How sad we were not to be worshipping with our Rivermont EPC family this morning, and yet it was good to worship with our fellow believers in Durham, England.

Before the worship service we got to spend some more time with Robbie and Jane-Ellis over breakfast catching up on the last few years and marveling at God’s faithfulness through them.  It did our heart good to be with them and there three boys.  I think playing with the their three boys tempered some of our homesickness.  While we were doing that, we got to do some much- needed laundry as we get ready for our last leg.

After worship, we got on the train for the hour-and-a-half train ride to Edinburgh, Scotland.  To say that the country side was beautiful does not do it justice.  The countryside is idyllic as it is dotted with sheep, stone walls and stone farm houses.  We even saw an old man walking in a field playing a bagpipe.  From the train, we also saw the ruins of a 500 year-old castle, called Lindisfarne, which is also the name of the island it is built on.  What is significant about Lindisfarne or Holy Island as it is called now is that in 635AD Saint Aidan came from Iona and chose to found his monastery on Lindisfarne. The Christian message flourished here and spread throughout the world.

After arriving into Edinburgh, we got settled into the hotel and then our friend Jay Thomas Hewitt and his wife Andrea, met us at the hotel to go on a walking tour of Edinburgh.  We got to see Eindburgh Castle, which was built in the 11th century and looks over the city of Edinburgh. Battles and sieges were fought over it, royalty lived and died within its walls, and countless generations have been inspired by it.  From there we walked down the Royal Mile, which connects the castle to Hollyrood Palace, which is where the Queen of England stays when she holds court in Edinburgh.  This took us to St. Giles Cathedral, which is the historic City Church of Edinburgh and the Mother Church of Presbyterianism.  The church, which is located on the Royal Mile, has a crown spire towering above the church.

Clay, Jay Thomas and I went to meet Mark Sterling, who is a pastor in the Church of Scotland, for dinner.  Over dinner we talked about the possibilities of starting an EPC Presbytery in Scotland as well as the next steps to explore that possibility.  We were very encouraged by the meeting and have a great deal of respect of Mark and the others.  For the first time in our trip, it rained on us, so Mark was kind enough to drop us off at the hotel.

We head out tomorrow for Paris and a quick break before we see the Sydnors in Lille and the Gasslers in Albertville…