Several blog readers wanted me to ask the Archbishops what they did to relax, what they were currently reading, or where they found their own sense of spiritual support. I didn’t have time to ask these questions in detail, although one of the things that was obvious from spending three days in their company was that daily prayer – both formal and informal – is vital for them. It’s a common misconception that we Anglicans, praying through our liturgies and our set daily prayers, are merely reciting words for the sake of it. To see these guys at prayer blows that idea out of the water. Stopping for ten or fifteen minutes of prayer (what we call the “Daily Offices”) is a bit like stopping to fill the car up with fuel, or pausing briefly for a sandwich at lunchtime. It’s not exciting, it’s not an “event”, but as a habit of life it makes the difference between going on with health and energy, or breaking down in exhaustion. The schedule was jam packed for the Archbishops from morning till night with group meetings and lectures and individual meetings, and there were inevitable programme changes as the days unfolded. But the one thing they never missed was their daily, habitual prayer. They say in England that everything stops for Tea. In the Church of England, everything stops for prayer.

Informal, made-up-on-the-spot prayers are part of their habit of life too. There was a moment when Archbishop Sentamu was about to address a large audience, but had a really sore throat. Archbishop Rowan came to find us, and immediately knelt down beside Archbishop Sentamu to pray. Not in five-syllable words or liturgical language, mind you. He just prays to Jesus, like you and me.

On the last day of the Consultations, I was travelling with Archbishop Sentamu, and after we’d taken the time for some personal catching up I said, “One more blog-question! My readers want to know what you do to relax.” It hardly seemed a fair question, given the itinerary we had just put him through, and I swear I saw a little glint of irony in his eye (he’s a smart man, he doesn’t miss much!).

“I go to the gym every day,” he replied. “Every day?” I said. “When I’m in York, every day,” he replied. “It’s important. You have to look after yourself.”

There was a brief pause while he looked at me intently. He has this way of looking at you that makes you feel at once scrutinised with great honesty, and yet deeply met with God’s love.

“But what about you?” he asked. “What do you do to relax? I hope you are looking after yourself?”

Most people, I think, took part in the Cambridge Consultations thinking that they would be listening while the Archbishops talked; and certainly this series of blog posts began as an opportunity to put questions to the Archbishops. But everything about these consultations was a dialogue. They spent at least as much time asking and listening as they did talking. And even when I had this last chance to ask him a question, Archbishop Sentamu lobbed it right back to me.

If there’s one thing I’ve taken away from this first event in the Consultations it’s this: we no longer live in a world where the experts talk and the little people listen. Seeing change happen in the institutional church sometimes feels like trying to turn round an ocean liner with all the power of a hairdryer. But the Archbishops are people with a vision for the future that is far from old style politics. More than anything, they are guys who listen more than they talk, and far from being lost in religious mumbo-jumbo, they take a down-to-earth, realistic view of the Church. They see a future that embraces both ancient liturgies in magnificent buildings and pizza-party churches in living rooms. They envisage a Church that is not navel gazing, but focussed outwards to the needs of society. And they take a genuine, committed and personal interest in me, and you, and ten-year-old boys who are upset, and anyone else who comes across their path. Their interest is not held pricnipally with bureaucratic matters, but with the life and faith of individuals and families and communities.

So after giving you the chance to question them, I leave you with Archbishop Sentamu’s personal and searching question. “What about you? Are you looking after yourself?”.

The final post in this series "Blogging the Archbishops" will appear tomorrow.  The next Cambridge Consultations will take place in Cambridge on the 7^th-9^th May, and the theme will be Human Rights in a Dangerous World.