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DAY 3 Tuesday, 3 June 2025 After taking sleeping pills the night before, we awoke around 6:30 after a refreshing night's sleep. About 7:30 we had breakfast in the hotel, where we met several in our tour group, which numbered 39 persons. Soon after the tour bus departed about 8:30, a light rain fell till early afternoon. Our first stop was in the village of Chawton where we visited the house of novelist Jane Austen from 10:15 to 11:15. She lived between 1775 and 1817. Her first book, "Sense and Sensibility," was published anonymously when she was 36 years old. Because of the chilly rain, we did not sing our planned hymns in the garden at Jane Austen's place. By noon we were in the town of Hursley where we spent about 3 hours in the Hursley Parish Church. It was here that hymn writer and minister John Keble served for 30 years. He was an Anglican priest and poet who lived between 1792 and 1866. Inside the Hursley Church we sang "Lord, We Come Before Thee Now" and "There is Sunshine in My Soul." We sang "Sun of My Soul" at the gravesite of its author, John Keble. Returning inside, we sang "Hail, Gladdening Light" (translated from Greek by John Keble) and "Lead, Kindly Light" (written by cardinal John Henry Newman, a friend of John Keble). Members of the Hursley church provided a tasty light lunch of English finger foods. Following the meal we sang in the choir section (which is called the quire). Our first song, "Hallelujah, Praise Jehovah," was requested by one of our hosts. Then we sang "This Is My Father's World," "For the Beauty of the Earth," "Alas! And Did My Savior Bleed," "All Things Bright and Beautiful," "Come, We That Love the Lord," and "Eternal Father, Strong to Save" (which happens to be the official hymn of the U.S. Navy and the British Royal Navy, written after a shipwreck near Hursley). Since we were sitting in two groups facing each other, we sang, "What can wash away my sin? - Nothing but the blood of Jesus" as an antiphonal song. By 3:00 we were on our way back to London. We arrived at our hotel at 5 p.m. The two of us walked to a nearby shop with Mark Crews to purchase and eat delicious Portuguese tarts. Mark returned to the hotel, leaving us to check out the stores and eateries in the neighborhood. We ate supper at the hotel with our group at 7:30 p.m., singing "Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow" as we did every night on this trip before the evening meal. We were in our room at 9:00 and ready to sleep by 10:30. DAY 4 Wednesday, 4 June 2025 Breakfast was served in the hotel restaurant with our new friends. At 8:15 we all walked 10 minutes to Pepperdine University's London campus for a tour of the site. In the college library, the group sang "O Worship the King," "Praise the Lord," "Jesus Calls Us," "Am I a Soldier of the Cross?," and "The Gospel Is For All." The remainder of the day was free (i.e., unscheduled) till supper. The two of us went with Mark and Roxi Crews via the subway to the Hampstead section of London, where they lived in the early 1990s. We walked by their old residence and wandered around the neighborhood, stopping at a small museum. We ate lunch at The Old White Bear pub, just a few doors away from their former home. Jeannie had fish and chips with mushy peas (which tasted much better than it sounds). Michael had a fish sandwich with french fries. For dessert we four shared sticky toffee pudding. After eating we walked to the Parish Church of St. John-at-Hampstead. After a short visit inside the church and its surrounding graveyard, we returned on the subway toward our hotel. We were back in our room at 2:30, early enough that we two decided to cross the street to the Victoria & Albert Museum. We saw a violin made by Antonio Stradivari in 1699. An hour visit was enough for our tired feet at this free site. We returned to the hotel to start packing for the next day's departure. Supper was served at 5:15 to our tour group in the hotel restaurant. At 6:15 we were all on the bus to the Apollo Victoria Theatre to enjoy the musical performance of "Wicked." DAY 5 Thursday, 5 June 2025 We had breakfast at 7 and left on the bus at 8:10. It was a