Back in 2010 Bishop Mead established the Christian Book and Gift Shop called The Canterbury Church Shop in Canterbury, Kent. Starting in a modest side street it moved in 2013 to an historic building nearby called Conquest House. The medieval building was built over a Norman undercroft which dated from just after the Norman Conquest (hence the name of the building). The building had a direct link with the Martyrdom of St Thomas Becket, being the house from which the four knights left to do the deed in the Cathedral opposite.
The Canterbury Church Shop also marked its transfer into Conquest House by opening a Cafe there. Unfortunately Bishop Mead suffered some serious health issues followed by an accident on the day the Shop moved. This had an effect upon the success of the Shop and Cafe and in 2015 the cafe closed and the shop moved from the building, eventually becoming an online shop only.
However, we are pleased to say that there has been a happy ending for the Icon of the Martyrdom of St Thomas which the Bishop commissioned for the cafe to mark its historical connection to the Martyrdom.
The Bishop decided to present the icon, which is a copy of the original (written by iconographer Peter Murphy) in his ProCathedral Church of St Augustine of Canterbury, Painters Forstal, Kent, to an ACC Parish in the USA dedicated to St Thomas of Canterbury.
The Icon now has pride of place in the ACC Parish Church of Saint Thomas of Canterbury, Philipsburg, Pennsylvania, USA.