Older than Twinings

Not long back, I walked along the Strand, passing the world’s oldest tea room, run by Twinings, the nation’s oldest tea company. Over its doorway was the world’s oldest logo still in continuous use. Twining’s tea is certainly not the cheapest, but its pedigree bespeaks the highest quality. I’ll be honest; I cannot tell a cup of Twining’s from a PG or a Tetley, but a tea connoisseur might feel differently. Here is a company that trades on its long-held reputation, its name now a symbol of tried and tested quality.

To some, we at Martin Top belong to an old church, for our having been planted at the time of King George III in 1816. To others, we are mere whipper-snappers, arriving on an ancient religious scene over a thousand years after the competition. Naturally, I trace our spiritual DNA to the apostles themselves, and from thence the prophets and patriarchs, for on their scriptures alone do we take our stand. I guess somewhere in China or Ceylon there are older tea manufacturers even than our Twining’s, to whom such a firm is a mere child in comparison. May we at Martin Top become a by-word for spiritual quality, a hallmark of gospel faithfulness.