heavenly!

I want to see beyond Eye See!

In his address at the clergy day in August, Bishop Mark Lawrence called on the clergy in the diocese to begin educating their congregations on the issues facing The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion today.  This is the first in a series of articles Rob and I will be writing in an attempt to bring everyone up to speed.  This is my humble attempt to understand how we arrived at the place we’re in and it says nothing of what we can do about it.  I only ask that you prayerfully consider the implications of what has happened in our church

          If you read the newspapers, you’ll learn two things about contemporary Anglicanism.  First, you’ll learn that it is in a world wide crisis, with a split threatening between ‘conservatives,’ and ‘liberals.’  Second, you’ll learn that the central issue in this crisis is homosexuality.  While it is true that the Anglican Communion is in imminent danger of fracturing, it is not quite right to say that the central issue is homosexuality.  Also, if we think through this problem in terms of ‘conservative,’ and ‘liberal’ we risk pigeon-holing theological positions into political categories.  So, it is our hope that through these papers you can come to a deeper knowledge of the complexity of issues facing the Anglican Church today and just exactly what is at stake.

            This paper will deal with the formation of the Anglican Communion.  Many people are surprised to hear that the Anglican Communion, although it is the third largest organized body of Christians in the world, has not existed for very long.  What’s more than that, the immergence of the Anglican Communion came about almost by accident.  Thus, one of the major problems in our current crisis is very simply that we have not been organized to be able to deal with an international crisis.  In order to understand what the problem is, we will briefly retrace some of the history of the Anglican Communion.

            In the 1500’s, the Protestant Reformation swept through Europe, converting over a third of the population.  Rumors of the Reformation began in England as much as 200 years earlier when John Wycliffe translated the Latin Vulgate into English.  Reformation minded preachers began influencing thought in the Roman Church in England.  William Tyndale continued the work of translating the Scriptures into English until his execution in 1536.  So, before the Church of England broke away, Reformation sentiments were already finding in-roads in England.

            However, the split with Rome would not come over theology.  In the mid-1500’s Henry VIII led the Church of England to separate from the Pope and declared himself the “Head of the Church in England” so that he could annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon and marry Anne Boleyn.  Thus, the English Reformation began first on political grounds, and then continued on theological grounds.  While the Church of England would undergo many changes over the years, one thing remained constant.  For good or for ill, it was a state controlled church.  So, in the Church of England, theological, ecclesiastical, and liturgical standards were set and enforced by law.  All Church of England clergy had to ascribe to the Articles of Religion (the confession of faith in the Church of England), the Book of Common Prayer, and the state appointed Bishops.  As far as governing the church, this worked fine for the local Church of England.

            However, as the British Empire arose, the particular brand of Protestantism which had formed in England began to spread throughout the world.  At first it spread merely as a pastoral provision for English colonists throughout the world, such as those in America.  As the empire grew, English missionaries labored to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all the nations, beginning with the British Colonies.

            While New England had been established as a Puritan Colony, the southern colonies were founded under charters from the King which made the Church of England the Established Church.  For as long as the 13 colonies were governed by Great Britain, no English bishop ever set foot in America.  The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel labored to see pastoral provision for the English colonists in America by sending priests over as missionaries.  In order for anyone in the colonies to be ordained, they had to brave a trip to England to be ordained.  Due to the dangers of the journey, about a third of the candidates to ordination never returned. 

            These problems gave the Church of England a rough start in America.  The situation was not made any easier by the American Revolution.  After the United States separated from Great Britain, anti-English sentiment abounded in America.  Thus, the framers of American Anglicanism had to work hard to restructure the Episcopal Church to make it palatable to the Democratic Americans.  Thus, although the 39 Articles were kept, they were amended to remove references to the authority of the King over the church.  Prayers for the King were removed from the Book of Common Prayer.  Finally, the church was to be governed by a General Convention, rather than by an Archbishop (since that seemed too much like aristocracy). 

            In the 19^th Century, English Evangelicals and High Churchmen began laboring throughout the world bringing the Gospel to native Africans, Indians, Chinese, and Japanese.  While the labors of these men and women have been caricatured as imperialistically forcing conversion, these missionaries worked for the good of those they ministered to, and were often disliked by British Colonialists.  The result of their work was that there were Christian communities all throughout the world with strong ties to the Church of England.  In fact, unlike in America where British bishops never set foot, during this missionary revival, missionary bishops were consecrated and sent to organize and establish dioceses in these far lands, many of them dying for their faith. 

            Thus, by the middle of the Eighteenth century, Church of England Bishops ran dioceses all over the world.  In addition to that, churches deriving their apostolic succession and heritage from the Church of England were well established in the former British Colonies.  This set up worked well for three reasons.  First, there was still a great degree of agreement on basic tenets of the Christian faith as well as what it meant to be Anglican.  In other words, there were no controversies threatening to divide the church along cultural or geographic lines.  Second, most of these dioceses were headed by English bishops.  Finally, most of the churches were still in regions controlled by the British Empire, and were thus still controlled by the State Church established in the English Reformation. 

            Until the mid-1800’s, no one had even mentioned an ‘Anglican Communion’.  In 1867, it was proposed to gather together Anglican Bishops throughout the world for a Pan-Anglican Conference at Lambeth Palace.  Due to controversy surrounding this conference, it was clearly announced that this would not be a governing body for the world-wide Anglican Communion, but would only issue a spiritual encyclical on matters of doctrine.  In addition to the Lambeth Conference, the Anglican Consultative Council  and the Primates Meeting, both of which meet every two or three years, were formed in the 1970’s to further deepen the ties of Anglican Churches around the world.  The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Lambeth Conference, the Anglican Consultative Council, and the Primates Meeting have come to be known as the Instruments of Communion, as they are shared by all alike in the Anglican Communion.

            Meanwhile, as the British Empire began to dissolve, colonial churches began to become independent.  Moreover, the British missionary bishops were being replaced by indigenous bishops.  The first African bishop, Samuel Ajayi Crowther, was consecrated in Liberia in 1864.  Many of the provinces would not have indigenous bishops until well into the 20^th Century.  As indigenous leadership took over in global south provinces, revival came.  Although the white bishops had some success in preaching the Gospel, indigenous leadership was much more equipped for enculturating the Gospel and relating to their own people.  The result is that now the number of Anglicans in the Province of Nigeria outnumbers the combined number of Anglicans in Great Britain, Europe, and North American combined! 

            Which brings us to our crisis.  Although many of us feel like we have been blindsided by the Episcopal Church suddenly fracturing apart, it has been building up for some time.  In 1958, James Pike was elected bishop coadjutor of California.  Pike was known for his rejection of central tenets of the Christian faith such as the Virgin Birth, the Incarnation, and Original Sin.  He went on record calling the doctrine of the Trinity “theological baggage” that the church would have to shed in order to enter the 20^th Century.  Pike was charged with heresy by the House of Bishops in 1966.  His theological revisions were censured, but he was not deposed as it was felt a heresy trial would give the church an “oppressive image.”  This was only the beginning.

            In 1976, John Shelby Spong was elected as bishop of Newark despite his denial of theism, the Virgin Birth, the Incarnation, the Resurrection, the Ascension, as well as all of the miraculous events recorded in the New Testament, and substitutionary atonement (the idea that Jesus dies in the place of sinners).  Bishop Spong would go on to become the most published bishop in the Episcopal Church, furthering the same sort of rejection of basic tenets of the Christian faith.  Despite all this, Spong was never disciplined by the Episcopal Church.  In fact, in 1987 & 1989, heresy charges were brought up and dismissed by the House of Bishops.  This theological trend has continued in the Episcopal Church far beyond what many even imagine. 

            Episcopal Seminaries have been teaching a form of Christianity radically different from that which Christians have held in common for almost 2,000 years.  The fruit is that it is almost commonplace to hear Episcopal bishops and clergy deny central tenets of the Christian faith today.  The Bishop of Washington D.C. in an Easter sermon in 2002 declared, “The story of Jesus’ bodily resurrection is, at best, conjectural.”  Bishop Bennison of Philadelphia proclaimed “the church wrote the Bible, and the church can rewrite the Bible.”  A Sunday Mass was held at St John the Divine in New York (led by the diocesan bishop) which included praises to pagan gods and godesses Ra, Obatala, Yemenja and Ausar.  The Episcopal Church’s national website for women’s ministries promoted a Eucharistic Liturgy in 2004 based on a Druid ceremony that equated the sacramental wine to menstrual blood.  These are not isolated incidences, but have become more widespread over the years.

