Coventry - Olney - Kettering Concerts

Sorry for the lack of posts but we've been without Internet until this evening. Coventry acted as our home base for the three days with concerts held in Coventry, Olney, and Ketting. The tour also visited Stratford-upon-Avon (home of William Shakespeare), Broadway, and Moulton (home of William Carey who helped start the Baptist Missionary Society). Each concert has been well received and the audience has been very responsive.

Central Hall Methodist Church Concert in Coventry.



Here are The Centurymen practicing for the Concert at Olney the home church of John Newton who authored Amazing Grace.



The gravesite of John and Mary Newton in the Parish Church of St. Peter and Paul, in Olney.



A street concert in the town square in Olney.



William Carey House in Moulton. William Carey translated the Bible in several translations and helped start the Baptist Missionary Society and served as a missionary in India.



Concert at Fuller Baptist Church in Kettering.





Pictures of the countryside as we traveled to Bangor, Wales.



Just a note regarding our Prayer Requests. Joe Walters is back on the tour but he's still recouperating. Please pray for our remaining concerts in York, Stockton, and Edinburgh.

We appreciate your prayer and support.

Dan & Alice Arterburn

Concert All Soul's Church - Travel to Brockworth

The Centurymen gave two mini-concerts at All Soul's Church Langham Place this morning in the 9:30 AM and 11:30 AM services. Check out this evangelical church of England:

http://www.allsouls.org/ascm/allsouls/static/index.html

The church really has a heart for the lost and are ministering to the people of London. All Soul's is mission-minded and multi-cultural. Imagine a pipe organ with a drummer, guitar, complete string section, a worship leader and two female vocalists. AWESOME!

Hugh Palmer, the senior pastor, is very Bible believing and teaches very practical Biblical truths for everyday living. He really understood the challenges of the church today and spoke to his congregation and challenged them to take their faith to the streets...every day.

The concert today included, "My Tribute", arr. Red/Joubert - Soloist: Renay Joubert; "O God, Our Help in Ages Past" arr. Red; "Every Time I Feel the Spirit" arr. Red/Joubert.

It rained on and off all day, at times it was pretty heavy. The bus ride from London to Brockworth was about 2 hours. A beautiful drive. Here are some pics from today's concert and travel to the rolling hillsides of Brockworth, Glouchestershire.



These pictures are of The Centurymen during the 9:30 AM services.





Here's the drive to Brockworth, Glouchestershire:





In the hotel we put in about 3 hours of practice time. Here they are working on some new music.



Today one of our dear Centurymen, Joe Walters, from St. Simon's Island, Georgia, became ill this morning and we had to leave him in the hospital in London. We're hoping he can rejoin the group in a few days. Joe has served The Centurymen as historian and is a charter member of the group. Please pray for Joe's speedy recovery. We're all so sad to have to leave one of our group behind in a strange city. The travel agency has been very thoughtful and provided an agent to stay with Joe until he get's back on his feet.

We love you Joe!

Prayer requests for today:

• Joe Walters speedy recovery,


• A little less rain for travel,


• Monday July 7th Concert - Central Hall Methodist Church, Coventry,


• All those who will hear the word of God, may their hearts be softened.

Amen.

London - Day 2

Sorry we didn't post from Day 1 in London but we'd been up for 32 hours straight and as soon as we ate supper, we crashed. Also, we inquired about Internet access today and it was $30.00 per day. It really makes you appreciate our free hotel Internet in the good old USA.

For the last two days the men have been practicing and we've been sightseeing cathedrals. St Paul's, Wesley Chapel (and John Wesley House and today Westminster Abby with a quick drive by Buckingham Palace and Parliament. So far The Centurymen have had 2 hours of practice yesterday (July 4) and 2.5 hours today (July 5). The practice today was a Spurgeon College about 1.5 hours away from our hotel. Their first concert is tomorrow at Concert - All Souls Church, Langham Place, London at 9:30 & 11:00 AM. We'll try and post pictures tomorrow, Internet willing.