rainy day. We stopped briefly at a rest stop about 10 o'clock. After the bus was again on its way, we sang eight songs: "Our God, He Is Alive," "I Will Sing the Wondrous Story," "How Sweet, How Heavenly," "Walking Alone At Eve," "Love Divine," "This World Is Not My Home," "There's Within My Heart," and "When The Roll Is Called Up Yonder." Jeannie can't read and ride at the same time, but sang almost every word and every note from memory. Arriving at Bristol, England, by 11 o'clock, we visited the Wesley Chapel Museum. It is attached to the oldest Methodist building in the world, built in 1739. Charles Wesley wrote many of his 6,000 hymns while he lived in Bristol. We sang some of those songs in the very chapel where they would have been heard for the first time. We sang these eight tunes: "Soldiers of Christ, Arise," "O For a Thousand Tongues To Sing," "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing," "Christ, The Lord, Is Risen Today," "To Canaan's Land I'm On My Way," "Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus," "Love Divine," and "Jesus, Lover of My Soul." Various people in our group led these songs here. All but one of the songs were written by Wesley. About 12:30 we arrived at Bedminster Church of Christ in Bristol, where we were served lunch by several of the church members. After lunch we sang from their hymnal these eleven hymns: "All Things Are Ready," "We Gather Together," "Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah," "Great Is Thy Faithfulness," "Father of Mercies, Day By Day," "Love Divine, All Love Excelling," "My Faith Looks Up To Thee," "Sing On, Ye Joyful Pilgrims," "Magnificat," "The Greatest Command," and "Sing the Wondrous Love of Jesus." We left their church building about 2:30. At 3:00 we visited the Bristol Cathedral, where we were allowed to sing till 4:00 in a back chapel. Our voices filled the cathedral as we sang these fourteen hymns: "There Is a Habitation," "All Hail the Power of Jesus Name," "It Is Well With My Soul," "On Zion's Glorious Summit," "Holy, Holy, Holy!," "The Great Redeemer," "Sweet Hour of Prayer," "A Wonderful Savior," "Be Thou My Vision," "Blessed Assurance," "O Lord, Our Lord," "The Lord is in His Holy Temple," "Love One Another," and "The Lord Bless You and Keep You." Shortly after 6:00 we checked into our rooms at the 16th-century stone Manor House Hotel in the village of Moreton-in-Marsh in the Cotswold area of England. Supper was served in the hotel restaurant at 7:30; we finished at 9:30. DAY 6 Friday, 6 June 2025 We left the hotel about 8:30. Our first stop was in nearby Bourton-On-The-Water where we sang nine songs in the Baptist Church. Song writer Benjamin Beddome preached here for 52 years in the 1700s. We sang "I Know That My Redeemer Lives," "God Is the Fountain Whence" (written by Beddome), "Father, Whatever of Earthly Bliss," "O God, Our Help in Ages Past," "God Moves in a Mysterious Way," "Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah," "Grace Greater Than Our Sin," "Heaven Holds All to Me," and "God Be With You." At 10:45 we stopped at Buckland village where we were invited into Hill View Cottage by the residents, F. LaGard Smith and his wife, Ruth. They led us up the hill to the 12th century St. Michael's Church. In the quire (choir section) we sang seven songs: "Shall We Gather at the River," "I Need Thee Every Hour," "We'll Work Till Jesus Comes," "Why Did My Savior Come to Earth," "When the Roll Is Called Up Yonder," "Breathe On Me, Breath of God," and "Beyond the Sunset." F. LaGard Smith remarked, that for most people in England now, churches are only used for "hatch, match, and dispatch," meaning christenings at birth, marriage ceremonies, and funerals at death. We arrived at 12:50 at Stratford-Upon-Avon, birthplace of William Shakespeare. After lunch at various restaurants our group toured the Shakespeare Centre, including walking through Shakespeare's former residence. Next we rode our bus to Holy Trinity Church, where we were permitted to sing the short hymn, "Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow." Shakespeare was buried inside this 13th century church. At 4 o'clock we took a 10-minute ride to MacDonald Alveston