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Tour |
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10 Day |
Day 1 - NEW YORK
Depart JFK Int'l Airport on
our transatlantic flight for Amsterdam, Holland, to begin our
exciting adventure into Baptist heritage history. Not only is Holland
a microcosm of all that you've ever imagined Europe to be, it was a
welcome door to many religious refugees fleeing persecution during
Reformation times. (meals in flight)
Day 2 - AMSTERDAM
Upon arrival in Amsterdam,
Europe's largest preserved historic district, met and transferred by
our WWCT representative to our hotel for overnight. Remainder of day
on our own-dinner at hotel. Amsterdam offers impressive historical
significance, but is greatly revered for what the Dutch call
"gezelligheid"-a charming quality that can best be
translated as "coziness".
Day 3 - AMSTERDAM
After breakfast, a tour of
Amsterdam including a visit to the Rijksmuseum to see the Rembrandt
collection, the Anne Frank House, Baptist sites, and a diamond
factory. Lunch like the Dutch in a Broodjeswinkel (on our own), then
visit Dam Square, the Floating Flower Market, and the Tower of Tears.
Last but not least, enjoy a cruise on the canal. Return to hotel for
dinner & overnight.
Day 4 - AMSTERDAM/THE HAGUE/LEIDEN/DELFT
Today we start with a tour of
The Hague, home of the Royal Family and the seat of government. See
the Parliament Buildings, Carnegie's Peace Palace (if Court is not in
session), the Old Town Hall, and much more. Continue to Leiden, an
old university town, where Separatists Robinson, Brewster, and
Bradford led the "Pilgrim church", and where the
"Ancient Church" of Francis Johnson migrated from England.
Brewster and Bradford migrated to Plymouth on the Mayflower; Robinson
intended to follow them later but died in Leiden five years later.
Return via Delft, world-famous for its porcelain, and visit a
porcelain factory. On through the lovely countryside to hotel for
dinner & overnight.
Day 5 -
AMSTERDAM/EDAM/MARKEN VOLENDAM/ZAANSE SCHANS
A full day of sightseeing in
North Holland today. Visit Edam, famous for its cheese, and visit
Marken, the touristic little fishing village with its dark-green
painted wooden houses, and where the population still wears folklore
costumes. This afternoon visit the clog factory at Volen- dam and the
windmills at Zaanse Schans. Return to hotel for dinner & overnight.
Day 6 - AMSTERDAM/LONDON
Transfer to airport for
flight to London. Upon arrival in London, board the English bus and
begin excursion of the city of London featuring Westminster Abbey,
the Changing of Guard at the Buckingham Palace, Tower of London,
Trafalgar Square, National Gallery, St. Paul's Cathedral, Piccadilly
Circus, Big Ben, Tomb of Queen Elizabeth I, the Coronation Chair with
Stone of the Scone, and much more. Check in at hotel for dinner & overnight.
Day 7 - LONDON/CAMBRIDGE
After breakfast a pilgrimage
through parts of England of Baptist history. In London, visit Newgate
Prison, a popular prison of the Reformation, where Helwys was
confined soon after his return to England from Holland, and where he
apparently died in 1616. Sightsee through the Spitalfields section
where historians consider the place of the first Baptist church on
English soil (through Helwys & General Baptists), and visit the
Southwark section where the JLJ church was founded (through Henry
Jacob & Particular Baptists). Travel to Cambridge, to visit some
of the colleges at the University. Many important leaders of English
Separatism that helped in laying the foundation of Baptist church
graduated from among the many colleges here. Robert
"Trouble-church" Brown (founder of the Pioneer Church,
1581), attended Corpus Christi College probably as a student of
Thomas Cartwright, a leader of Puritan reform. Two other men who
attended Cambridge were Brown's most intense followers, Henry Barrow
and John Greenwood, who carried on his Congregational Separatism in
London, even while imprisoned until their execution. Francis Johnson
(founder of the Ancient Church, 1592), a graduate of Christ's College
at Cambridge, carried on from Barrow and Greenwood. John Smyth,
called by one historian "Baptist Pathfinder", graduated
from Christ's College in 1590 and was a greatly influenced pupil of
Francis Johnson. A good distance north in the town of Lincoln, Smyth
served as "city lecturer" from 1600-1602. He was dismissed
from this position after publicly rebuking the sins of prominent
leaders, and that being the last straw, broke with the Church of
England. A little further northwest is Gainsborough, Smyth's
hometown, where he became one of the leaders of a Separatist group,
which among them were the "Pilgrim Fathers". Here was
located the Scrooby Manor House where part of this group met after
they divided (because the group grew so large it could be dangerous
for them) and before they sought refuge in Holland. Return to London
through the beautiful English countryside for dinner & overnight.
