anglicantaonga

Telling the stories of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, NZ and Polynesia

Cross of Nails comes to Taranaki

What do Coventry and New Plymouth have in common? A permanent connection forged through the wounds of history.

Lloyd Ashton  |  26 Feb 2015  |

Taranaki Cathedral is about to become a New Zealand outpost of a worldwide peace and reconciliation movement which rose from the rubble of Coventry Cathedral.

The cathedral was destroyed in the massive German bombing raid on Coventry on the night of November 14, 1940.

Standing in the midst of the smouldering rubble the next morning, a vicar picked up three of the long medieval roofing nails that had rained down overnight upon the cathedral floor. He bound them together in the form of a cross.

This Cross of Nails was later placed on an Altar of Rubble built from fallen masonry – and the people of the cathedral birthed a worldwide movement called the Community of the Cross of Nails (CCN).

In the post-war years, the CCN focus was on reconciliation with Germany – but the movement has grown far beyond that, and there are now around 170 partners (including churches, schools and refuge centres) in 35 countries, including strife-torn regions such as Iraq (St George’s Church, Baghdad) Ukraine, Israel/Palestine and Sudan.

Each CCN partner is committed to the work of reconciliation in its own context.

Another step on our journey

And now the Community of the Cross of Nails is being planted in New Zealand, through the Taranaki Cathedral.

Taranaki's Dean Jamie Allen – who served at Coventry Cathedral as a chaplain during his curacy years – says that formally linking with CCN “is another step on our cathedral’s own journey of peace and reconciliation”. (See hereand herefor example).

To mark the occasion, the present Dean of Coventry Cathedral, the Very Rev John Witcombe, has come to New Plymouth.

He will visit Parihaka on Friday, and preach at the Taranaki Cathedral on Sunday morning. He will also present a cross of nails to the cathedral.

Getting perspective

“We want to connect into this worldwide network,” says Dean Jamie, “and to become the New Zealand hub for the Cross of Nails work here.”

Being part of the community “puts your own struggles into a worldwide perspective and turns your face outwards from your own situation.” 

Jamie says that being a member of Community of the Cross of Nails is a chance for the Taranaki cathedral to learn from other members of the community, to pray regularly for each partner and to work on developing a wider New Zealand community. 

There are three strands to being a CCN member, he says: “Actively working to heal the wounds of history, learning to live with difference and to celebrate diversity, and building a culture of peace.

“The cathedral has been growing towards becoming a local centre for peace and reconciliation, and exploring just what that means. When the cross of nails is here, permanently at our cathedral, it means we’re hammering our colours to the mast and saying that reconciliation is part of our DNA.”

While in New Zealand, Dean John Witcombe will also visit other communities and churches around the country which are also exploring peace and reconciliation.

Footnote: 

During the early hours of the November 14, 1940 Coventry raid, Dick Howard – then Provost (or dean) of the city's cathedral – spent hours on the roof toiling in vain to put out fires.

The next morning he too stood in the midst of the smoking rubble, surveying the devastation.

He then took a stick of chalk and scrawled two abrupt words on the wrecked sanctuary wall:

“Father forgive.”

Not just “Father forgive them… etc (Luke 23:34) – which would have been hard enough to do, immediately after the bombing – but the two words which became the anchor for The Coventry Litany of ReconciliationThis begins: “Allhave sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” and proclaims, in effect, that all are complicit.

The morning after Coventry Cathedral was destroyed, a decision was made to build a new cathedral. The new cathedral, which stands alongside the preserved ruins of the one destroyed in 1940, was consecrated on May 25, 1962.

A service is held every Friday in the ruins of the old cathedral. It includes praying The Coventry Litany of Reconciliation.

Comments