Manor House Hotel, where we had a long rest till the evening meal in the hotel restaurant at 7:30. DAY 7 Saturday, 7 June 2025 We traveled an hour to the tiny village of Astley where England's greatest female poet and hymn-writer, Frances Ridley Havergal, was born in 1836. In the ancient St. Peter's Church, where her father served as rector, we sang eleven hymns: "Let Him Have His Way With Thee," "The Spacious Firmament on High," "The Lord's My Shepherd" (music by John Campbell), "The Lord My Shepherd Is," "The Lord's My Shepherd" (music by Jessie Irvine), "Lord of Our Highest Love" (music by Frances' father, William Havergal), "I Bring My Sins to Thee," "I Gave My Life for Thee," "Is It For Me?," "True-Hearted, Whole-Hearted," and "Lord, Speak to Me." Frances Havergal wrote the words of these last five hymns. On her tombstone in the churchyard is engraved, "By her writings in prose and verse she being dead yet speaketh." At her gravesite we sang her song "Take My Life and Let It Be," first with the melody by Mozart and then again with the melody as written by McIntosh. Then we sang again the first verse using the tune to "Lord, We Come Before Thee Now" to demonstrate how some hymns can easily be sung to a different melody. We departed Astley, England, about 11:30. Two hours later we stopped in Llangollen, Wales, for lunch and exploring till 3:00. We walked over the River Dee on the 14th century bridge (one of the "seven wonders of Wales"). We arrived at 4 o'clock at the 17th century Crabwall Manor Hotel in Mollington, England. DAY 8 Sunday, 8 June 2025 After buffet breakfast in the hotel at 7:00, we were on our way at 8:10 for England's scenic Lake District. We arrived about 10:30 at the Wall End Church of Christ in the village of Kirkby-in-Furness. Their stone church building was constructed in 1876. William McDougall was their minister till he died in 1882. At his grave in the cemetery behind the church, we sang a couple verses of "Low in the Grave He Lay" before having to enter the building when it started raining. We assembled for worship at 10:45 with the local members. Before the sermon by our leader, D. J. Bulls, Jr., we sang eight songs led by various members in our tour: "Come, We That Love the Lord," "Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah," "I Know Not Why," "Holy, Holy, Holy!," "Blessed Assurance," "Hallelujah! What a Savior" (a.k.a. "Man of Sorrows"), "My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less," and "What a Friend We Have In Jesus." During the sermon we sang the six verses of "Bless Be the Tie That Binds"; and repeated it after the sermon. As was custom with this congregation, we stood for every song. After our time of worship concluded, the local church members served a feast for us for lunch. At 2 o'clock we were aboard the bus for a 40-minute ride to Lake Windermere where we boarded a passenger ferry at Bowness-on-Windermere. After 40 minutes on the lake we arrived at Ambleside. We then met our tour bus which took us the short distance to Rydal Mount. At this historic home and gardens, England's Poet Laureate, William Wordsworth lived from 1813 till his death in 1850. Returning to the bus at 4:45, on our way to our hotel we sang seven songs: "How Great Thou Art," "Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee," "Bringing in the Sheaves," "Buried With Christ," "Jesus, Rose of Sharon," "Just Over in the Gloryland," and lastly "The Lord Bless You and Keep You" as a farewell to our bus driver. Our room for the night at the Old England Hotel in Bowness-on-Windermere overlooked the lake. DAY 9 Monday, 9 June 2025 We departed at 8:30 on the tour bus with a new driver, passing through northern England. Immediately after crossing the border into Scotland, we stopped at the famous Blacksmiths Shop at Gretna Green. Since 1754, thousands of eloping couples (as young as 14-year-old boys with 12-year-old brides) have come from England to be married by the village blacksmith to take advantage of the less restrictive marriage laws in Scotland before the 20th century. Their love was symbolically "forged" by the blacksmith thrice banging a hammer on his anvil while the groom placed his hand over his bride's