            While The Episcopal Church in the US continued on its path towards theological revision, the newly autonomous Anglican Churches in the Global South continued to grow proclaiming the classic Biblical faith.  It was not long before indigenous bishops from the Global South began to have an equal place at the table.  No longer was the governance of the church controlled by those from Western countries.  So, while the progressive wing of Anglicanism was growing more progressive, their voice fell out of step with their brothers and sisters in the Anglican Communion.

            At the 1998 Lambeth Conference, the bishops issued a statement (Lambeth Resolution I.10 on Human Sexuality) which upheld the traditional understanding of marriage between a man and a woman, declared homosexual practice as incompatible with Scripture, called for pastoral sensitivity towards all people, condemned an irrational fear of homosexuality, called for a listening process to begin to take into account the experience of homosexual persons, and reiterated the Christian love that should be shown towards homosexuals.  The conclusion of this resolution was that the Lambeth Conference could not recommend either ordination of practicing homosexuals or same sex blessings.

            When Gene Robinson, an open practicing homosexual in a committed same sex relationship, was elected Bishop of New Hampshire, it was the first time that The Episcopal Church had acted out of step with traditional Christian teachings since African, Asian, and Latin Americans had begun to dominate the Anglican Communion.  Traditional Anglicans reacted very strongly, unfortunately giving off the impression that the current struggle is all about sex. 

            The fact of the matter is this, the Anglican Communion is close to fracturing and it has little to do with sex.  It has more to do with how you react in a world-wide Christian community when one part of that community has departed from the Christian faith.  Moreover, the central issue is not homosexuality.  The Episcopal Church’s actions in regard to homosexuality are a side issue at best.  What is at issue here is that The Episcopal Church has committed itself to not enforcing any standard on the Christian faith.  The House of Bishops and the General Convention has refused to discipline clear departures from the Christian faith for half a century now.  The question that lies before us now is how the rest of the Anglican Communion will respond.

            There is one factor that makes a response from the Anglican Communion difficult.  Namely, of the four instruments of communion (the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Anglican Consultative Council, The Primates Meeting, and the Lambeth Conference) none have the authority to discipline any province of the Anglican Communion.  If a Province were to commit itself to mass genocide, the Instruments of Communion would be powerless to disassociate themselves from it.  That is why our bishop has asked us to consider the Ridley Draft of the Anglican Covenant.  It is his hope that the future of Anglicanism might be preserved if we were to form a covenant that set boundaries around our common life.  On October 24^th, elected representatives from this congregation will vote on whether we will endorse the covenant at this point or not.  It is your duty to be informed on what is happening in our church.  Please read the covenant and communicate to your elected representatives your views so that they can make an informed decision on behalf of Trinity Church.  Much more serious, however, is that we continue the mission of the Church.  It is the same mission that Jesus began 2,000 years ago when He said, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.”  It is imperative for the survival of our church, whether in times of controversy or not, that we continue marching forward with this mission.  As evangelist John Guest has said, “Either we evangelize or we fossiliz 

If you read the newspapers, you’ll learn two things about contemporary Anglicanism.  First, you’ll learn that it is in a world wide crisis, with a split threatening between ‘conservatives,’ and ‘liberals.’  Second, you’ll learn that the central issue in this crisis is homosexuality.  While it is true that the Anglican Communion is in imminent danger of fracturing, it is not quite right to say that the central issue is homosexuality.  Also, if we think through this problem in terms of ‘conservative,’ and ‘liberal’ we risk pigeon-holing theological positions into political categories.  So, it is our hope that through these papers you can come to a deeper knowledge of the complexity of issues facing the Anglican Church today and just exactly what is at stake.

            This paper will deal with the formation of the Anglican Communion.  Many people are surprised to hear that the Anglican Communion, although it is the third largest organized body of Christians in the world, has not existed for very long.  What’s more than that, the immergence of the Anglican Communion came about almost by accident.  Thus, one of the major problems in our current crisis is very simply that we have not been organized to be able to deal with an international crisis.  In order to understand what the problem is, we will briefly retrace some of the history of the Anglican Communion.

            In the 1500’s, the Protestant Reformation swept through Europe, converting over a third of the population.  Rumors of the Reformation began in England as much as 200 years earlier when John Wycliffe translated the Latin Vulgate into English.  Reformation minded preachers began influencing thought in the Roman Church in England.  William Tyndale continued the work of translating the Scriptures into English until his execution in 1536.  So, before the Church of England broke away, Reformation sentiments were already finding in-roads in England.

            However, the split with Rome would not come over theology.  In the mid-1500’s Henry VIII led the Church of England to separate from the Pope and declared himself the “Head of the Church in England” so that he could annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon and marry Anne Boleyn.  Thus, the English Reformation began first on political grounds, and then continued on theological grounds.  While the Church of England would undergo many changes over the years, one thing remained constant.  For good or for ill, it was a state controlled church.  So, in the Church of England, theological, ecclesiastical, and liturgical standards were set and enforced by law.  All Church of England clergy had to ascribe to the Articles of Religion (the confession of faith in the Church of England), the Book of Common Prayer, and the state appointed Bishops.  As far as governing the church, this worked fine for the local Church of England.

            However, as the British Empire arose, the particular brand of Protestantism which had formed in England began to spread throughout the world.  At first it spread merely as a pastoral provision for English colonists throughout the world, such as those in America.  As the empire grew, English missionaries labored to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all the nations, beginning with the British Colonies.

            While New England had been established as a Puritan Colony, the southern colonies were founded under charters from the King which made the Church of England the Established Church.  For as long as the 13 colonies were governed by Great Britain, no English bishop ever set foot in America.  The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel labored to see pastoral provision for the English colonists in America by sending priests over as missionaries.  In order for anyone in the colonies to be ordained, they had to brave a trip to England to be ordained.  Due to the dangers of the journey, about a third of the candidates to ordination never returned. 

            These problems gave the Church of England a rough start in America.  The situation was not made any easier by the American Revolution.  After the United States separated from Great Britain, anti-English sentiment abounded in America.  Thus, the framers of American Anglicanism had to work hard to restructure the Episcopal Church to make it palatable to the Democratic Americans.  Thus, although the 39 Articles were kept, they were amended to remove references to the authority of the King over the church.  Prayers for the King were removed from the Book of Common Prayer.  Finally, the church was to be governed by a General Convention, rather than by an Archbishop (since that seemed too much like aristocracy). 

            In the 19^th Century, English Evangelicals and High Churchmen began laboring throughout the world bringing the Gospel to native Africans, Indians, Chinese, and Japanese.  While the labors of these men and women have been caricatured as imperialistically forcing conversion, these missionaries worked for the good of those they ministered to, and were often disliked by British Colonialists.  The result of their work was that there were Christian communities all throughout the world with strong ties to the Church of England.  In fact, unlike in America where British bishops never set foot, during this missionary revival, missionary bishops were consecrated and sent to organize and establish dioceses in these far lands, many of them dying for their faith. 

            Thus, by the middle of the Eighteenth century, Church of England Bishops ran dioceses all over the world.  In addition to that, churches deriving their apostolic succession and heritage from the Church of England were well established in the former British Colonies.  This set up worked well for three reasons.  First, there was still a great degree of agreement on basic tenets of the Christian faith as well as what it meant to be Anglican.  In other words, there were no controversies threatening to divide the church along cultural or geographic lines.  Second, most of these dioceses were headed by English bishops.  Finally, most of the churches were still in regions controlled by the British Empire, and were thus still controlled by the State Church established in the English Reformation. 

            Until the mid-1800’s, no one had even mentioned an ‘Anglican Communion’.  In 1867, it was proposed to gather together Anglican Bishops throughout the world for a Pan-Anglican Conference at Lambeth Palace.  Due to controversy surrounding this conference, it was clearly announced that this would not be a governing body for the world-wide Anglican Communion, but would only issue a spiritual encyclical on matters of doctrine.  In addition to the Lambeth Conference, the Anglican Consultative Council  and the Primates Meeting, both of which meet every two or three years, were formed in the 1970’s to further deepen the ties of Anglican Churches around the world.  The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Lambeth Conference, the Anglican Consultative Council, and the Primates Meeting have come to be known as the Instruments of Communion, as they are shared by all alike in the Anglican Communion.

            Meanwhile, as the British Empire began to dissolve, colonial churches began to become independent.  Moreover, the British missionary bishops were being replaced by indigenous bishops.  The first African bishop, Samuel Ajayi Crowther, was consecrated in Liberia in 1864.  Many of the provinces would not have indigenous bishops until well into the 20^th Century.  As indigenous leadership took over in global south provinces, revival came.  Although the white bishops had some success in preaching the Gospel, indigenous leadership was much more equipped for enculturating the Gospel and relating to their own people.  The result is that now the number of Anglicans in the Province of Nigeria outnumbers the combined number of Anglicans in Great Britain, Europe, and North American combined! 

