[Thursday's Devotional] - The Cross of Nails

The Cross of Nails   At the start of the week we considered the impact that Provost Dick Howard had, in the aftermath of the bombing of Coventry in 1940, with the cry "Father forgive".  A few weeks later in his Christmas broadcast he said that when the war is over we will work with those who have been our enemies "to build a kinder Christ-child-like world". After the war strong links were established with a number of German cities.  Mutual exchanges and support took place.  One of the strongest and continuing partnerships is with the City of Dresden, destroyed by Allied bombing.  A symbol of that collaboration was the presentation of a 'Cross of Nails', the start of the next phase of the story. The "Community of the Cross of Nails" now has over 200 active partners in more than 40 countries.  Diversity, difference and conflict are constants in every part of the world, including those not covered by our media.  So, this network is committed to facing hatred and fear in the light of Christ, the reconciler.  Outcomes are in God's hands, but engaging as Christ's ambassadors is in our hands. [Remember 2 Corinthians 5.v20] The Cathedral's ministry of reconciliation is local as well as global.  Recent estimates show that over 20,000 children visit the Cathedral each year.  Local church and community schools often have stronger links with the Cathedral than many of our parish churches!  The opportunity to explain, on site, the significance of the Coventry story is invaluable.  Will you pray for this ministry today? As many have noted, the Cathedral's international ministry is now local!  Coventry and Warwickshire have been places of migration over the last 100 years.  Initially that migration was from Ireland, Wales and Scotland, then from former colonies and is now from across the globe.  The Bishop and Cathedral have strong links with the Coventry and Warwickshire Migrant and Refugee Centre.  Will you pray for the work of the Centre in welcoming, supporting, advising and providing language tuition? You will find the Archbishop of Canterbury's New Year message, from Coventry in the YouTube video below.    Richard Farnell   The Archbishop of Canterbury's New Year Message 2017 [4 min 56 sec] Twitter Website Copyright © 2017 St. Matthew & St. Oswald's Church, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email as a subscriber to the Daily Devotionals Our mailing address is: St. Matthew & St. Oswald's Church 1a New Street Rugby, Warwickshire CV22 7BE United Kingdom Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list Want to be added to our mailing list? - sign up here!