hand lying on the other end of the anvil. At noon we left for Abbotsford, the residence of author Sir Walter Scott from 1812 to 1832 near Melrose, Scotland. We began with tea, sandwiches, and scones at 1:30. After a guided tour of Scott's house, we entered the Scott family chapel where we sang sixteen hymns: "Sing to Me of Heaven," "Home of the Soul," "Lead, Kindly Light," "Lead On, O King Eternal," "Be Still, My Soul," "Angels From the Realms of Glory," "There Is a Fountain," "The Sands of Time," "We Saw Thee Not," "I Come to the Garden Alone," "In the Land of Fadeless Day," "Savior, Lead Me," "Wonderful Grace of Jesus," "How Shall the Young Secure Their Hearts?," "Hilltops of Glory," and "Christ, We Do All Adore Thee." At 5 o'clock we were on our way to Edinburgh, Scotland's capital city. We were in our room at the Intercontinental Edinburgh the George Hotel about 6:30. The hotel is just a block off Princes Street, purportedly one of the most beautiful avenues in Europe. DAY 10 Tuesday, 10 June 2025 This was a "free day" to explore the city on our own. We left the hotel at 8:45 on a bus with about half of our tour group. The driver pointed out many landmarks on our way to Edinburgh Castle. When we arrived at the castle about 9:45, we discovered that entrance tickets were sold out till midafternoon. Everyone chose to skip the castle. The group did not stay together as we began the walk downhill along the Royal Mile (a.k.a. High Street), checking out the tourist shops along the way. It was a pleasant day to be outside with temperature in the 60s and lots of sunshine. At lunchtime, we two found a tasty Italian meal. We were back in our room around 2:30 for a nap. Our evening meal was served at 5:30 in the hotel restaurant. Afterward, we walked next door to the historic St. Andrew's and St. George's (recently renamed the New Town Church of Scotland). Here we enjoyed an evening of hymn-singing with members from several Churches of Christ in Scotland. From 7 p.m. till 9 p.m. we sang 23 tunes with these 24 songs: "The Ninety and Nine," "Beneath the Cross of Jesus," "It is Well With My Soul," "Walking in Sunlight," "O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go" (said to be the best known Scottish song to Americans), "O Sacred Head," "Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise," "Fairest Lord Jesus," "To Us a Child of Hope is Born," "Here, O My Lord, I See Thee," "I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say," "Yes, for Me, for Me He Careth," "Be Still, My Soul," "Father, Hear the Prayer We Offer," "My Jesus, As Thou Wilt," "I Have Found a Friend in Jesus," "I Love to Tell the Story," "O Praise the Lord," "I Will Sing of My Redeemer," "Twas on That Night" (then we sang the first verse of "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross" to this same tune, as it is sung in Scotland), "Dear Lord and Father of Mankind," "I'll Live in Glory," and "No Tears in Heaven." The sun set in Edinburgh at 9:57 p.m. Compare to setting at 8:32 in Fort Smith, Arkansas. DAY 11 Wednesday, 11 June 2025 The sun rose at 4:27 a.m. Sunrise was at 6:02 in Fort Smith on this date. Our tour bus left our Edinburgh hotel at 8:30. We stopped about 10 o'clock at a woollen mill in Jedburgh, Scotland, for a 30-minute rest stop and shopping. Twenty minutes later we were back in England. At noon we stopped an hour for lunch at Brocksbushes Farm Shop near Corbridge, England. As we rode south, we glimpsed a remnant of Hadrian's Wall, built by Roman soldiers in the second century. We arrived in the little village of Escomb, England, about 2 o'clock. There we visited the most complete Saxon Church in England. It has been a place of continuous Christian use since it was built in A.D. 670. Inside we sang these 17 hymns: "Hold to God's Unchanging Hand," "There is Power in the Blood," "There is a Habitation," "Holy, Holy, Holy!," "His Grace Reaches Me," "He Leadeth Me," "Hear Me When I Call," "There's a Wideness in God's Mercy" (then sang it again with the tune of "Come Thou Fount of Ev'ry Blessing"), "Higher Ground," "He Lifted Me, O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go," "I Stand Amazed," "I'm Not Ashamed to Own My Lord," "God