A tale of two churches

People from Bournemouth will be well aware of there being a church on every corner - or so it seems at times. Over the course of these three months I've seen a lot of churches and cathedrals. It's been an immense joy and privilege. Worshipping in various cathedrals along the way as well as seeing them as a 'tourist' has also been a wonderful experience. On our river cruise I don't think there's a been a day when we've not been into a church. Local village churches to a city's cathedral. It's been fascinating - there have been churches that have felt calming and prayerful through to those who have felt 'noisy' and very far removed from being places of calm.

As I come to the end of my sabbatical we are in the last few stops of our river cruise, today being moored on the outskirts of Frankfurt. We’ve opted to take the tour to Heidelberg, about 60 miles away. This historic large town lies to the south of Frankfurt and consists of a castle dating back to the 13^th century. Located high on a hill overlooking the town it’s been repaired and expanded over the years. It holds, apparently, the largest wine barrel in the world.

During our time here we got the chance to visit the Jesuit church (Jesuitenkirche Heiliger Geist und St. Ignatius). Mass had just finished so the air was still thick with the wonderful smell of incense. It was a beautiful church – simple and renovated in the 1950s with simple pews and a large marble square holy water stoop at the entrance; the white walls not spoilt with huge amounts of artwork or intricate statues. I was very much struck by the simplicity especially after the ‘noise’ of some of the very over the top decors in places like Passau.

Just down the road was the Protestant cathedral of The Holy Spirit (read more HERE). A very different space taking modernity to the extreme with some striking contemporary stained glass windows and cross that hung high above the nave that changed colour as one moved around the building (you can see an image of the windows HERE - I didn't take any photos of them). I liked this cathedral too – both just seems very ‘clean’ and lacked clutter that seems to be part of church buildings all over the world. I was also very struck by a few deckchairs they had in the church - you'll see them in the pictures below. The child's version had printed on it 'God's Child' with the verse from Matthew's Gospel 'let the children come to me....' and on the adult version of the chair 'resting place' with 'he makes me lie down in green pastures' from Psalm 23.

Our last day is in Cologne. I am looking forward to seeing the magnificent cathedral there as my time away comes to its conclusion. I am very much looking forward to switching the 'out of office' off, seeing people in the parish once again and reconnecting and seeing where God might be taking me on the next stage of my ministry.

A reminder for those in and around Bournemouth who are interested in hearing more about my travels over the course of three months. Friday 5th September at 7.30pm at St Luke's Church. Please let me know you're coming via the link HERE.