            Which brings us to our crisis.  Although many of us feel like we have been blindsided by the Episcopal Church suddenly fracturing apart, it has been building up for some time.  In 1958, James Pike was elected bishop coadjutor of California.  Pike was known for his rejection of central tenets of the Christian faith such as the Virgin Birth, the Incarnation, and Original Sin.  He went on record calling the doctrine of the Trinity “theological baggage” that the church would have to shed in order to enter the 20^th Century.  Pike was charged with heresy by the House of Bishops in 1966.  His theological revisions were censured, but he was not deposed as it was felt a heresy trial would give the church an “oppressive image.”  This was only the beginning.

            In 1976, John Shelby Spong was elected as bishop of Newark despite his denial of theism, the Virgin Birth, the Incarnation, the Resurrection, the Ascension, as well as all of the miraculous events recorded in the New Testament, and substitutionary atonement (the idea that Jesus dies in the place of sinners).  Bishop Spong would go on to become the most published bishop in the Episcopal Church, furthering the same sort of rejection of basic tenets of the Christian faith.  Despite all this, Spong was never disciplined by the Episcopal Church.  In fact, in 1987 & 1989, heresy charges were brought up and dismissed by the House of Bishops.  This theological trend has continued in the Episcopal Church far beyond what many even imagine. 

            Episcopal Seminaries have been teaching a form of Christianity radically different from that which Christians have held in common for almost 2,000 years.  The fruit is that it is almost commonplace to hear Episcopal bishops and clergy deny central tenets of the Christian faith today.  The Bishop of Washington D.C. in an Easter sermon in 2002 declared, “The story of Jesus’ bodily resurrection is, at best, conjectural.”  Bishop Bennison of Philadelphia proclaimed “the church wrote the Bible, and the church can rewrite the Bible.”  A Sunday Mass was held at St John the Divine in New York (led by the diocesan bishop) which included praises to pagan gods and godesses Ra, Obatala, Yemenja and Ausar.  The Episcopal Church’s national website for women’s ministries promoted a Eucharistic Liturgy in 2004 based on a Druid ceremony that equated the sacramental wine to menstrual blood.  These are not isolated incidences, but have become more widespread over the years.

            While The Episcopal Church in the US continued on its path towards theological revision, the newly autonomous Anglican Churches in the Global South continued to grow proclaiming the classic Biblical faith.  It was not long before indigenous bishops from the Global South began to have an equal place at the table.  No longer was the governance of the church controlled by those from Western countries.  So, while the progressive wing of Anglicanism was growing more progressive, their voice fell out of step with their brothers and sisters in the Anglican Communion.

            At the 1998 Lambeth Conference, the bishops issued a statement (Lambeth Resolution I.10 on Human Sexuality) which upheld the traditional understanding of marriage between a man and a woman, declared homosexual practice as incompatible with Scripture, called for pastoral sensitivity towards all people, condemned an irrational fear of homosexuality, called for a listening process to begin to take into account the experience of homosexual persons, and reiterated the Christian love that should be shown towards homosexuals.  The conclusion of this resolution was that the Lambeth Conference could not recommend either ordination of practicing homosexuals or same sex blessings.

            When Gene Robinson, an open practicing homosexual in a committed same sex relationship, was elected Bishop of New Hampshire, it was the first time that The Episcopal Church had acted out of step with traditional Christian teachings since African, Asian, and Latin Americans had begun to dominate the Anglican Communion.  Traditional Anglicans reacted very strongly, unfortunately giving off the impression that the current struggle is all about sex. 

            The fact of the matter is this, the Anglican Communion is close to fracturing and it has little to do with sex.  It has more to do with how you react in a world-wide Christian community when one part of that community has departed from the Christian faith.  Moreover, the central issue is not homosexuality.  The Episcopal Church’s actions in regard to homosexuality are a side issue at best.  What is at issue here is that The Episcopal Church has committed itself to not enforcing any standard on the Christian faith.  The House of Bishops and the General Convention has refused to discipline clear departures from the Christian faith for half a century now.  The question that lies before us now is how the rest of the Anglican Communion will respond.

            There is one factor that makes a response from the Anglican Communion difficult.  Namely, of the four instruments of communion (the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Anglican Consultative Council, The Primates Meeting, and the Lambeth Conference) none have the authority to discipline any province of the Anglican Communion.  If a Province were to commit itself to mass genocide, the Instruments of Communion would be powerless to disassociate themselves from it.  That is why our bishop has asked us to consider the Ridley Draft of the Anglican Covenant.  It is his hope that the future of Anglicanism might be preserved if we were to form a covenant that set boundaries around our common life.  On October 24^th, elected representatives from this congregation will vote on whether we will endorse the covenant at this point or not.  It is your duty to be informed on what is happening in our church.  Please read the covenant and communicate to your elected representatives your views so that they can make an informed decision on behalf of Trinity Church.  Much more serious, however, is that we continue the mission of the Church.  It is the same mission that Jesus began 2,000 years ago when He said, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.”  It is imperative for the survival of our church, whether in times of controversy or not, that we continue marching forward with this mission.  As evangelist John Guest has said, “Either we evangelize or we fossiliz

The following is an email sent out by Bro. Lambeth this morning regarding the passing of his mom, Missionary Louise Lambeth.

Dear Friends and missionary partners:

This morning at 08:30 AM, Brazilian time, Missionary Emerita Wanda Louise Lambeth passed on to her eternal reward after 51 years of pioneer missionary service on the foreign fields of Brazil and Uruguay.

Suffice to say she will be sorely missed, especially her prayers and soulwinning determination as she bravely marched into uncharted waters to plant churches across this vast mission field.

In the name of the whole Lambeth family I write to express our appreciation of the supportive love and prayers offered to us during her degenerative illness.

While we feel very lonely today, we are also so proud and happy: our matriarch Lady adds one more name to the list of Lambeths that now grace the Streets of Gold.

Rev. John Bradley Lambeth

Missionary Wanda Louis Lambeth

Just a note to direct your attention to Bro. Lambeth’s website, www.jblambeth.com. His heartbeat for the country of Brazil is unmistakeable and there is a lot of interesting stories and presentations there for your perusal. Also, you will be reminded of the desperate need that missionaries have for our prayers on a daily basis.

I will be placing a permanent link here on the blog. Visit often to receive his blog and newsletter updates.

Forum member Steve C. (aka RemVS308) unveiled his handsome new .308 Winchester in the Pride & Joy thread in our Shooters Forum. Sporting a beautiful, exotic hardwood A5-L stock by Joel Russo, the gun features premium components all around. We’ve had to create a new descriptive category for this kind of rifle which combines a tactical-style stock and multi-shot action with fancy wood. We call it “Glam Tactical”. (CLICK HERE for another Russo “Glam Tactical” rig.) The stock on Steve’s rifle is laminated African Pomele Sapele wood. If you are interested in a Russo stock for your next project, email jkrussos [at] comcast.net, or call Joel at (717) 805-0940.

The barrel is a 1:11.25″-twist, MTU contour, 26″ Krieger. It was chambered by gunsmith Nat Lambeth and fitted to a Stiller Predator action with Jewell HVR trigger. Befitting a proper multi-purpose rifle, the gun has Pacific Tool & Gauge stainless bottom metal and a Wyatt extended magazine. Up front is a Harris bipod, fitted with KMW Pod-Loc and Zephyr Dynamics Pod-Paws (Zerphyr’s Paws are, unfortunately, out-of-production).

For optics, Mike’s rifle carries a 12-42×56mm Nightforce NXS scope in Seekins rings. Overall this eye-pleasing package combines the visual appeal of premium wood with serious long-range accuracy. So, is this gun a “beauty” or a “beast”? Maybe both — and that’s why it’s such an appealing rig.

London in Bloom promotes, supports and encourages gardening, horticulture and environmental sustainability across the 31 boroughs and two cities of Greater London. As such, it is one of 17 regional campaigns which make up Britain in Bloom – Europe’s largest horticultural campaign.

Mayor and Mayoress with the Lambeth winning team

This year Lambeth won two awards thanks to the hard work and dedication of the Lambeth team and residents.

The following article was written by Missionary Brad Lambeth in 2005.

It was my mistake. I left the front gate open (a big no-no in Brazil) and he walked in. He wore only a pair of Bermuda shorts. Nothing else. His torso was covered with colorful tattoos. They belied his sad countenance. His eyes were distant and glazed. He was wired high on drugs.

He was trying to sell trinkets (for more drugs?). I offered a quick tip just to get him out of the yard and on his journey. He refused. He insisted on selling his nonsense merchandise.

