THE L’ABRI-CAMBRIDGE CONNECTION

Although there isn’t an official L’Abri branch in Cambridge there is a strong connection. In fact English L’Abri has two parts, the residential work in Hampshire and my personal contribution to the work of Christian Heritage in Cambridge. In other words, I continue as a L’Abri worker but work in Cambridge.

The Cambridge bit happened like this.  When in 1996 Susan and I felt it was time to make way for younger workers at the branch in Hampshire, we came back to Cambridge where we’d spent a sabbatical in 1988-89.  But we hadn’t a clue about what might open up.  In the event, the ancient Round Church right in the heart of the city, which you can see above, fell vacant in 1998.  Its amazing design and heritage attracts about 180,000 visitors each year!  Built by 1130, that’s about 80 years before the university began, it was modeled on the church in Jerusalem where Jesus was buried and rose from the dead. But no one seemed to know what to do with it.

So, this was what opened up – the ROUND CHURCH!  To take care of it appropriately, a charitable organization called ‘CHRISTIAN HERITAGE’ was formed and this became officially responsible for the building in January 2001. Our first project was to make a 23 minute video called ‘Saints & Scholars’. This is on view all day every day; so people can sit down with headsets and get an impression of how significant, indeed essential, Christianity was in the formation of the West.  We also have a schedule of guided tours around the colleges.

However, the point of this introduction is simply to let you know we’re here. The web-site has lots of information and I don’t need to bore you with it now. But I do suggest you visit it and register. If you’re visiting the UK we’d love to welcome you and if you tell us in advance we can organize a special tour for groups of about a dozen. But also we need help in a variety of ways: for example, unpaid volunteers to be a ‘presence’ in the building, greeting people, giving them introductions in their own language, explaining a bit about the history, directing them to the video and so on.  Nothing complicated, often rewarding when a conversation suddenly opens up.

Most of all we need prayer. We write a regular prayer update which you can receive if you register on this site where there is a lot more information.

If you would like to send a gift you can send gifts to Christian Heritage, The Round Church Vestry, Bridge Street, Cambridge, CB2 1UB, United Kingdom,  through the web-site or

Christian Heritage USA Foundation at  P.O. Box 11651, Montgomery, AL 36111 USA (our registered office address in the US). Your support in this way would be much appreciated.

Warmest greetings

Ranald Macaulay