Day 05 - Durham: Durham Cathedral

Opening reflection: To frame the day, we began with a question - what is a legacy? What legacy do I see here in Durham?

What legacy do I want to leave for those after me? Reflections below…

Just outside the cathedral, we met Dr. David A. Petts (https://www.durham.ac.uk/staff/d-a-petts) of the Durham University Archaeology Department. David led us inside, a magnificent 12th century cathedral, replacing earlier church structures present since at least 998 AD, meaning there has been continuous worship on this site for over 1000 years. David showed us the Chapel of the Nine Altars past the end of the nave and transept, where thousands of pilgrims would have received communion at nearly continuous services in the middle ages. We also saw the burial site or “shrine”of St. Cuthbert, an early Abbot and then Bishop of Lindisfarne monastery (635 AD) on the coast. Durham Cathedral and Castle site are a World Heritage Site - recognized for global historic significance (https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/370/0).

Following our time in the cathedral, we exited through the cloisters to the priory, now housing the Cathedral Museum, which contains original artifacts related to first millennium Christianity - many early celtic crosses and Christian burial carvings. We also saw a visiting exhibit of the Magna Carta - a third edition from 1217 (original 1215, second 1216, final 1225), signed by the English Nobles and King Richard I himself. The Magna Carta matters, because this was the moment in world history where political rule moved from REX LEX (the king is law) to LEX REX (the law is king). Our US constitution is based on the Magna Carta - its significance to world history and American history cannot be overestimated.

We then ran through the adjacent Museum of Archaeology (very cool to go with an Archaeologist picking around for his own finds!) and saw local artifacts from the Norman, Anglo-Saxon, Roman, and even bronze age periods! We paused outside Durham castle - a stone’s throw from the Cathedral (all on the same mountain-top) and heard a closing talk from archaeologist David and prayed for him and for us to continue in the faithfulness of 1000 years of Christian faith. At that point people were ready to scatter and eat and shop! A few hours later we packed up the bus and headed for Newcastle on Tyne…

Closing reflection: What did we see? What legacy? What of Durham’s legacy? What of ours?

One of us shared how God had called Bezalel and Oholiab and given them skill to build a temple - not from the tribe of Levi! But from other “regular” tribes - and gifted them to make beautiful things for the service of God’s temple. Riffing on that, another said to understand who God made you to be - and be the best at that. The masons and woodcutters and painters created a legacy in Durham cathedral that provides a house for worshippers still - 1000 years later! This happened because Anglo-Saxon King of Northumbria Oswald invited St. Aiden from Iona (a monastery on the west coast of Scotland) to come and build a church and monastery for his family and people in 635 AD. And when the vikings raided Lindisfarne on the coast, they moved the relics of the saints and the monastery to Durham - where worship still continues - and we were able to join them today, all praise be to our eternal God!

Tomorrow, on to Housesteads Roman Fort at Hadrian’s Wall in the morning, and the afternoon at Lindisfarne Holy Island…