Then suddenly conversation went into another completely different direction. “Hey, I know you!” he said. “You’re the pastor of that big green church.”

His eyes misted with tears. With slurred words he told me of the only time he had ever walked into the sanctuary. It was a wedding night, apparently, but he felt God so strongly that he had never forgotten the experience, in spite of the many years that had passed. I asked him his name.

“Fabricio,” he mumbled. Then Fabricio turned to me and said, “Do me a favor. Tell Jesus that I love Him.”

The words came out quietly, but very clearly. Because of the incredible sincerity of his words, I implored him go to church and tell Jesus himself.

“No,” he responded. “I am not worthy.” Sadly he turned and walked away without answering my call to return.

With the words “tell Jesus that I love Him” echoing in my ears, I went to church that night and told Jesus what Fabricio had said. He loved Jesus so much that (in his fogged mind) Fabricio felt totally unworthy of entering into His sanctuary.

My mind wandered in the Bible and was drawn to Job. He rose up “…early in the morning and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all; for Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually” (Job 1:5).

Surely there is prayer, a different prayer to be prayed for the Fabricios. All of us have loved ones, spouses, precious friends that are unsaved and tremendously bound by the fetters of sin. We need to pray intercessory prayers. The strong kind that crushes Satan’s shackles.

We need to pray the prayers that the sinners would want to pray. But they can’t. They don’t know how! They don’t have the strength. Or, like Fabricio, they feel unworthy to utter the precious name of Jesus. These types of sinners are bound in their sincere ignorance, incredulous of the fact that God loves to hear the cry of a sinner pleading for help. So they die, daily in their silence. Drowning in the shame of their sins.

The true church needs intercessors that are willing to pray the surrogate prayer—to pray in the stead of a sincere, helpless sinner.

We are often so caught up in our own (vain) world that we forget how we, too, were helped by someone’s prayers. While I was praying at an altar of forgiveness (before the Holy Ghost fell into my soul with fire), my precious mother cried the prayer of faith over my life, pushing away the boundaries of sin by her commanding prayer!

A perfect example of this concept is found in the Gospels. First, it is striking to note that the centurion soldier felt the same sense of unworthiness that Fabricio manifested when he says, “I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof…”. As a Roman centurion, he felt disqualified to be one of the chosen saved. He was unworthy of Jesus’ attention. Yet, he was willing to intercede in favor of a soul that he felt had a need worse than his! That is what prompted Jesus to declare: “… I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.” (Matthew 8:10). And the servant was healed without Jesus’ coming into the house, according to the faith of another man—proxy prayer, proxy faith, positive results.

I am certainly aware that salvation is an individual matter and each man must have a personal experience with Christ and His salvation plan. We cannot be baptized for another person nor can we receive the Holy Ghost as a substitute stand-in. Yet, there is no denying that our prayers have a greater effect than we can ever imagine. The power of pleading prayer reaches beyond our four walls and demonstrates a faith which offers liberty for the operation of the Holy Ghost.

The bottom line is that others are depending on your prayers. It may be your son, sister, father-in-law, or boss. They are hoping that you will pray the surrogate prayer and tell Jesus that they love Him. After they get untied, freed from their shackles, surely they will say it for themselves, “Jesus, I love You.”

Don’t forget—he said Fabricio was his name.

How could any woman say no?

Routes 11, 344 (2 hours 12 minutes)

Route 11 is a marquee route. One for the show-reel. It’s stunning.

Starting outside Fulham Town Hall, it quickly heads east up the King’s Road to Sloane Square into Pimlico, past Victoria and into Westminster. It circles Parliament Square before heading up Whitehall, past Horse Guards Parade and into Trafalgar Square. Then comes The Strand, Drury Lane and Fleet Street before heading into The City and St Paul’s, Bank and Threadneedle Street and terminating at Liverpool Street. It’s 73 minutes right through the heart of London and as such a little difficult to write about because it sails past landmark upon famous landmark. What is there to say about the Houses of Parliament? Apart from the fact I still think Big Ben looks like it’s made out of matchsticks.

Today though, it’s raining, so the shine is somewhat removed, even on King’s Road, which runs for about two and-a-half miles which runs from Fulham through the heart of Chelsea to Eaton Square, was a private road right up until 1830. Until then, it had been the road Charles II used to travel to Hampton Court, while George III liked to use it to get to Kew. These days, as befits its royal pedigree, it is largely full of boutique shops, beauty salons, art galleries and antique shops, or in some cases, a combination of all of the above. Only as you reach the eastern end of the road do more familiar high street names start to make an appearance.

Typical of King's Road

Then it is into the somewhat undefined area of Pimlico and past Victoria Coach Station, where many an hour was spent in my youth waiting for connecting National Express coaches on my way to and from University. I still have the top deck to myself as Westminster Abbey marks our entrance to Parliament Square, the sky a portentious (my dictionary insists this is not a word, but I disagree. I like it) deep grey.

But traffic is unusually light, so Whitehall is soon upon us, the government offices fronted by statues such as Earl Haig and Field Marshall Montgomery. War memorials standing proudly in the middle of the road. Horse Guards Parade is full of tourists as a man uses a mirror to check underneath a van waiting to enter Downing Street. Then it is right at Trafalgar Square onto The Strand and into Aldwych. The theatres of Drury Lane pass on the left before a familiar road is found. Fleet Street. Here, a man displays absolutely no chivalry by holding an umbrella over his head but not that of his female companion. I tut disapprovingly, not least because she is, well… I’ll leave it there. Anyway, this is at least the third time I have been up here and past Ludgate Circus to St Paul’s, but I love it. It reeks of history and gin-soaked press copy of years gone by. Then it’s past Bank and into Threadneedle Street, with Liverpool Street quickly arriving.

Yep, the No 11 is a tourist dream, surely no other route passes so many landmarks? It almost feels like cheating and there’s certainly not a great deal that can be added to the thousands of tourist guides that document these features. No, I said at the start of this quest that I would probably find meaning as I went, and it appears my calling remains with the mundane, the unseen and the unloved.

Liverpool Street has an interesting monument outside the entrance though. The Children of the Kindertransport serves as a mark of gratitude “to the people of Britain for saving the lives of 10,000 unaccompanied mainly Jewish children who fled from Nazi persecution in 1938 and 1939.”

Children of the Kindertransport

I take a look inside the station, it’s platforms well below ground level. Until recently it was the location of a T-Mobile ad in their current horrific campaign to hijack the very modern pursuit of flashmobbing. I have been to one flashmob, back in December 2004. It was a pillow fight outside the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square. Everyone had to be there by 6pm, but were not allowed to have a pillow in view. Then, at 6pm precisely, about 300 strangers removed pillows from their rucksacks and started hitting each other for 10 minutes, much to the utter bemusement of American tourists. It was a glorious moment and it’s taken corporate wankers a few years to remove any sense of spirit from the whole enterprise. They’ll be onto parkour next.

Look at those eyes, ready to batter a stranger

Anyway, Liverpool Street is a grand old red-brick station and stands proudly in the shadow of the Gherkin and The City’s shiny towers thanks largely to a £65m refurbishment in 2000.

Liverpool Street Station

Liverpool Street Station concourse

My next route means a short walk around the back of the station, to pick up the 344, which is to take me back south of the river to Clapham Junction. Pleasingly, it is there waiting for me as I arrive and briefly retraces the route of the No 11 before sweeping down Gracechurch Street and past The Monument, where I spent a happy hour a few weeks ago. However, once it has crossed Southwark Bridge (the only route to do so) things rather get bogged down at Elephant & Castle, enhancing the grim junction’s bid for my least favourite part of London. I despise this place, from its savage architecture, bewildering subway system and constant traffic mess. Apart from the Charlie Chaplin pub, only the origin of its name can possibly hold any interest.

One urban myth is that it relates to Infanta de Castile, usually said to be a reference to Eleanor of Castile, the wife of Edward I, but according to Michael Quinion:

The castle here is actually a howdah on the back of the elephant, in India a seat traditionally used by hunters. The public house called the Elephant and Castle was converted about 1760 from a smithy that had had the same name and sign. This had connections with the Cutlers’ Company, a London craft guild founded in the 13th century which represented workers who made knives, scissors, surgical instruments and the like. The guild used the same emblem. The link here is the Indian elephant ivory used for knife handles, in which the Cutlers’ Company dealt.

So, the explanation is as mundane as the landscape. Still, we trundle on and get a brief glimpse of Lambeth Palace, believed to date back to the start of the 13th Century and official residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury. It was here in 1534 that former Speaker and member of the King’s Council, Thomas More, when asked to take the oath of succession by Henry VIII, refused to do so and was subsequently sent to the Tower of London. He was beheaded a little over a year later, his head boiled and placed on a pole.

