Parishioners of Knox Church ŌtepotiDunedin and Otago Peninsula Anglican Parish at St Michael and All Angels Church in Andersons Bay were joined by visitors from across the region and representatives of Coventry Cathedral in the United Kingdom, as each church held a service.
To mark the two churches’ induction into the Community of the Cross of Nails, Friends of Coventry Cathedral chairman Martin Williams presented them with a symbolic Cross of Nails.
The cross was made from nails forged by prisoners in southern Germany, taken to Coventry Cathedral to be consecrated and then brought to Dunedin.
Knox Church member Rev Dr Peter Matheson said being part of the community was more than symbolic, it committed the churches to being active peacemakers and to promoting diversity and social justice at home and around the world.
The Community of the Cross of Nails has a history dating back to World War 2, when the medieval cathedral of Coventry was destroyed by German bombing.
"Remarkably, instead of cursing the Nazi war machine, after the war the cathedral contacted the German churches in Dresden, Hamburg and Kiel, which had been destroyed by Allied bombing, and began to forge a close bond with them," Dr Matheson said.
"A cross was formed out of the medieval nails from the ruined roof of the cathedral, and they called it the Community of the Cross of Nails."
Rev Michael Holdaway, priest-in-charge at St Michael’s, said the local churches had felt a growing sense they were "called to join in an international and local God-driven movement towards peace and reconciliation".
"And we can’t remain silent in the face of the current season of physical violence and violence against our environment."
It would be a "great delight" for St Michael’s to work in partnership with Knox Church and the Community of the Cross of Nails, Mr Holdaway said.
He hoped it would add to interfaith dialogue and raise an "increasingly united church voice across denominations to speak against violence and look for ways to acknowledge and heal wounds of the past".