Day 8 - LONDON
Enjoy a full day on our own
for shopping or maybe to do some more sightseeing. Some suggestions
are a visit to Windsor Castle and/or a London theatre excursion.
Return to hotel for dinner & overnight.
Day 9 -
LONDON/OXFORD/COVENTRY/STRATFORD UPON AVON
Morning excursion to Oxford,
one of world's most distinguished universities, where many
reformation leaders attended. Henry Jacob, who figured largely in the
origin of Particular Baptists, graduated here in 1586. John Wesley
graduated here in 1724 and founded Methodism. Continue to Coventry
and view the famous castle and striking modern cathedral. On to
Stratford Upon Avon, William Shakespeares's hometown, and visit Holy
Trinity Church (Shakespeare's place of baptism and burial), his
birthplace, and Anne Hathaway's cottage. Return to our hotel for
dinner & overnight.
Day 10 - LONDON/NEW YORK
Morning transfer to the
airport for our flight back to the U.S.A--ending 10 days filled with
wonderful memories of our fascinating journey together in the
footsteps of Baptist heritage.
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TOUR COST & DEPARTURE DATES:
$3,099.00
$3,299.00 (price is per person based on 25 paying passengers, double occupancy; single supplement--add $375.00)
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Time allowed in itinerary to attend worship services for all faiths |
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Baptist Heritage |
The General Baptists emerged in England and Holland in the early 1600s. They represented the older and more Arminian version of Baptist faith in England. They believed that man has freedom to believe in Christ; that whoever will believe may be saved; that none are predestined to damnation; that the saved may renounce their faith and thus lose their salvation; and that all the local churches make up only one church. The rise of General Baptists centers around a remarkable man, John Smyth (1570-1612). Smyth broke completely with the Church of England and joined with a group of Separatists. Other leaders in this group included John Robinson, William Brewster, and William Bradford, whom later came to America. Another leader was the well-to-do laymen, Thomas Helwys. When the group became so large and visible as to be dangerous, they agreed to meet in two groups. Both groups migrated to Holland as religious refugees about the same time in 1607, but their paths diverged. Within two years the Smyth-Helwys group adopted believer's baptism and became Baptists; the other group in 1620 took passage on the Mayflower to "ye wilderness," as America was then called, and became the nucleus of the Congregational Church in New England. Smyth became increasingly influenced by the Mennonites before he died in 1612, and the remnant of his followers were received into Mennonite fellowship in 1615, disappearing from history as a separate group. In 1611, Helwys led his small but faithful Baptist group back to England where they established their church in Spitalfields. Historians consider this the first Baptist church on English soil. Growth was rapid, and by 1650 at least forty-seven such churches were known.
The Particular Baptists emerged from more moderate semi-Separatist congregations. They accepted the Church of England as in some sense a true church, despite its many problems and imperfections. Though he never became a Baptist, Henry Jacob (1563-1624), a moderate Separatist, figured largely in the origin of Particular Baptists. He revealed an irenic spirit and an unwillingness to condemn the English church completely, as Brown, Barrow, Johnson, and Smyth did. Even his moderate views found conflict with authorities and he followed the same path into exile in Holland that earlier Separatists had taken. Returning to England in 1616, Jacob gathered a church in Southwark, often called the JLJ church for its three pastors, Henry Jacob, John Lathrop, and Henry Jessey. Thus was formed the church which would later give rise to the first Particular Baptists. By 1644 seven Particular Baptist & churches in and near London issued a joint confession of faith.
Before 1690 both General and Particular Baptists established general assemblies for a national gathering of those who shared their convictions.
In the latter half of the seventeenth century the General Baptist church lost its identity to a Unitarianism theology.
The Wesleyan revival swept England in the eighteenth century. This resurgence of spiritual revival first made a distinct impact upon Baptist life and thought through a new group of General Baptists. Dan Taylor, a rough-and-ready Yorkshire-man, had joined the Methodists, but through study adopted the Baptist view of baptism. He led in the formation of a New Connexion of General Baptists, which gave birth to a more irenic spirit that opened the way for final union with the Particular Baptists in 1891. Before the end of the century the hyper-Calvinism of the Particular Baptists had been modified through the work of such men as Robert Hall and Andrew Fuller; they were now ready to take up the task of Christian missions to other lands.
The precise measure of our Baptist debt to the Methodist revival cannot now be ascertained, but it surely was one of the factors in the development of a missionary spirit among the Baptist people. It is another witness to the fact that we are not alone in the Christian enterprise, and that we are debtors to our brethren in Christ who bear another name.