A brief glimpse of Lambeth Palace

A shall return to the Palace for further delving at some point, but for now there are rather more modern security arrangements going on just up the river. As we pass Albert Embankment, a plethora of armed police have set up a checkpoint and are stopping random cars and dog-walkers. I sneak a couple of quick photos, aware that they probably wouldn’t be too chuffed to see me doing so, but my immediate thought is of bombdogs.

Checkpoint negotiated, the 344 continues its easy passage through Vauxhall, past the Power Station and Dog’s Home of Battersea to Clapham Junction. It chucks me out beside the Grand. After today’s grand proceedings, it seems appropriate.

The Lambeth Summer Arts project ran over 5 weeks where Lambeth young people learned a variety of skills including protagraphy, film making and music.

The project worked with partners Photofusion, Raw Material and Noh Budget Films.

Mayor of Lambeth with one of the young men from project

The quality of the work was fantastic and I was amazed that they had achieved so much in such a short time. Those who took in the project spoke passionately about how much they had enjoyed it and it was clear from the work that they have a lot of natural talent.

Cuando fui a Londres en enero, fui por trabajo, y verdaderamente no pude disfrutar de la ciudad como es debido. Digamos que vi lo máximo que el tiempo, la meteorología y mis compañeros me permitieron en un día y medio. Así que decidí volver, esta vez con Silvia, y hacer turismo de alpargata como es debido.

En 4 días se puede decir que hemos visto gran parte o casi todo Londres, lo más conocido o turístico vamos. Os puede servir de guía para aquellos que os escapéis unos días y queráis ver lo principal.

Llegar a Londres

Básicamente Londres tiene 5 aeropuertos, 3 son de líneas de bajo coste: Luton, Stansted y Gatwick. En los otros dos, Heathrow y City;  operan otras compañías, las de los inmortales.

Los de las líneas de bajo coste se encuentran a 1h y poco del centro de la ciudad. Se puede llegar en bus o en tren. La opción más barata es el bus que por 15£ tienes ida y vuelta (return ticket) en compañías como EasyBus, Greenline, Terravision o National Express (por la web se puede comprar el ticket también). Suelen salir cada 20 minutos, así que no hay problema de quedarse tirado.

El bus te deja en la estación de Victoria (final de trayecto) pero hay 3 o 4 paradas previas que podéis utilizar según donde os hospedéis.

Un consejo que os doy es que hagáis el cambio de divisas cuando ya estéis allí y no lo hagáis en el aeropuerto (nos sablaron con un 8% de comisión). El mejor sitio para hacerlo es el Post Office (alguna oficina de correos). O os queda la opción de tirar de tarjeta y vuestro banco no os cobrará tanto por la comisión.

Moverse por Londres

Londres cuenta con una excelente infraestructura de transporte público, tanto de metro (ellos lo llaman tube) como de bus. En cada parada o estación de bus o metro está indicado el itinerario y el tiempo estimado de viaje. El metro está dividido principalmente en 6 anillos que van desde el centro hasta las afueras.

Por contra el transporte público es caro, por ejemplo, el billete sencillo de metro os cuesta unas 4 libras y teniendo en cuenta que os vais a mover mucho, es un huevo de pasta.

Metro

Hay diferentes opciones de tickets, donde el precio varía dependiendo de las zonas por donde os mováis y si lo cogéis en hora punta (peak, hasta las 9.30h):

• Day travelcard, podéis viajar durante un día las veces que queráis desde 5.6£ (off peak, no en hora punta).
• Travelcards, se puede viajar durante 7 días, un mes o un año, desde 25.8, 99.1 ó 1032£.
• Oyster Card, es una tarjeta pensada para los turistas que la compras una vez y la vas recargando. Con ella los viajes en metro en vez de costarte 4£ te cuestan 1.6£, con un cargo máximo por día desde 5.1£

Bus y tranvía

En este caso no existen zonas anulares ni horas punta. El billete sencillo cuesta unas 2£, aunque también hay diferentes opciones:

• One Day Tram & Bus Pass, podéis viajar durante un día las veces que queráis por 3.80£.
• Travelcards, se puede viajar durante 7 días, un mes o un año, por 13, 53 ó 552£.
• Oyster Card,  con ella los viajes el billete sencillo te cuesta 1£ (la mitad), con un cargo máximo por día de 3.3£

Son dos opciones de transporte que tienen sus pros y sus contras, por un lado el precio del metro y por otro el tráfico de la ciudad. Con un pase de metro puedes viajar con bus, tranvía y DLR ,que es un tren que te lleva por los muelles del este de la ciudad.

Cuando fui en enero me saqué un pase de 3 días (que ya no existe) y esta vez un compañero de trabajo me dejó sus 2 Oyster Cards, y las cargué con un pase de 7 días (lo más económico para mi estancia). Solo me tuve que acordar de validarla en los sitios correspondientes.

Otra cosa muy importante de moverse a pie por Londres es que siempre miréis primero a vuestra derecha cuando crucéis una calle (recordad que conducen al revés). De todas formas en casi todos los pasos de peatones encontráis escrito en la calzada LOOK RIGHT o LOOK LEFT.

Más información sobre el transporte aquí.

Comer/beber en Londres

Los londinenses suelen comer entre las 12.30 y las 13.30. Lo normal es que se coman un sandwich, una ensalada o un bocadillo y hasta unas bandejas de sushi preparado (no os lo recomiendo). Con ello aguantan hasta la hora de cenar, que es sobre las 19 y las 20h.

Sitios para comer hay muchos y muy variados. Si os queréis integrar con ellos y ahorrar unos chavos, podeis comer en una de las múltiples cadenas alimenticias como Eat o Pret A Manger, con comidas naturales y saludables. Por unas 15£ podéis comer 2 personas perfectamente (recalco, al estilo inglés).

Tampoco podéis dejar de entrar en algún supermercado, es el fiel reflejo de una ciudad tan cosmopolita y en la que conviven multitud de culturas diferentes. En el super podéis encontrar comida italiana, hindú, china, japonesa, etc. También te puedes preparar boles con ensalada y sus complementos o comprar comida precocinada, bocadillos y sandwiches (perfecto para ir en plan barato y comer en un parque). Muy recomendable probar las cookies, imaginaos una Chip Ahoy del tamaño de una torta, pero de masa y chocolate blando, que no líquido.

En el tema de la bebida, qué mejor integración que meterte en un pub inglés a tomarte unas pintas de cerveza. Ellos lo hacen cuando salen de trabajar, sobre las 17.30-18.30 suelen estar ya en los pubs haciendo vida social con una pinta en la mano y un pitillo en la otra. Las cervezas más comunes son la Stella Artois, la Heineken, la Guinness y la Amstel. También podéis encontrar la London Pride, negra que se sirve a temperatura ambiente y no está muy carbonatada. La pinta os sale por 3.5£. Tampoco dejéis de probar el cóctel de sandía, hecho a base de vodka y jugo de sandía natural, por unas 7£.

Día 1. Buckingham, Westminster, Piccadilly Circus, Regent / Oxford Street y Regent Park

Empezamos el turismo por la ciudad en la estación de metro de Victoria, fuimos andando hasta el palacio de Buckingham, y otra vez llegamos tarde al cambio de guardia. Todo y con eso estaba plagado de turistas.

Se puede fotografiar el palacio y justo delante se encuentra el memorial a la reina Victoria, que si cogéis buen tiempo seguro que reluce más.

Seguimos la ruta hacia el parque de St. James o Santiago, lugar espléndido para sentarte y relajarte en la hierba o en los bancos, según preferencias. Es el más antiguo de los parques reales de la ciudad y su nombre se lo debe a un hospital de leprosos.

Lo bueno que tiene la ciudad, es que cuenta con multitud de parques que permiten dar un respiro a sus habitantes y turistas. Nosotros nos entretuvimos con las ardillas y los patos un buen rato.

Ya de lleno en la zona de Westminster fuimos andando hasta el Parlamento, pasamos por delante de la Abadía de Westminster y dimos la vuelta a la manzana para encontrarnos de nuevo con el Parlamento y su Torre de Victoria. De nuevo en la abadía, entramos al jardín y el hecho de pagar para entrar a ver la iglesia me produjo escalofríos. Así que me conformé con hacerle una foto.

Big Ben

Abadía de Westminster, puerta oeste

Torre de Victoria, en el Parlamento

Parlamento

Abadía de Westminster, puerta principal

De ahí nos fuimos al puente de Westminster, excelente lugar para ver la ribera del río y los edificios colindantes. Se puede ver el sur y el norte la ciudad, como el London Eye y el Big Ben en todo su esplendor.

