The Lord's Day

Due to the running of the Istanbul Marathon, attendance at Holy Communion at Christ Church Anglican Church was not possible as the roads on our side of the Bosphorus were all closed. We went with a DIY Service in the hotel…. And as the wine cost over £4 a glass, it was one of the most ‘expensive’ services I have ever celebrated!

After we had celebrated Holy Communion, a relaxed morning ensued. For some, drifting down beside the tramline to explore the Railway Station that used to greet the Orient Express train as it arrived at ‘the end of the line’. (The Station is suitably grandiose – even though it now greets electronic powered trains rather than the triumphant stamp trains of old. There are beautiful stained glass windows and fine architectural features that reminded us of editions of Poirot!) Others headed towards the Archaeological Museum which holds a whole host of treasures, so well worth the visit.

For the first group, a brief drift past the Spice Market brought us to the Mosque that I had tried to visit the day before. The welcome was warm and the space much freer as this was not a time for prayer. The group spent a long time here, enjoying the time and space to explore this house of prayer. Outside there were booklets and pamphlets available to be picked up and taken away – to inform the visitor about both the Prophet Mohammed and Islam. You could even pick up a copy of the Qur'an to take away and read in your own time. This made a number of us ponder and comment upon just what we make available in our churches to help people discover more about who Jesus is, as well as about the Christianity as a whole.

Coffee in a local café and then on to Istanbul Airport for the flight to Izmir (Biblical Smyrna). More anon…