Here are a few choice pics of London, for the entire London Set, go here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/93795963@N00/sets/72157605992708648/

St Paul's Cathedral dome. Under construction as usual, so we found out.











Westminster Abby Entrance. Click the Flickr link above to see the entire London photo set.


















Buckingham Palace changing of the guard.













Parliament while the sun was shining. A little rainy today.












More to come tomorrow. We're getting a very early start in the morning and leaving London for Coventry after the 2nd concert tomorrow morning. The Centurymen will have a 4 hour tomorrow afternoon as soon as we arrive with a concert in Coventry on July 7th at 8:00 PM.

Our prayer requests:

• Continued good health,
• Pray for the hearts of those attending the concert, and
• Good weather.

Check back on the blog and we'll post concert pics. Love you all.

Dan & Alice Arterburn

In Atlanta - Check In for Flight Tomorrow

Well, today was interesting...what a blessing. They say what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Today our faith got a lot stronger. The Lord does provide and he proved it this afternoon. Our travel agency truly bungled our reservation and we weren't able to confirm or assign seats until 24 hours before the flight. So, the Arterburns drove to Atlanta to make sure we had confirmed seats. One problem, the British Airways counter closes around 6:00 PM Eastern. Yep, we get here park and get to the counter and it's like a ghost town. Not a live body in sight, creepy, really creepy.

The Lord provides. An American agent was passing by and we asked how we could contact another ticket counter. They were all gone. What a blessing Tammy was. She called the One World Alliance and tried to get our seat assignments but the travel agency had truly messed up our reservation and they wouldn't make any changes until the day of departure. PERIOD.

We got to chatting with Tammy and she looked down and asked if we were from Old Hickory, she was originally from Donelson and her husband grew up in Hermitage. Her maiden name was Lake and she truly was a "jewel" and an answer to prayer. Alice wished she had her American Airlines recognition slips for effort above and beyond what is expected, she'd have given her the whole stack!

She offered to assist us tomorrow if British Airways was still having problems. Amazing to find a bit of home in such a impersonal place.

Second really strange occurrence. We're walking out of our Fairfield Inns in Kennesaw, GA., and run right into Peggy Ferguson and her husband. Yes, our Peggy Ferguson that worked in the HHBC office and moved to Arizona. She and her husband had just moved back to Nashville about two weeks ago and had driven to Georgia to visit their son and grandchild. Small world isn't it?

Alice's back is doing much better, the drugs have really done the trick. Thank you for lifting her up in prayer.

Our prayer requests:

1. Safe travel for all 150+ Centurymen and Friends.
2. Good health for our precious singers. The temperatures in London and Scotland are going to be highs of 50s to 70s...brrr.
3. The hearts of those in services and concerts. May their hearts be open to the word of God.
4. Renewed spirits of the many pastors and missionaries that we will make contact with.

Amen.

We're Getting Ready

It's been a busy month already. We've been getting travel documents in order for our trip to the UK starting July 3rd. We appreciate everyone's well wishes, prayers and support. The Centurymen never travel unnoticed. As you can imagine, 200+ folks traveling together require quite a bit of preparation and organization. Our travel guides and Centurymen leadership have invested many countless hours to make this a meaningful journey. Please pray for us and everyone that has prepared the way for The Centurymen as we present the word of God through music in the UK.

We'll be adding pictures, sound bites and links as the trip progresses. We'd like to have each of you that read messages here, comment and lift us up in prayer.

Here's our schedule for the trip:

• July 3, Thursday - Day 1: Atlanta, GA - British Airways travel to the UK overnight, arriving the UK Gatwick Airport, July 4th 7:40 AM in the morning. Note: the UK is 6 hours ahead of Nashville.
  
  
• July 4, Friday - Day 2: London - Arrive in London, Passport and Customs Control checkpoint. Highpoints for the day are visiting Wesley's Chapel, Bunhill Fields and St. Paul's Cathedral and of course trying to stay awake! The Centurymen will be practicing at All Souls Church, Langham Place. We'll be staying at the Holiday Inn Regent's Park. Not sure if we'll be posting to the blog during our stay, as internet access is 15 pounds ($30+).
  