Big Ben y Parlamento

London Eye

Puente de Lambeth y sur de la ciudad

Una vez vista la zona nos metimos en el metro en la estación de Westminster y nos fuimos a Piccadilly Circus, esa esquina famosa por su publicidad luminosa y punto de encuentro de muchas quedadas, ya que es la mayor confluencia de tráfico de Londres, no por volumen sino por calles. Decidimos que volveríamos una noche, porque hay que verlo de noche (impacta más) y nos pusimos a comer a lo rápido, en cuanto a comida del primer día, no fue lo más saludable.

Piccadilly Circus

Después de comer enfilamos Regent Street, la zona de tiendas de la ciudad. Si vais con compañía femenina agarraros de los machos porque sufriréis, aunque también está la Ferrari Store, el Apple Center, entre otras.

Para completar la cuadratura del círculo fuimos por Oxford Street, también concurrida calle comercial. Si tenéis dinero para gastar, este es vuestro sitio para vaciar bolsillos y llenar armarios.

De nuevo nos metimos en el metro en Bond Street y nos bajamos en Baker Street, en busca de otro parque fantástico donde reposar después de todo el día al trote, Regent Park. Parecen increíbles los pulmones verdes que hay en Londres, sobretodo muy limpios (algo tiene que ver que en algunos no puedan entrar mascotas). En este parque se encuentran diferentes zonas de juegos e incluso el zoo de Londres.

Al este del parque se encuentran unos coloridos jardines que van hacia el norte, merece la pena hacer el paseo para ver el contraste de colores de las diferentes especies de flores y plantas.

Y aquí es donde acabó la ruta turística del primer día, en el parque tumbados en la hierba viendo pasar londinenses, ardillas y cuervos. Ni decir cabe que terminamos el día con una buena pinta en un pub de Camden Town.

Día 2. Temple, Covent Garden, Trafalgar Square, Horse Guards, Harrods, Hyde Park, Soho y Tower Bridge

Esta vez empezamos el día en la estación de metro de Temple. Al lado de la estación se encuentran Inner Temple y Middle Temple dos de los cuatro colegios de abogados (Inns of Court) de Londres. Estos colegios pueden llamar a sus miembros y titularlos para ejerzan en la abogacía.

Inner Temple fue ocupado por los Caballeros Templarios en el siglo XII y estos construyeron la Iglesia del Temple. Está institución está fuera de la jurisdicción de City of London y del obispo de Londres, aunque esté dentro de la ciudad; digamos que es como una especie de Vaticano.

Dentro de la iglesia se pueden contemplar las efigies de los antiguos Caballeros Templarios, por ello puede que os acordéis si habéis leído y visto el Código Da Vinci.

Salimos  de Temple por el norte y nos encontramos con los tribunales de justicia (The Royal Courts of Justice), edificio de corte gótico que alberga la Corte de Apelación de Inglaterra y el Alto Tribunal de Justicia. Como apunte histórico, en su construcción hubo una huelga de trabajadores locales por lo que tuvieron que usar mano de obra alemana para poder acabarlo, los pobres tenían que comer y dormir dentro del edificio sino querían ser represaliados por los piquetes ingleses.

Una peculiaridad que tienen es que hay ventanillas donde abogados dan consejos legales gratuitos a quien lo necesita y que puedes ver juicios en directo, dependiendo de cuales sean.

De nuevo en ruta nos dirijimos andando hacia Covent Garden, se trata de una plaza, un mercado y un barrio londinense donde se proyectó construir casas para la alta sociedad. Después del gran incendio de Londres de 1666, se destruyeron gran parte de los mercados rivales del este de la ciudad, razón por la cual Covent Garden se convirtió en uno de los mercados más importantes del país.

Aquí hicimos una parada técnica de avituallamiento y probamos una Jacketed Potato, una patata asada que la podías rellenar con lo que quisieras, lo hicimos con pollo al curry por unas 4£.

Después de sentarnos al sol y compartir una patata caliente nos fuimos caminando rumbo a Trafalgar Square. En la misma se encuentra el National Gallery (principal museo de arte de la ciudad) y el National Portrait Gallery (que basa su colección en retratos de famosos), a los que se puede entrar gratuitamente. En la misma plaza se encuentra también la iglesia de St. Martin In-The-Fields.

National Gallery

St. Martin-In-The Fields

Trafalgar Square se construyó para conmemorar la batalla de Trafalgar en la que la armada británica venció a la armada francesa y española en las costas de Cádiz (tendréis que tragaros el orgullo).

En el medio de la plaza se encuentra la columna de Nelson, almirante británico fallecido en la batalla de Trafalgar. La columna mide unos 46 metros y la parte superior está decorada con bronce, procedente de la fundición de cañones británicos. La forman 4 plataformas que representan las 4 grandes victorias del almirante.

En la zona sur de la plaza se encuentra Admiralty Arch, edificio que da paso peatonal desde The Mall a Trafalgar Square.

Nos fuimos caminando de Trafalgar Square hacia la estación de metro de Westminster y por el camino estuvimos viendo Horse Guards, edificio que fue el cuartel general de la Armada Británica. Actualmente está custodiada por miembros de la caballería, tanto a pie como a caballo.

De Westminster nos fuimos en metro hasta la estación de Knightsbridge y bajamos andando por Brompton Road hasta las galerías Harrods. Aunque no os guste ir de tiendas merece la pena ver estas galerías, sobre todo la planta baja, donde el lujo, el orden y los colores dan un encanto especial a las diferentes salas (chocolatería, carnicería, frutería, pescadería, etc.).

Como ya era la hora de comer (la española) nos fuimos a tirar a otro de los grandes parques de Londres, Hyde Park. Se trata de un gran parque de 140 hectáreas dividido por un lago, el Serpentine, donde podéis coger una barquilla y daros un paseo. Nosotros nos tiramos en unas hamacas que hay a disposición para los visitantes a 1.5£ las 2 horas. Perfectas para comer y disfrutar del verde y el sol.

De Hyde Park nos fuimos a descansar a nuestros aposentos para coger fuerzas para pasear por la noche por el Soho. Digamos que el Soho es la zona de marcha y entretenimiento de Londres, está plagado de pubs y restaurantes de lo más variopintos, teatros con sus carteleras llenas de musicales, clubs, etc. También es el principal barrio gay de Londres.

Se podría decir que dentro del Soho se encuentra Chinatown, que para mí son dos calles repletas de restaurantes asiáticos, eso sí ambientados con sus pórticos y sus patos asados en los escaparates.

Después de cenar en un restaurante español y como ya había anochecido, aprovechamos la ocasión para ir a ver Piccadilly Circus y el Tower Bridge de Londres de noche. Para ello cogimos el metro en Piccadilly Circus y nos bajamos en Tower Hill.

Nada más salir de la estación de metro puedes ver el Tower of London, que oficialmente es el palacio y fortaleza de su Majestad. La Torre Blanca  está en el centro de la fortaleza e históricamente ha sido cárcel real, casa de fieras y hoy en día alberga las Joyas de la Corona Británica, que están custodiadas por los alabarderos, o conocidos por Beefeater’s (sí, los de la ginebra).

Fuimos dirección al muelle para tener una buena vista del Tower Bridge, un puente elevadizo que cruza el Támesis que de noche es impresionante. Como no, aproveché la ocasión para tomar una de las mejores fotos del viaje.

Y con los pies hechos polvo de estar todo el día caminando por la ciudad nos fuimos a descansar hasta el siguiente día.

Día 3: Camden Market, de compras en Marble Arch, catedral de St. Paul y meridiano de Greenwich

En nuestro tercer día en Londres nos dedicamos a visitar Camden Market, un mercadillo de lo más variopinto donde venden artesanía, ropa y comida rápida. Es la 4ª atracción turística de la ciudad y puede llegar a atraer hasta 100 mil personas en un fin de semana (menos mal que fuimos entre semana).

En sí, el mercadillo esta formado por otros submercadillos como Stables Market (una especie de poblado medievo con establos) y Camden Lock Market, ubicado cerca del canal de Regent.

Otro minimercadillo curioso es Camden Lock Village que se quemó a principios de 2008, pero que ha ya han reformado totalmente.

No solo está el mercadillo sino que de camino a él hay muchas tiendas en las que sus fachadas digamos que están “maquilladas”, y por su maquillaje puedes saber lo que venden.

Después de ver largo y tendido el mercado de Camden, nos montamos en el metro en Camden Station y nos bajamos en Marble Arch, en pleno Oxford Street. Allí nos dedicamos a ir de tiendas y la verdad es que en algunas la ropa estaba muy barata, por ejemplo un traje (pantalón y americana) valía 35£. Se trataba de Primark.

