Faith & Footprints

FAITH & FOOTPRINTSBy Kelly Wise Valdes Winchester Cathedral – Winchester, England

Winchester Cathedral is one of Europe’s greatest churches, boasting more than 1,000 years of beautiful and fascinating history, including one of the world’s most exquisite Bibles, the 11th-century crypt and author Jane Austen’s final resting place. In addition, Winchester Cathedral is one of the largest cathedrals in England, with the longest nave and overall length of any Gothic cathedral. With an overall length of 558 feet, which is longer than a football field, it is the longest medieval cathedral in the world. A walk around the cathedral will display centuries of English architecture adorned with ancient works of art, from paintings to carvings.

Once the seat of the royal power of the Anglo-Saxons and Normans, the church was built on the grounds around A.D. 645 and over the next 350 years it became the most important church in Anglo-Saxon England.

By A.D. 1000, it became one of the most distinguished cathedrals in Europe. Its early European roots are visible in the round-arched crypts and transepts, and over the centuries, soaring Gothic arches were also added, as were spectacular works of art, medieval carvings and a 12th-century, 1.5-ton marble baptismal.

Also inside the Winchester Cathedral is the 17th-century Morley Library donated by Bishop Morley. Plus, inside the gallery is the Shaftesbury Bowl, the last surviving example of late-Saxon glass in England. But one of the most notable and historical addition to the relics is the Winchester Bible — the largest surviving 12th-century English Bible.

This Winchester Bible is a masterpiece. It was commissioned in 1160 by William the Conqueror’s grandson and is a historical handwritten, hand-illustrated and hand-colored Romanesque manuscript that also includes vibrant gold leaf from Afghanistan.

The cathedral is also a visitor attraction, a venue for music and the arts with a diverse program of concerts, exhibitions, family activities and more. Welcoming more than 300,000 visitors a year, the cathedral continues to also serve as a place of worship.

For tour information, visit www.winchester-cathedral.org.uk.

Live Like You Mean It ...

God: “You Had One Job!”

By Derek Maul

“For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you,” —Colossians 1:9.

Last week, sadly, I drove over to First Presbyterian Church in Wilson, North Carolina to collect my wife Rebekah’s car and clean out her ofce. The trip marked the end of possibly the shortest interim pastorate of all time. She worked one week, she fell, she broke five bones, she resigned.

But her short time was anything but wasted. The one beautiful Sunday in worship. The opportunity to meet with and encourage several groups. The instant sense of community. The chance to preach one foundational message.

The sermon was supposed to be the first in a series. But if she was limited to just one message, then I’m glad it was “The Gospel.” “Why,” she asked, “does this church (any church) exist?” And the answer — always — is to share the good news about Jesus, to communicate the message by living the truth of it out loud.

Maybe what God is showing us (through Rebekah’s dramatic ‘one-anddone’ tenure), is the power of sharing the essential gospel story? Then, having delivered it, to simply let it marinate, percolate, stew, steep, rest. Maybe ‘rest’ is the best of those words to get at this idea.

I don’t know who reads this column, but maybe this is a broader message to the church in general? Maybe we all need to sit on — to rest in — this foundational idea. I can imagine God’s assessment: “You had one job!” All of us, as believers, had one job: Tell the story, share the good news and invite people to come home.

Not to condemn, not to guard the door, not to judge, not to lecture, not to blame, not to berate, not to focus on other people’s sins, not to complain, not to discourage, not to reject, not to browbeat, not to manipulate …

“If you, Lord, kept a record of sins,

“Lord, who could stand?

“But with you there is forgiveness,

“so that we can, with reverence, serve you,” — Psalm 130:3-4.

Derek Maul has written for many news outlets, including the Tampa Tribune, Te United Methodist News Service, All Pro Dad, FOCUS Magazine, Newsweek, USA Today, Te Christian Science Monitor, Presbyterians Today, Guideposts, Chicken Soup for the Soul and many other publications. Read Derek Maul’s daily blog posts at www.derekmaul.wordpress.com

7/31/2022

7/31/2022