• July 5, Saturday - Day 3: London - Morning will be spent sightseeing London's West End and Westminster Abby. The Centurymen will be practicing all afternoon at Spurgeon's College, South Norwood Hill, London SE25 6DJ. Tel: 020 8653 0850. Our first concert is on Sunday, we hope everyone has been practicing their music!


• July 6, Sunday - Day 4: London/Gloucester - Concert at 11:30AM at All Souls Church for the first morning worship service. By 1:00PM we'll be on our way, by touring coach, to Gloucester. In Gloucester, we'll be staying at the Gloucestershire Hotel. Pray for the group as they're rehearsing at the hotel, sans piano, until ???. I guess until we get it right.


• July 7, Monday - Day 5: Gloucester/Coventry - English breakfast is an experience. Bacon, more like country ham, eggs, pastries, fruit, and tea. Alice loves English tea, so she's going to be happy. Today we'll visit Coventry Cathedral, check into the Coventry hotel and a formal concert at Central Hall Methodist Church, Warwick Lane, Coventry, CV1 2HA. Tel: 024 7622 3564. Imagine 100 men wearing tuxes, amazing. We'll post photos as we progress through the trip.


• July 8, Tuesday - Day 6: Coventry - We'll be staying in Coventry for 3 nights and taking side tours to other cities close by. Today we tour to Olney, Parish Church of St. Peter & Paul where John Newton, former pastor, wrote "Amazing Grace". I'm getting goose bumps thinking about it. Imagine the sound of the Centurymen singing in these old cathedrals, truly a worship experience. The group will give a brief concert in the town center before rehearsal in the afternoon. Tonight will be a formal concert at Parish Church of St. Peter & Paul, in Olney.


• July 9, Wednesday - Day 7: Coventry - Today we're traveling from Coventry to Moulton, where we'll visit a shoe cobbler shop where William Carey spent his days making shoes and praying for the people of the world who did not know God. In the afternoon, we'll travel to Kettering and stopping at the Widow Wallace's House where the Baptist Missionary Society was formed. They later sent William Carey, yes our beloved cobbler, as a missionary to India. The Centurymen will setup for a formal concert at Fuller Baptist Church.


• July 10, Thursday - Day 8: Coventry/Bangor - Tour to Bangor through Chester. Rehearsal today will be at the Penrallt Baptist Church where we'll hold a formal concert in the evening.


• July 11, Friday - Day 9: Bangor/Wetherby - Off to local schools for 15 - 20 minute concerts and travel to Wetherby. Traveling this morning to the charming town of:
  
  Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch
  
  We'll just call it Llanfair, more on this lovely town later. The Centurymen will give a concert in front of the train station in Llanfair. Here's a link to the Wikipedia pronunciation:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.ogg

• July 12, Saturday - Day 10: Wetherby/Stockton - Departing Wetherby to York Minster Cathedral. The Centurymen will be giving a concert in front of the Great East Window. Then off to Stockton-on-Tees with a formal concert at the Tabernacle Baptist church.


• July 13, Sunday - Day 11: Stockton/Edinburgh - Off to Edinburgh and a worship service on our coach (bus). Formal concert this evening at St. Giles Cathedral.


• July 14, Monday - Day 12: Edinburgh - Morning tour of Edinburgh Castle and setup in the Great Hall for a concert. This will be one of the only days we're allowed "on our own" free time in the afternoon. Whew!


• July 15, Tuesday - Day 13: Edinburgh/Departure - We'll be flying out of Glasgow Airport then London Gatwick and returning to Atlanta, GA. Dan was born in Glasgow, Kentucy, and we'll be able to say we've been to Glasgow in the UK.

Our prayer request is for strength and safety to reach the lost in the UK and that God will prepare our hearts for the wonderful blessing he has in store for us.

Dan & Alice Arterburn