Marble Arch es un arco construido en mármol blanco que se trasladó a su actual ubicación en 1851. Antes daba la entrada al nuevo Palacio de Buckingham. Como curiosidad sólo a los miembros de la Familia Real y de la artillería se les permite pasar debajo del arco. No tuve tiempo de comprobarlo.

Después de hacer las compras pertinentes y de quedarnos anodadados por la cantidad de cajas con su correspondiente cajero/a que tenía la tienda, comimos un poco y nos montamos de nuevo en el metro en Marble Arch.

Fuimos a parar a la estación de St. Paul, lugar donde se encuentra la catedral de San Pablo. Entramos por la Paternoster Square y estuvimos contemplando la catedral un rato. La catedral fue de los pocos edificios que sobrevivieron a la Segunda Guerra Mundial y se erigió sobre la primera iglesia de Inglaterra, que era de madera. Es en esta catedral donde tienen lugar los eventos de importancia nacional.

Paternoster Square

Catedral de St. Paul

Ya para acabar la ruta turística de la ciudad, nos montamos de nuevo en la estación de St. Paul y nos fuimos derechos a la zona de Greenwich, en la otra punta de la ciudad, al este. Allí se encuentra el primer meridiano de Greenwich.

Después de hacer transbordos con el DLR y disfrutar de las vistas del centro financiero de Londres, la City, nos bajamos en la estación de Greenwich. Al reponernos de la desorientación buscamos una oficina de turismo para que nos indicaran que podíamos ver por la zona (ya sabíamos lo del meridiano).

Para mí, Greenwich lo vi como un típico pueblo marinero de la ribera del río Támesis. En vez de visitar el Docklands con su Cutty Sark nos metimos en el parque de Greenwich y fuimos camino del Observatorio de Greenwich, en lo alto de la colina. Es aconsejable ir con tiempo para disfrutar del museo/observatorio, no como nosotros que llegamos por los pelos. También es gratuito, así que estad preparados para encontrar colas, sobre todo de estudiantes.

Parque de Greenwich

Observatorio

Panorámica de la ciudad

Después de ver un poco el museo y de hacernos la foto en el monumento oficial por donde pasa el meridiano, nos fuimos a disfrutar de las fantásticas vistas de toda la ciudad que nos ofrecía la altura de la colina.

Monumento del primer meridiano

Pudimos ver el Millennium Dome, que es donde se hacen los macroconciertos de la ciudad, la City y parte de la ciudad.

Millenium Dome

La City, centro financiero

Universidad de Greenwich

Después de descansar y de hacer cientos de fotos nos fuimos para casa a reponer fuerzas.

Día 4: Natural History Museum, Kensington Gardens, Albert Memorial y Royal Albert Hall

Para el último día nos reservamos ir a algún museo, y por planificación de rutas nos cuadró el museo de historia natural (Natural History Museum). Para llegar a él nos bajamos en la estación de metro de South Kensington.

En la misma zona se encuentra el Museo de la Ciencia y el Victoria and Albert Museum. En un principio nuestra intención era ver el Museo de la Ciencia también, ya que el tiempo no acompañaba mucho (habían pronosticado fuertes lluvias, heavy rain). La verdad es que nos cayó un chaparrón en la cola del museo, justo el día en que no cogimos ni el paraguas ni los chubasqueros, cosas de la ley de Murphy.

Por si no lo había dicho, la entrada al museo era gratuita, cosa que corroboramos nada más entrar al hall del museo, estaba plagado de gente, niños, abuelos, turistas. La bienvenida al museo no podía ser más impresionante, nos recibió un esqueleto enorme de un diplodocus.

El museo contiene una exposición de unos 70 millones de especímenes. Las colecciones más importantes son las de botánica, entomología, mineralogía, paleontología y zoología.

Las exposiciones que vimos fueron la de los dinosaurios, la de zoología y la de biología humana. En 3 horas no dio tiempo a más. La de los dinosaurios es increíble, sobretodo si nunca has visto un esqueleto de uno de ellos. Como tal, las salas estaban abarrotadas de gente. La exposición de zoología también era impresionante, y no tan concurrida.

Salimos del museo agobiados pensando en las maravillas que habían saqueado los exploradores ingleses en épocas del imperio y nos fuimos a comer a nuestro lugar predilecto, el Pret A Manger (está en todas partes).

Después de comer nos dirigimos a Kensington Gardens, para ello nos montamos en la estación de South Kensington y nos bajamos en Notting Hill Gate, si donde la película (que no he visto).

El encanto de Notting Hill es, a parte de ver la casa de la película, el mercado de Portobello. Pero como era jueves y el mercado era los sábados, nos fuimos directos a Kensington Gardens.

Kensington Gardens son unos jardines contiguos a Hyde Park, se podría decir que son una especie de antiguos jardines reales, los del palacio de Kensington. También, dentro de los jardines se encuentra un estanque redondo, el Round Pound.

Palacio de Kensington

No nos entretuvimos mucho y nos fuimos diretos hacie el Albert Memorial, monumento imponente que se construyó cuando murió el príncipe Albert, a los 42 años.

Justo en frente se encuentra el Royal Albert Hall, uno de los teatros más conocidos del mundo, con capacidad para 8000 personas. Destacan muchas actuaciones a lo largo de l siglo XX, seguro que alguien recuerda alguna (sobretodo las féminas). Fue la Robbie Williams en el 2001 (es que tengo el DVD por casa, jeje).

Al otro lado del Albert Hall, se encuentra el London College of Music. Y en la misma calle se encuentra el Imperial College of London, una de las universidades más prestigiosas de la que hablé hace un tiempo. Todos ellos rodeados por apartamentos/mansiones de corte victoriano.

London College of Music

Imperial College of London

Los apartamentos

De nuevo, con los pies hechos polvo nos fuimos a descansar a uno de nuestros lugares favoritos, Regent Park. De esta manera nos despedimos de Londres (bueno con unas pintas en un pub y una cena en un restaurante tailandés).

Y desde aquí quiero dar las gracias por su hospitalidad y compañía a Mati e Ingrid, que permitieron que invadiésemos su humilde morada.

Más en BdR | Viaje a Londres en enero

WELL, ITS THAT TIME AGAIN!
TIME FOR THINGS THAT

DRIVE DR. JIM NUTS

BVCSM

The little museum that couldn’t in the Big Valley that shouldn’t of which one visitor from Montana says:

“I spent more time in this museum than I did in the Smithsonian”

I posted some of my Royal Tyrrell Museum photos a few days ago, and promised to post some of the pics I took at the BVCS museum that is only a short drive away. Well, here they are.

Last August, I went to the RTM and BVCSM along with my good friends Mary, Natasha and Annabree and we had a great time. Some of us didn’t want to give the BVCSM any money but heck, it was only $5.00 and given all the laughs we got out of it, I think it was money well wasted.

Big Valley is pretty prairie village and have a nicely done website. Its a nice place and if you are touring Alberta, don’t avoid it just because of the creationists!

Big Valley (pic from the town’s website)

Lots of grain elevators like this used to dot the prairies. They are rapidly disappearing as more grain farmers are taking the stairs for the exercise.

St. Edmonds is a pretty blue church on the hill overlooking the town. I did find out which denomination, but I can’t remember (Anglican, I think). Notice the old Union Jack.

The nicest way to get to Big Valley is on the train, but we drove.

The Alberta Prairie Railway runs from Stettler to Big Valley. The train arrived when we were there, but I didn’t a good picture of it. This was the best I could do. Alas. It gets bigger (not better) if you click it.

So, Lets go to the Museum!

A Soffitsaurus? (Velocirafter?)

I was surprised at how nice some of the dinosaur models were. No idea what this is supposed to be. I think it would regard me as lunch.

I had something like that living in the gunk in the sink with my dirty dishes once. I moved.

NOW, THE STUFF YOU’VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR!

It is all the standard stuff that has been refuted a thousand times.

One of the things that figures prominently in the BVCSM is “evidence” for recent dinosaurs.

I wasn’t sure how many pics I could fit in my camera, so I snapped shots of the text but not the displays since similar images are available online. I wanted to preserve the claims made in all of their scientific glory.

Where to begin? Let’s go with the Cambodian “Stegosaurus”

Pinched this photo from here.

It sort of looks like a stegasaurus but what about the big horns on the tail? The head is also way too big. What seem to be plates on the back look like they may be a continuation of the decorations around the spiral form that surrounds the image.

Anyhoo, the BVCSM spins the usual spin, and here is my pic of it. If you can’t read the text, click the pic for a bigger image.

