This newly formed Community of the Cross of Nails may be the only one that comes from two congregations. It grew out of the sister parish relationship but is not restricted to it. As we work on issues of reconciliation, we look at which ones and how many to consider approaching as a group. During the recent retreat led by Dr. Reginald Hildebrand of St. Paul AME and the Rev. Stephen Stanley of the Chapel of the Cross, we looked at the premise of “truth plus forgiveness equals reconciliation” through some excellent meditations and prayers, discussions, and creative responses from artwork to skits.

Some of us are relative newcomers beginning with the summer camp Creating Connections, organized by Michelle Segebefia and Joy Salyers, or with the visits to the sister congregation for worship or through hearing the history of the Community of the Cross of Nails that began at Coventry Cathedral after its destruction during WWII. Prayers given on Wednesdays at the Chapel of the Cross at 5:15 p.m. for reconciliation in today’s troubled places are from the same liturgy given Fridays at Coventry and at other centers. We share a common discipline of prayer and reading, conscious living, meals, and activities recommended by others. Sometimes this includes pain but most often a sense of goal-oriented companionship and fun.

One effort that continues to have this community’s interest is the Protea Village in South Africa. Priests have exchanged pulpits and young and middling adults returned from travels there with suggestions of needs for rebuilding. Immediately after the end of Apartheid virtually no bloodshed occurred but inequities still exist. The third way of not providing blanket amnesty or severely punishing those who benefited unfairly from the previous situation looks to share the new struggles together. We learn from Archbishop Desmond Tutu who took a major role for South Africa with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to hear the horrors and address the problems now. St. Paul AME and the Chapel of the Cross are both congregations with professionals and active members of the larger community who seek to work with good awareness.

Those concerned about the Middle East situation have heard from Tom Stern and Tema Okun who traveled to Israel and the West Bank, Donna Hicks who just returned in November from work with the Christian Peacemaking Team, and the Anglican priest Garth Hewitt, singer and songwriter with the Amos Trust.