For CT, 1989 could well be dubbed “Innocents Abroad.” We sent journalists to the Soviet Union, Israel, the Philippines, and Colombia—all wonderful places, but unfamiliar to most Americans.
So when it came time to go to England to write about evangelicals there (see p. 25), senior associate editor David Neff lobbied heavily for the assignment. No doubt he and executive editor George Brushaber expected smooth sailing among the cultured British.
Despite the wonderful hospitality of British believers, they discovered common language does not a common culture make. “I handled the left-side-of-the-road driving well enough most of the time,” David noted, “but almost lost George once when, by American habit, I turned into oncoming traffic. I never did catch on to those multiple ‘roundabouts’ [traffic circles].” David reports the motorway police allow liberal interpretations of the speed limits, one department where England is very much like all of America except Ohio.
Our brave Yanks also discovered the plumbing was a bit slower than at home—they found no water closet that emptied on the first flush. The legendary bland British food has improved, they said, largely because of increased trade with Common Market countries.
This CT Institute feature marks the fourth time we have visited another country to write about its churches. These brief sojourns have again reminded us—and we hope you, as well—that Christ’s kingdom knows no human-made boundaries.
LYN CRYDERMAN, Senior Associate Editor