Is Calling the Prodigal," "At Even, When the Sun Was Set," "At Calvary," and "God Will Take Care of You." It was a thrilling experience to sing in this ancient church, whose walls have heard every form and style of church music for over 13 centuries. We traveled about 45 minutes to Durham, England, where we checked into the Durham Marriott Royal County Hotel at 4:30. Then the two of us walked a half mile to see the Durham Cathedral, built between 1093 and 1133, the finest Norman cathedral in all of England DAY 12 Thursday, 12 June 2025 After breakfast our bus departed the hotel about 8:30. About an hour and a half later we arrived in York, where we were free to explore the old town inside the ancient city walls. The weather was perfect with partly sunny skies and just below 70 degrees. We walked through York Minster, one of the world's most magnificent cathedrals. The site has been the center of Christianity in this part of England since the seventh century. We explored the Roman ruins below this Anglican church. We found an Italian restaurant for lunch. Everyone was back on the bus for departure about 1:30. About 2:45 we stopped at Wakefield-Horbury, where the Anglican priest Sabine Baring-Gould wrote "Onward Christian Soldiers" and "Now the Day is Over." In the Church of St. John the Evangelist, where Gould served, we sang those two songs followed by these seventeen: "There's a Royal Banner," "Will You Not Tell It Today?," "I Know That My Redeemer Lives" (by Fillmore), "I Know That My Redeemer Lives" (by Pounds and Rosecrans), "I Know That My Redeemer Liveth" (by Pounds and Fillmore), "I Know That My Redeemer Lives" (by Wesley), "Peace, Perfect Peace," "Jesus, Meek and Gentle," "In the Desert of Sorrow and Sin," "Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross," "Glory Be to the Father," "God Is Love," "Praise Him! Praise Him!," "O Listen to Our Wondrous Story," "Redeemed" (by Crosby), "Redeemed" (by Rowe), and "Count Your Blessings." At 4:30 we began our two and a half hour journey to the Hilton Northampton Hotel in Collingtree, England, where we would stay our final two nights. DAY 13 Friday, 13 June 2025 After leaving the hotel about 8:30, we arrived 45 minutes later at the ancient, but very well-preserved, All Saints' Church at Brixworth. This Saxon church was built in 680 A.D. Here we sang eight hymns: "The Love of God," "Because He Lives," "'Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus," "Nearer, Still Nearer," "I Sing the Mighty Power of God," "Joy to the World" (originally written for Easter), "Lo! What a Glorious Sight," and "The Lord My Shepherd Is." We were on our way again at 10 o'clock. Our next stop was the 300-year-old Castle Hill United Reformed Church in Northampton (called Doddridge Chapel for many years). Philip Doddridge was the first minister here from 1729 to 1751. In the church sanctuary we sang eight hymns (the first two by Doddridge): "O Happy Day," "O God of Bethel," "O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing," "O God, Our Help in Ages Past" (music by Croft), "O God, Our Help in Ages Past" (music by Bradbury), "This Is the Day the Lord Hath Made," "All Creatures of Our God and King," and "Alas! And Did My Savior Bleed." Then we all squeezed into the church vestry to sing again, where the song was written in 1755 by Doddridge, "O Happy Day." By noon we were at Northampton Church of Christ where we were fed lunch by its members. Then we sang in their gathering place till 1:30. Most of the songs were by request of various people in our tour group. We sang these fourteen songs: "Lo! What a Glorious Sight," "When My Love to Christ Grows Weak," "Again the Lord of Light and Life," "What Wondrous Love Is This," "Home of the Soul," "He Will Pilot Me," "Ring Out the Message," "Heaven Came Down," "The New Song," "Sing Me a Song About Jesus," "O Master, Let Me Walk With Thee," "Sing and Be Happy," "Living By Faith," and "Grace! 