Another Sunday, Another Cathedral

There are four cathedrals in London. Herein, we have previously mentioned and attended three--St. Paul's and Southwark, which cover the Anglican dioceses north and south of the Thames, and Westminister, which is the great Roman Catholic cathedral. We had not known initially about the fourth cathedral, St. Georges, which covers the Roman Catholic diocese south of the Thames. That was our destination of choice for this morning's services. I am glad we did it because it was a very different experience than we have had so far in London's "brand name" houses of worship. St. Georges is in the "gritty" park of town. It does not serve well-heeled tourists and society people but rather it is the church of the working man. People go there not to be seen but to find spirituality. A large part of the congregation is black, and in the African tradition, the brighly colored headscarves, hats and dresses on the women add to the show. The men's choir adds to the pageantry and is aided by some beautiful voices in the congregation. . The best I can describe it is the way I have encountered other great churches. It is as like Westminster in London meets Abbysinian Baptist in New York with a dash of Christ Cathedral in Zanzibar. Despite the priest with the heavily African-accented English and the lack of showing jewels and adornments, it was certainly the most authentic house of worship we have yeet encountered in London, and it may be my new favorite as well.