I leave for the airport in an hour for the flight to Dallas/Fort Worth. From there the flight to London is nine hours and I arrive at 7:30 am Wednesday London time. Our first meeting is Wednesday afternoon at 3:30. I'm not sure what it is, but it looks to be something pretty light. That will be the first time the group gathers and we meet one another.

I will offer a few comments by way of background on the Church of England. Since I am only minimally familiar with the Church of England I hope Jeanne Lutz will comment freely on what I post.

Historical evidence suggests Christianity spread to England prior to A.D. 314. During this early history the English church maintained sporadic connections with the church in Rome. The early roots began to decay and Christianity nearly died out. Elements of the Celtic Church remained in Ireland and Scotland. The flames of faith were reignited in 597 when Pope Gregory sent St. Augustine (not St. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo: 354-430) to reestablish the church in England. As the representative of Rome St. Augustine became the first Archbishop of Canterbury and was later appointed the Christian leader (Primate) of all of England.

While the roots of the Church of England date back to the third and fourth century, her independence from Rome came during the reformation of the 16^th century. Over a period of decades England’s ties to the Holy See were strained by both authority and financial requirements, but the catalyst for the final break with Rome came with the Pope's refusal to annul the marriage of Henry the VIII. With one brief period as an exception the Church of England has been independent from the oversight of the Pope ever since.

The more I plan these blogs, the more I see that the vast majority of the church's history has been a reaction to Rome and the Papacy. Clearly all of church history has been a series of reactions to decisions made by those in power. The Papacy drawing the most attention and negative reaction. Even the response to the decisions of the Churchwide Assembly this past August are simply another example of reactions to decisions. Some questions we can ponder - are these theological issues that divide or social/cultural. Most often the divisions get framed as theological, but I suspect there is more behind the decisions than pure theology.

This trip will be like a tour of church schism. While we will talk about ways to bring Christians together, we will need to understand what separated us and ask do those things still separate or are we free to work together? Of course something new will separate us won't it?