4th of July, English-style!

Well, our Fourth of July was not exactly traditional, but it was an all-day celebration! Wade started off the day with a communion service at Totley Rise Methodist Church, followed by another, family worship service. During the later service, the Independence of America was thouroughly honored! The children were dressed as characters from American history, including cowboys and cowgirls, George Washington, Marilyn Monroe, Britney Spears, a basketball star, and an astronaut! The above picture is Davis with Ann, otherwise known as "The Statue of Liberty", who leads the children's ministries. They put on a play relating our Declaration of Independence to our freedom as the body of Christ!



Cowgirls!


George Washington!


Davis was the American flag-bearer, and paraded in beside a boy carrying the Union Jack.

The congregation sang "The Star Spangled Banner" beautifully, which brought tears to my eyes. They commented how everyone should know the tune, since they hear it played so much at the Olympics! Afterwards, many people asked why we hold our hands over our hearts, and complimented the beauty and emotion of our anthem. It was fun to share some of our heritage with these wonderful people who have shared so much of their with us!



Wade, Davis, and Brooke taught "Jesus Loves Me" to the children, which is not well known among the younger generation, though the older members of the church did know it.

We were very touched that our English friends were so honoring of our special day! It was a wonderful worship service, full of spirit. After the service, there was an "American style BBQ" party, complete with burgers and bouncy castles!








It was a joyous afternoon!

Our next celebration was the well-dressing service on the Dore village green, of which the keynote speaker was Wade! Well-dressing is an ancient tradition unique to the Derbyshire region of England. Villages in this area have their well-dressing celebrations throughout the summer months. It began as a pagan tradition, in which people worshipped the earth and gave thanks for the water. Now the service is very much a Christian service, giving thanks to God for the water, and led by the local clergy and scouts. The well-dressing is made from all natural elements, flowers, seeds, and herbs set in clay. Each year a special theme is chosen for the well-dressing, a closely guarded secret.



This year, amazingly, the theme was "The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe" from the Chronicles of Narnia! How nice of them to choose a theme to go along with our theme for the blog! It is actually the 60th anniversary of the publishing of CS Lewis's classic allegorical tale. We couldn't have been more pleased. We actually had the opportunity to watch the women of the community make the well dressing--it starts with the idea a painting of the scene, making a transparent outline to transfer to the clay, outlining the pictures in peppercorns and other natural materials, then the decorating. The ladies were going in and out to fetch flowers from neighborhood gardens.



You can see the actual well below the dressing.


Wade speaking at the service.


The Preacher, The Wife, and The Children, with The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe!


Wade with David and Daphne Willie, a retired minister couple who have been a great support during our time here.


After the well-dressing service, we headed to the Dore Methodist Church for cream tea--here is Wade's sister Connie enjoying the tea and scones with jam and cream. Yum Yum!

So, no fireworks, but a great day was had by all--it was definitely a Fourth of July we will never forget! God Bless America, and God Bless England!