I left before the rest of the team for "The City" - the district in London which is the financial, legal, corporate center of the city. My goal was just to "feel" the life of the City, and then to experience the marketplace teaching ministry of St. Helen's, Bishopgate.
On Fleet Street I was pleasantly surprised to stumble upon a "Protestant Christian Bookshop". I browsed there for a while, and picked up two books that I had lent out and which were never returned: The Forgotten Spurgeon, by Ian Murray, and the first volume of Dr. Martyn-Lloyd Jones' biography, also by Murray. I also picked up a biography of Wilberforce by John Pollock and a used book called "Urban Harvest" which shares a biblical perspective on Christian mission in the inner cities.
I wound my way up the Strand to St. Helens. I resisted the impulse to stop at the many retail stores selling high end shoes and suits (I like shoes and could easily spend lots of money on them if I had it!).
St. Helens, Bishopgate is surrounded by high rise corporate buildings including Lloyds of London. Over 300,000 work within the Square Mile in which they are located. I attended the Tuesday lunchtime talk that has been going on at St. Helens for many years (originally started by Dick Lucas). Before the talk I had a brief chat with the Rector of St. Helens, William Taylor who shared the essence of what they are doing with their marketplace ministry.
After the talk, I walked back to St. Pauls (which was amazing!) to meet Jenny and the kids. We toured St. Pauls and walked up the stairs to the highest observation point.
After St. Pauls, we walked to Chesire Cheese Factory, a very old pub where Samuel "Dictionary" Johnson as well as Charles Dickens frequented, as well as many other famous individuals such as Voltair, visited...
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