Dinosaurs: only 800 years ago. If that was the case why the heck didn’t the Khymer people make LOTS of images of them, instead of only one! Gee, they covered their temples with pictures and only one stegosaurus?Notice the last line in the text above, hitting home the idea that Darwin abandoned the book of “Truth”. The problem is that the Bible doesn’t refer to dinosaurs at all. Anyone who tells you different is simply reading into it what they want to find.

NEXT!

Apparently some native americans saw a pterosaur and were pterrified into panic-stricken fit of petrogyphing. Here is what the museum says (again, you can zoom in, or swoop in, as the case may be).

Ok, so Darwin only had a theology degree. In those days, fields like biology paleontology and so forth were not the intensely specialized disciplines that they are now. That Darwin did not have a science degree would not have raised many eyebrows. He certainly took his place in the company of scientists, however, and was hardly a marginalized voice. No, he paid his educational dues.

So, back to pterosaurs. This appears to be the same picture as the museum has. The site I found it on has the same book quoted.

Now, according to our museum text, this petroglyph shows a quetzalcoatlus or something similar. It is easy to see how one might make that mistake. It is all a matter of perspective. Of course, a  quetzalcoatlus looks nothing like that. Here is a quetzalcoatlus (on the left).

Notice that it more closely resembles an ugly ass giraffe with a big nose wearing a crumpled artiste’s beret. What the hell is on that rock? Who knows.

Here is another example of the same kind of thing.

The Katchina Bridge petroglyphs.

OK, I won’t bother trying to find a picture of this picture on the bridge, but get a load of this sentence, spanning the two columns:

It is for this reason (the existence of a patina on the image) that the authenticity of this petroglyph is not questioned by the evolutionary experts on rock art.

Now, I don’t know if the claim about the patina is true or not, but even if it is Jumpin’ Jebus B. Gobley, Petrolman! Since when is the study of rock art a part of evolutionary science?  So what if the patina is there and the freakin’ picture is ancient? Why trust a sign that that displays no conception of the boundaries of evolutionary science?

And more…

Here’s a photo of the “dinosaur” I nicked from badarchaeology.com

Here is their explanation

For a start, the picture of the pictograph says a great deal. Firstly, it is reproduced without context; we are not shown other figures from the same rock-face or others from the canyon, against which it might be possible to evaluate it. Is the picture reproduced the right way up? Even allowing that it is, what does it show? There is an outline that somewhat resembles a Tyrannosaurus, but there are problems with the tail, the length of the neck and the lack of front legs. The idea that Tyrannosaurs dragged their tails along the ground may have been current in the 1920s, but it has not been believed for many years now, so if the pictogram really does show a giant meat-eating dinosaur, we need to explain why it is depicted in an incorrect position. A more economical hypothesis is that the pictogram shows something else that bears a slight resemblance to the way Tyrannosaurs were once thought to have looked. It is certainly not evidence that the artist had seen a living Tyrannosaur.

And here is the argument from submarines (eek!).
Stay tuned, it’s a good one.

Sorry about the lousy picture quality. It might be readable if you expand the picture. The gist of it goes like this. Ammonite lives deep in the sea where the water pressure is very high. The shell that contains “buoyancy chambers” is rounded which allows it to withstand the pressure. This is the same way submarines can dive deeply. Submarines are designed. So too were ammonites.

Clearly, if ammonites were not busying themselves millions of years ago evolving a deep sea capable shell, they would not have gotten too far evolving a deep sea lifestyle, now would they? And since when does evolution rule out “round?”. That submarine designers discovered that round things take pressure better than flat sides things is completely besides the point.

And now, DNA is explained (away?)

This is really hard to read unless it is expanded to its full size. Here is the gist of it.

1. The claimed 98.4% match between human and chimpanzee DNA is the product of ignoring large portions of the genome of both species that did not match.

2. Chimp DNA is around 10% longer than human DNA

3. Chimp Chromosomes have a “B2″ sequence at the end, unlike humans

4. Similarities are explainable by a designer employing similar patters in two bits of work.

5. Error correction mechanisms within DNA prevent (at least a lot of) fatal mistakes in replication, and, therefore, something turning into a different species.

6. DNA errors are disorders, not “increases in complexity” and increased “information”.

7. Evolutionists cannot explain increases in DNA complexity.

8. Protiens and their interactions are too complex to have evolved and the whole system is needed for any part of it work.

My companion Annabree knows a lot more about DNA than I or the people who put this display together do, so lets not quibble. But

One would have thought that if the accepted methodology into research about DNA was as badly corrupted as indicated here, scientific discussion of the great similarity between human / chimpanzee DNA would not have seen the light of day. Are all of these scientists dumb or in cahoots? What we have here is not really an argument but a conspiracy theory. And do scientists who study DNA use terms like “complexity” and “information” in the same way creationists do?

Relationships ALWAYS increase in
complexity when you add a chimp.

Anyway, when we visited last year, the guy who ran the place was talking to another fellow about chimp DNA and they agreed that it was nothing similar to human DNA (how do they know that?). One guy said “I’ve never seen a blue eyed ape”. I just about peaked out from around the corner and said “Now you have!” But I didn’t.

Now, sometimes stalactites and stalagmites grow fast in man made caves. The fastest growing ones are those most like the natural growing ones. Therefore, all dating of caves by measuring these things is necessarily false. Just makes sense, doesn’t it?

The Fossil sequence is wrong. Of course, that the peer reviewed science literature suppresses any notice of this only shows the scale of the conspiracy. They are probably in cahoots with people running Area 51, the communists who fluoridated our water, and folks who faked the moon landings.

There were lots of other things, like near instantly fossilized boots, claims that, since some species seem not to have evolved at all over millions of years, nothing ever evolved. All of it has been refuted again and again.

“Evolution doesn’t happen” we are told because modern Brittle Stars look like Brittle Stars from ages ago.

Yeah, right, the Theory of Evolution says that everything must evolve at exactly the same rate. It’s right there on page 37, discussing ferns:

And, of course, the ONLY flood that could have caused fossilization is Noah’s flood. Of course, who would doubt that?

But this last thing really stand out:

EVIDENCE FROM GENEALOGY

YUP, Old Henry the Sixth, whose power comes from the church had some church trained scribes trace his lineage and they got it all the way back to Adam proves the Bible is right. Yeah, right.

Well, anyway, dear readers, there it is, the Big Valley Creation Museum. Doesn’t it make you want to give up your real education?

Kind makes me wish I had a chance to go to the Smithsonian.

Don’t it just drive you NUTS?

Don’t forget to visit my related posts, Know Yer Nuts 1, and some rational comments made by an unhappy customer. I turned his comment to KYN1 into a separate post.

One of my favourite comedy quotes of recent times comes from The Old Guys, a much-underrated and, cruelly, somewhat unheard-of sitcom from the writers of Peep Show, when erstwhile Only Fools and Horses legend Roger Lloyd Pack earnestly delivers the line: “Anyone can use words that mean things, that’s the oldest trick in the book”.

I like it because it’s a subtly funny, clever little line. I also like it because it could be a tagline for what I’m trying – and I did say trying, not necessarily achieving – to do with this blog: highlight the surreal and the ridiculous aspects of everyday life in Britain today tooled up with an expansive arsenal of hot air, waffle and sometimes meaningless drivel that might just be even more surreal and ridiculous than my easy-target subject matter.

Sometimes, though, using words that mean things is probably the better course of action. I’ve just returned from a holiday in the Mediterranean with a head full of ‘hilarious’ examples of broken-beyond-any-chance-of-repair translations into English. Like this wholly baffling sign I found on the flip side of a toilet seat.

It’s funny to laugh at these things, but let’s be fair… it’s not these guys’ first language.

English is, however, the first language of the English, so why can’t we use our words to create something that means something when it matters?

I’ve been back in the country less than 24 hours and already I’ve clocked loads of examples of pieces of communication that should mean something but falter by using words that don’t.

For example, Lambeth was London’s most improved borough in 2008, the side of a car told me earlier as I popped to the shops. Nice, but, on the side of a car, in the absence of any statistics, what does that actually mean? I’d imagine Rio de Janeiro’s most-improved favela might be better than it once was, but you’d probably still be better off buying a second home somewhere else.

And splashed across a billboard at the airport last night: “Gatwick Express – The only way to get from the airport to the city, which also means it’s the fastest”.

Is that really something to boast about? Being the best at something because you’re the only one doing it? That’s like Pop Idol porker Rick Waller saying he’s the best footballer in the world that’s ever covered Dolly Parton’s I Will Always Love You and appeared on Celebrity Fit Club. Which is probably true, but come on.

Chesney Hawkes said he was the One and Only, but no one really believed that he actually was – apart from all girls at the time, but I’m sure they’ve since learned the error of their ways. So surely no one actually takes any notice of this kind of nonsense either?