News

New service launched for Remembrance Sunday

August 26, 2005

A new Order of Service for Remembrance Sunday was unveiled today for those who gather in silence on 11 November round war memorials across the nations.

The existing Remembrance Day Order of Service has been in use a long time. Now, sixty years after the end of World War II, the Churches and The Royal British Legion have prepared a new Service for today's generation as it picks up the torch of Remembrance - and brings to it images of more recent conflicts and a greater awareness of new terrors and dangers.

The Order of Service for Remembrance Sunday is published by Churches Together in Britain and Ireland and prepared with The Joint Liturgical Group of Great Britain and The Royal British Legion.

Revd Canon Lucy Winkett of St Paul's Cathedral  Precentor said: ‘Standing together in silence, remembering those who have died in war is an act that brings the people of this and many nations together. The silence is more important than any words.  This new Service enables people of all faiths and none to stand together in profound silence and  penitence and in commitment to work together for peace and justice.’ As Precentor at St Paul's Cathedral she has overseen the liturgy for commemorations of the war in Iraq and the tsunami tragedy. St Paul's is currently preparing to host the memorial service for those killed in the recent bombings in London.

 The two minutes silence is framed by a familiar hymn and comforting words from the Old Testament. The Kohima Epitaph is read: ‘When you go home tell them of us and say, for your tomorrow we gave our today.’ Then there is an act of commitment that does not mention God –a deliberate decision to make the Service as inclusive as possible for people of all faiths and none. Those gathered commit themselves to strive for all that makes for peace, seek to heal the wounds of war and work for a just future. Then there is a Christian blessing.

Laurence Binyon’s words ‘From the Fallen’ are retained but in a new move it is suggested that a young person completes the phrase ‘At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them.’  Mr Bill Clark, The Royal British Legion Director of Administration said the new Service was designed to hand the torch of Remembrance on to the next generation. ‘The act of Remembrance is as significant as ever in recalling the debt owed to the war-time generation.’

Prayers refer to ‘all who in bereavement, disability and pain continue to suffer the consequences of fighting and terror,’ recognizing that many non-combatants die in modern warfare and conflict. There are prayers for peace-makers and peace-keepers.

A companion volume to the Order of Service was published in 2004 under the title
Beyond our Tears, an anthology for times of Remembrance, including civil disasters and tragedies.

The Order of Service for Remembrance Sunday  ISBN 085169 329 6  price £2.99 is available from CTBI Publications, phone 01733 325 002 or via www.ctbi.org.uk.  A version is downloadable from www.ctbi.org.uk.