Day 12, "The day I discovered that there is a beer named after me"

This morning began with Matins at 7:30 followed by Eucharist at 8:00. The services were similar enough to back home to make me think I knew what was to be said next but were different enough so that I was normally wrong. One of the guys from Nashotah pointed out to me that their liturgy speaks more about being a family than ours does, I didn’t quite notice that but I wasn’t really looking for similarities and differences.
After the service we had breakfast and then moved on to stark up the program. We began with a bible study of the road to Emaus Story which led to us each talking about how we found a home in the Anglican Communion. I was really touched by the stories of some of the members of my group. I won’t go into detail about their stories as they are not mine to tell, but the Anglican Church was there to help them through some very tough times.
We broke form this for coffee then went back for an introduction to the program. It seems like it’s going to cover a range of ground but all seems very interesting. Kathy Grieb will be with us for a week and with her we’ll look at the letter to the Philippians all week, I’m psyched for that. Also, on Monday we head to London and will hear some pretty interesting sounding lectures but more exciting is that we’ll get to meet Rowan Williams.
After this was lunch and then the afternoon was our own. I came back to my room and crashed. Evensong was the boys choir tonight. They were marvelous. I found out later that the boys live on campus and attend a school nearby. The Cathedral also pays for two thirds of their school fees.
We all had dinner over at the deanery tonight. The house is amazing. It is the former priory of the monastery that was here pre-reformation, and includes old roman walls in its construction.
After dinner Jason, David, Ann, Elyse and myself went to a pub right outside the main gate. The conversation was similar to last nights with Jason & David but it was nice to hear from the girls. We also discovered that at this pub they have a beer named Greene King IPA. Unfortunately, it did not live up to what I expected from the name.
Tomorrow we get a guided tour of the cathedral which I’m pumped for. Which reminds me, I talked to Tom Lewis tonight on the interwebs and might get a chance to meet up with him after the program ends here.