Day 6 - Aberdeen

On June 5, 2016 we started out the day going to St. Andrew’s Cathedral. There we shared the body and blood with people from all over the world. Shortly after the service, we went to their after-church reception and mingled with the congregation, many of whom were Nigerian. All of them were very welcoming and very open about their faith and participation at St. Andrew’s. Afterwards, we did lectio in the church and read 1 Corinthians 10:14-17. We discussed how cool it is that 80 million people all over the world are partaking in the same worship. We come together as one even though we are many.

Next we went to lunch and just about all of us collectively ate entire pizzas. After lunch we were split up into two groups. One stayed in Aberdeen to shop and the other went to play soccer and golf. The shoppers ended up going to a mall. Many of the girls bought clothes and perfume while the boys stapled 30% sale tags to themselves. The second group went golfing first. Call and Phillip both scored a par on one hole, while Stuart took at least five minutes to make contact with the golf ball. Once she did, it took a nice roll of about five feet. The second group then went on to play soccer.

Afterwards, we all partook in the 6:30 Evensong service at St. Andrew’s. Evensong is a prayer service where the priest and the choir sing together in harmony. All of the pilgrims were a bit restless until the choir sang the anthem. It was so beautiful and brought the listener peace and calmness. Shortly after we walked to dinner and dined on delicious Peri-Peri chicken. We then went back to our hotel and grabbed our BCP’s and journals. Like every night we ended in compline and sharing our junk, joy, and Jesus. It’s really cool to see how much closer the group is now compared to when we landed in Edinburgh on Monday. Everyone is much more comfortable with being open about their faith and sharing their opinions. Like the body and blood, this group has come together as one.

-Turner and Mary Ashley