The Path to Palace Beautiful

Around 1973-4 (age 8/9) – Started a project on Famous Christian People. The first three I chose were John Bunyan (parental influence maybe?), Dr Barnado (reflecting a care for children, particularly those more vulnerable, from an early age) and Hudson Taylor (the family connection).

1978 – My three sisters and I were all given our own copies of a special edition of The Pilgrim’s Progress. Inside the front cover Dad wrote ‘Your Mum and Dad give you this book, as we feel that, next to your Bible, it will prove one of the most worthwhile books to read.’ It has - far beyond my parents expectations. But for many years it stayed on the bookshelf, unread.

1979/1980 – About this time I remember dreaming of writing a book (in a pen name), making lots of money (but not being famous) and opening up an orphanage (inspired particularly by the stories of Dr Barnado and Amy Carmichael). In my dream the orphanage was on a hill, and I would visit it in a lovely red sports car! I started the book in a little green velvet diary which I still have. It was called ‘Lavinia’. I only got as far as Chapter 1.

1988 – The family home moves from North London to Bedford. Mum and Dad both loved history and valued highly the life and works of the Puritans. So the move in part was inspired by Bedford being Bunyan country. I had left home by then, and the year they moved I was living abroad. It would be four years before I too was to make Bedford my home.

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1992 – Took up my first teaching job in Bedford at a local middle school. The Pilgrim’s Progress was on the curriculum so I purchased a copy of The Family Pilgrim’s Progress (which I still use) and dusted down the special edition Mum and Dad had given me as a child. This was my first real introduction to Bunyan’s world-famous dream.

1993 – Joined the education committee at Bunyan Meeting to support the writing and compilation of a Teacher’s Resource Pack for the new John Bunyan Museum. Continued to teach The Pilgrim’s Progress.

2004/5 – Whilst teaching Bunyan and his allegory at a small Bedfordshire village school, I took the class to visit the church and museum in Mill Street. It was the same day the new minister was visiting and talking to the organist. I was not attending any church at that time so, curious to see what a church service there was like, I decided to visit the next Sunday morning. The service was warm and welcoming and soon Bunyan Meeting came to be my spiritual home.

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2007-11 – During this time I took on the leadership of Youth and Children’s work at Bunyan Meeting, and led the Church Structures group. It was work I loved, and Bunyan’s life and story provided inspiration for many of the outreach activities.

2010-14 – Realising I had much to learn about the Christian faith – and many questions - I enrolled on a part-time master’s degree in Christian Faith and Practice at Spurgeon’s College, London, temporarily moving there in 2012/3 to complete my thesis. This was the start of my own very steep and challenging ‘Hill Difficulty’. The next few years were to prove the wisdom of Bunyan’s words in The Pilgrim’s Progress that ‘it is easier going out of the way when we are in, than going in, when we are out.’ Unknown to me at the time, my first visit to the college was actually when I was just 3, when as a family we went to visit a friend who was training for the ministry.

2011 – Two of my chosen master’s modules were led by Dr. Peter Morden, who at the time was in the middle of writing a biography of John Bunyan. It inevitably followed that one of my essays should be on The Pilgrim’s Progress and so, with a shared interest in Bunyan, Peter asked me to proof read one of the chapters for his biography. My red pen was apparently so helpful he asked me to proof read the rest! This was the start of an important friendship with Peter and his wife Anne. In 2013 Peter’s book The People’s Pilgrim was launched here in Bedford at Bunyan Meeting.

2013-14 – My master’s thesis used The Pilgrim’s Progress as inspiration. It taught me much I did not know about the impact of abuse, particularly on relationships and spirituality; and much I hope to use in the future through the work of Palace Beautiful. I graduated in June 2014 with distinction.

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2015 – Plans for a PhD and to start a charity supporting spiritual provision for children (House Beautiful) came to a dead end, but my connection with Bunyan continued to increase. During the autumn term I taught Bunyan and his book to a class of ten year olds at a local multi-cultural school and also to a small group of over 50’s at the local retirement centre. Dad died in October and his thanksgiving service, held at Bunyan Meeting, included two beautiful and poignant readings from The Pilgrim’s Progress. Early in December I moved into a fabulous apartment on Bunyan’s old street in Bedford - almost opposite Bunyan Meeting - and started writing the devotional To Be A Pilgrim - 40 Days with The Pilgrim’s Progress, which Peter Morden/CWR had asked me to co-author.

2016 – This year has seen my work and life increasingly connect with Bunyan. Work on the devotional increased apace, and in February I started work on The Pilgrim’s Progress: A Curriculum for Schools, a project inspired by over 20 years engagement with Bunyan’s famous allegory. As the project developed, the need to establish a business became clear. So, in April, Palace Beautiful was formed. A niche publishing house, its aim is to encourage the exploration of faith – particularly with children - using Bunyan’s amazing story as inspiration. By September the business was established, the ‘brand’ created, and two publications completed. And then in October, on the first anniversary of Dad’s thanksgiving service there, I was received back into membership at Bunyan Meeting.

‘Home’ says R.T. Kendall in his book God Meant It For Good, ‘is God’s will for your life’. A long path has been trodden to get here; my childhood ‘dream’ perhaps on its way to being realised. But one thing is for sure: The Pilgrim’s Progress has surely proved to be, in the words of my parents, ‘one of the most worthwhile books to read’.