We began our day in ecumenical fashion by attending services at the United Methodist Central Hall in London. This enormous church is next door to Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament. It was built in 1912 as the world headquarters of Methodism and served as the site of the first meeting of the United Nations in 1946. Its enormous central auditorium seats 2,352 although the space is designed to feel much smaller. The sanctuary is dominated by an enormous pipe organ around which the choir is seated, giving it all a rather Mormon Tabernacle-esque feeling. The service was nice enough, and the people were extraordinarily friendly, but what really surprised us was when the time came for the children to head off to Sunday School. To our surprise, all three of our girls were eager to go. They happily left Mom and Dad without a murmur and went off somewhere in the cavernous bowels of the building with the other children. Are these the same little girls who had to taken to their Sunday School room at St. Pauls Hammersmith by their parents and bribed heavily to allow us to leave? It was a moment of realization for us as to how much our little girls have grown emotionally in our two months in London and a moment of pride in just how secure all three of them have become.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
We See Our Girls In A New Light At Methodist Hall
We began our day in ecumenical fashion by attending services at the United Methodist Central Hall in London. This enormous church is next door to Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament. It was built in 1912 as the world headquarters of Methodism and served as the site of the first meeting of the United Nations in 1946. Its enormous central auditorium seats 2,352 although the space is designed to feel much smaller. The sanctuary is dominated by an enormous pipe organ around which the choir is seated, giving it all a rather Mormon Tabernacle-esque feeling. The service was nice enough, and the people were extraordinarily friendly, but what really surprised us was when the time came for the children to head off to Sunday School. To our surprise, all three of our girls were eager to go. They happily left Mom and Dad without a murmur and went off somewhere in the cavernous bowels of the building with the other children. Are these the same little girls who had to taken to their Sunday School room at St. Pauls Hammersmith by their parents and bribed heavily to allow us to leave? It was a moment of realization for us as to how much our little girls have grown emotionally in our two months in London and a moment of pride in just how secure all three of them have become.
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1 comment:
No doubt my granddaughters have matured while in London. But, the prospect of seeing other children would have a great draw since they get to see so few at the moment.
Grandma Dorothy
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