Bishop McMahon reflects on ancient chapel near former nuclear power station

St Cedd's Chapel

Bishop Thomas McMahon, retiring Bishop of Brentwood was the speaker at the recent ecumenical pilgrimage to Bradwell. The day began with worship at St Thomas' Church, Bradwell, followed by a walk to the ancient chapel of St Peter on the Wall. The chapel was built by St Cedd in 654 and has been a site of pilgrimage for centuries. One group this year had journeyed on foot from St Mark's College at Audley End, the Anglican Diocesan Youth Centre. The young people, led by director Revd Pete Hillman, had set off four days earlier on the sponsored walk, camping out at various sites along the way and arrived footsore but triumphant for Saturday's event.

During his homily, Bishop McMahon, who has been a regular attendee at the pilgrimage, described the chapel and the recently decommissioned nuclear power station nearby as evocative symbols for our age. “At first sight they may seem to be contradictory and competing images of power and meaning, and yet I think they are not so much contradictory as complementary, but in a paradoxical and at times troubling manner,” he said.

“The power station stands for so much creativity and abundant energy in our modern, consumer-led society which, sadly, with its self-confidence and self-sufficiency has in the main led to a world without God. The chapel on the other hand speaks of life’s deeper questions, so often hidden in our hearts, questions which sometimes can only be answered in silence and simplicity.”

The Bishop divined two main reasons for pilgrimage: to find one’s roots and to visit places where people have encountered God. “The search for roots meets a deep human hunger,” he said. “By discovering where we come from we have a chance to discover who we are.”He said the Christian life has often been likened to a journey to God, from cradle to grave. “Through the years the Christian explores through prayer and service, the meaning and mystery of life and searches with many ups and downs to know the abiding reality of love and gain some answers and meaning to life’s questions.”

Journeying together, he said, strengthens our sense of Christian solidarity – we are not strangers but pilgrims together. “As we journey it is good to imagine a pilgrim coming towards us from the opposite direction – the person of Christ who is the Way, the Life and the Truth. Life is indeed a journey but it only makes sense if it is a journey with and to God.”

The Bishop concluded: “Unlike the power station which had a life of 40 years, this chapel has stood here for 1,400 years – addressing different periods of history and yet witnessing to the same truths and values – which is why this little church by the sea will always be more important than the power station along the way.”He added: “In our nuclear age, in our post-Christian society, may the person of Christ and the enduring truths He came to bring continue to be a beacon for us – as the Psalmist says, “a light for our steps, a lamp for our path”.

Read the full homily here: www.dioceseofbrentwood.net/resources/global/pdf/4f0b2463-f925-4cbe-9fd8-2.pdf