October 12 – The London Journey Begins ...

It is difficult to describe what has just happened to us; all of us in fact. In a way we went home, to our deepest roots. We walked along side Wesley. We ran along side his most recent heirs, not in the Methodist Church, but in the Church of England. It touched all of our hearts. What follows is the story of a gift, a gift of the Holy Spirit.
We flew out of Lexington a couple of hours late. Becca sat by me on the place ride to Chicago traveling to Jacksonville, Florida to visit her family. It was good to sit with her and hold her hand up until the last minute. I would not see her again for a week, the longest time that we had been apart during our marriage. The weather was good, yet as we deplaned, Chicago earned its nickname again and again: the Windy City – cold and blustery. All the more reason for last minute hand holding.
We were traveling light by order of our guide The Rev. Dr. Tory Baucum. He is a professor of preaching at Asbury Theological Seminary, a one time episcopal priest and candidate for Bishop, who is now attached to the Anglican Church. He is more precisely attached to the Holy Trinity Brompton Church in South Kensington area of London. People will know this church as the home church for the Alpha Course, an evangelical tool that is finding remarkable success all over the world. I kissed Becca ‘goodbye-for-now’ and she flew off to Jacksonville. With the rest of the Beeson pastors, I hopped on the plane for London.