'Tis a Charming Sound." At 2 o'clock we entered the churchyard of the Olney Parish Church (a.k.a. the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul) and sang the world's most famous hymn, "Amazing Grace," at the gravesite of the man who wrote it, John Newton. Inside the church in the quire (the choir section), we sang these six songs by John Newton and William Cowper: "How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds" (music by Hastings), "How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds" (music by Reinagle), "Hungry, and Faint, and Poor," "God Moves in a Mysterious Way," "Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken," and "Amazing Grace" (twice more, using two different melodies). Returning to the grave of John Newton, our friends Mark and Roxi filmed the two of us singing Albert Brumley's "The Sweetest Song I Know" which is about the Amazing Grace song. We are scheduled to record this song with Praise and Harmony at the end of August. Our group then walked past the old vicarage where Newton wrote "Amazing Grace." It was first sung in the Olney Church on 1 January 1773. Before touring the museum at Cowper's former residence, we sang "O for a Closer Walk with God" at his tiny Summer House in the garden. We were back at our hotel at 4:30. Following the evening meal, our group met in a private room to express final farewells. Many spoke of their positive experiences during this wonderful hymns and history trip. We sang our last (and 220th) song of the trip together: "Be With Me, Lord." Michael had to excuse himself a bit early to return to our hotel room in time to join an hour-long video conference call at 9 p.m. regarding his role on a medical mission team to Honduras coming in September. DAY 14 Saturday, 14 June 2025 We left the hotel with two other couples at 3:30 a.m. for transport to Heathrow. We were dropped off at the airport about 4:45. Our 9-hour American Airlines flight to DFW left on time around 8:30 a.m. About an hour into the flight, a huge breakfast (with dessert!) was served. Then we napped some. There was about a 4-hour layover in Dallas. We were home by 6:30 p.m. We are looking forward to our next trip. In a few weeks we are scheduled to be having fun singing for a week on a Caribbean cruise with Keith Lancaster's family, Acappella members, and hundreds of other Christian singers.

Our adventure in Great Britain did not disappoint. All but two songs were without musical instrument accompaniment, and the group's strong voices drowned out the "noise" of the instrument. Most of the thirty-nine people in the group demonstrated keen sight-reading talent when singing several hymns that were unfamiliar. We were not surprised, but nevertheless disappointed, that our elderly voices were not consistently the quality we wanted. With trying to sing dozens of songs daily, nasal allergies and vocal cord strain contributed to mild frustation at times. In spite of this, Michael believes the experience improved his vocal skills. God has blessed us with many vacations outside the States, and we are always changed in some way by those opportunities. This trip stands out as particularly unique. It was such a blessing to travel for nearly two weeks with a crowd of other Christians who enjoyed, as much as we did, to sing hymns of praise to our God every day. We believe the words expressed are more important than the notes sung. The places we visited that were connected to the songs made this trip particularly meaningful. We found Dr. Bull's knowledge unsurpassed about vocal music, historical references, and inspiring stories explaining how some of the songs came to be written. We were frequently reminded that faithful and devout men and women, so many now long dead, have blessed us with their God-given talent. May the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit continue to be praised in song.

Those who shared this adventure with us: Larry & Samantha Adrian, Chester & Debbie Amidon, Mike & Shirley Brigham, Derald & Lesa Bulls, D.J. & Meghan & Mackenzie Bulls, Michael & Jeannie Cole, Mark & Roxi Crews, Duane & Suzanne Cunningham, Sean & Rebekah Dozier, Mark & Laura Flippin, Daniel & Lyn Goggin, Jeff & Sharon Grady, Grace Guill, Jane Hall, Gary & Becky Lewis, Jean Miller, Amy Noble, Canaan & Michelle & Brooke Noble, Eric & Diane Pruett, Ray Sorrells, Walter & Valerie Starks Wall End Church of Christ, Sunday, 8 June 2025

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