Yesterday was the hottest day of the year in London so far in 2008 and we lined up to for the “Walk of Witness” for the Millennium Development Goals. Bishops as far as the eye could see! Purple cassocks combined oddly with sun hats - no mitres here - and the bishops’ wives’ dresses and millinery.

And, of course, the “usual suspects” from the inter-faith world: the Chief Rabbi, Indarjit Singh, Iqbal Sacranie and other representatives of non-Christian faiths, from Baha’i to Zoroastrian.

We set out along Whitehall just after 10.30 a.m., probably around a thousand people in all, walking in solidarity for the Millennium Development Goals.

I fell into conversation with a bishop or two as we walked. By the time we reached Parliament Square and were passing the Houses of Parliament I was talking to the wife of an Irish bishop about the Bahá’í Faith and about inter-faith relations. We were surrounded by Anglicans from all over the world. Some clearly had never been in London before and greedily snapped the famous buildings that we were passing: the Palace of Westminster, Westminster Abbey, St Margaret’s church, Big Ben…

One man stood on the pavement in Parliament Street with a placard that read “Jesus did not ordain sodomites’. One bishop dismissed this with the comment that Jesus never ordained anybody.

And TV new teams and tourists filmed and photographed and recorded this extraordinary ecclesiastical demonstration.

We crossed Lambeth Bridge and entered Lambeth Palace, the Archbishop of Canterbury’s official London residence, for a rally and a speech by Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

Speeches

The ecclesiastical ladies and gentlemen (there was a noticeable presence of women bishops amongst the gathering) took their ease under the trees in the courtyard of Lambeth Palace before listening to the Archbishop of Canterbury -reiterating the Micah Challenge (…what does the LORD require of you? To do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God. [Micah 6:8]) - call for increased commitment to the Millennium Development Goals and hearing Prime Minister Gordon Brown give an impassioned speech about the evils of poverty and disease. The Prime Minister spoke very well, he spoke from the heart, and he spoke with genuine emotion about his experience of meeting AIDs orphans in Africa and about the longing of poor African children to go to school.

Lunch

After the speeches we repaired to a vast marquee in the Lambeth Palace gardens for lunch. I was amongst those invited to sit at one of the tables reserved for special guests of the Archbishop of Canterbury and found myself next to Dr Harriet Crabtree, Director of the Inter Faith Network for the UK. Harriet’s other neighbour at lunch was Henry Grunwald QC, President of the Board of Deputies of British Jews.

Lunch seemed like organized chaos,but was good. I have to say I did wonder about the propriety of eating such a good lunch after hearing speeches calling for the halving of poverty by 2015.

Buckingham Palace Garden Party

Lunch done, it was time to make our way to Buckingham Palace for the Garden Party given by Her Majesty The Queen for those attending the Lambeth Conference.

One is not supposed to take photos inside Buckingham Palace, so I didn’t, but I can tell you that the Queen has a very large garden. At 16 hectares (40 acres) it’s the size of a small farm and very much bigger than my back garden. In fact, my back garden would fit many times over into the Queen’s patio (although I’m sure she doesn’t call it a patio) at the back of the palace.

Needless to say, we had to pass through the now obligatory security checks and show a couple of bits of ID before getting into the magic garden. Ten years ago Erica and I were at the Buckingham Palace Garden Party and all we had to do then was to show our invitation card at the bobby on the gate. Now you can’t get in to to see the Queen without flashing your passport and a gas bill.

After getting through security, we walked through one of the two arches in the front façade of the palace, through the main quadrangle, up the red-carpeted steps and handed our entrance cards to the uniformed flunky at the top.

Another flunky removed the by-now empty bottle of water that I had carried over from Lambeth Palace.

Through a large ground-floor room and out onto the West Terrace (the Queen’s patio), down the steps and into the bishop-strewn gardens.

Hold ground, see friends - and drink tea

These garden parties follow a set pattern. Gates open at 3.00 p.m. Tea is served in the tea tent from 3.30 p.m. until 5.00 p.m. At 3.40 p.m. the Yeoman of the Guard “hold ground” - in other words, they march out and form a large rectangle into which only the chosen are admitted. At 4.00 p.m. one of the two bands strikes up the National Anthem and the Queen and Prince Philip (in morning coat and topper) appear, as if by magic, on the terrace.

Equerries (is that what they are called?), dressed in morning coat, top hat and tightly furled umbrella, marshal errant bishops and line up selected bishops and other ecclesiastics and their spouses. The Archbishop of Canterbury then presents the chosen ones to Her Majesty for around 30 minutes, after which the Queen and the Prince and various invited guests proceed to the Royal tea tent for tea.

The class system is alive and well. The equerries are gentleman, retired military officers, and are to be distinguished at all times from the servants. (Ten years ago the servants all seemed to drawn either from a senior citizen’s care home or from the GCSE year of the local comprehensive school, and the elderly flunky who took our admission cards had a hole in his glove. This time, however, there was a more even distribution of ages and no holy gloves.)

(Have a look at this list of positions within the Royal Household. You will be amazed.)

While this was going on it was a pleasure to take a turn with Paurushasp Jila,  President of the Zoroastrian Trust Funds of Europe, around the lake and the gardens. It is difficult to believe that one is in the middle of London when one is in this 40-acre haven of peace.

I caught up with various ecclesiastical and Church of England friends. I also talked to a senior Buddhist monk who was full of praise for the Bahá’í temple in Delhi, as well as Hindu, Jain, Muslim and Sikh friends.

I must say that the Queen serves a nice tea - it was a light afternoon blend - and (of course) cucumber sandwiches, rich chocolate cubes, small tarts with strawberries and cream, and other goodies. All served on china - none of your paper plates for the Royal tea party.

Sadly I didn’t get to shake hands with Her Majesty.

Paradox

All this is wonderful stuff and great fun - but I wonder if Jesus would recognize all or any of this as being what He intended?

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