Community of the Cross of Nails

Growing together in hope

We are a worldwide network of some 260 churches, charities, chaplaincies, peace-building and retreat centres, schools and other educational and training organisations, all inspired by the Coventry story of destruction, rebuilding and renewal, and active in reconciliation in our own ways.

Our partners

Our three guiding principles are Healing the wounds of history, Learning to live with difference and celebrate diversity, and Building a culture of justice and peace. We are guided by the words ‘Father Forgive’, and we pray the Litany of Reconciliation on a regular basis. You can join partners across the world praying the litany once a month together on zoom, on either the first Friday of the month, led by our German partners at midday CET (11am UK time), or the third Tuesday, led by our North American partners at midday EST (5pm UK time). Email email hidden; JavaScript is required if you'd like the link details to join in.

See our CCN Partner list September 2024 and CCN Friends (less active, more historic partners).

Watch Dean John here explain what it means to be a CCN partner.

Today, our greatest numbers of partners are in Germany, the UK & Ireland and the USA, but we also have sizeable numbers in South Africa, Canada, the Netherlands and Central and Eastern Europe; overall, we have partners and friends in 45 countries across five continents. Different partners may focus on political, racial, religious, social or economic reconciliation; they may address war and violent conflict, post conflict restoration or healing; their work can have broad and far-reaching, national or regional consequences, or it can seek to address local communities specifically. Partners support one another, pray for one another and share their stories with one another.

If you would like to explore further how we could be of help to your church or organisation in its reconciliation work, or join us in this network, then we’d be very pleased to hear from you! Contact the Community of the Cross of Nails Co-ordinator at email hidden; JavaScript is required

CCN Sunday

Around the turn of September/October each year we have a dedicated day of celebrating our Community on CCN Sunday, the next one being 29th September 2024. It’s an opportunity for all worship communities involved with the CCN to pray together as one body in a part of their morning service, and a chance for us all to reconnect our communities with why the CCN matters, why Coventry still inspires, and where our own stories connect. A different global region of the CCN leads in producing an online service each time: this year it will be the turn of our German partners, who have produced a CCN Sunday liturgy which church partners are very welcome to share in their services.

Some churches take a collection for CCN Sunday. We would be so very grateful for any CCN Sunday contributions to the costs of our third volunteer internship, which forms part of our Cathedral intern team of three young people from Germany and the USA. These young people have become integral to our ministry, and get involved in reconciliation, schools, events and worship activities in their year with us. We provide housing in an apartment at the Cathedral, but need support for their day to day living expenses, to the tune of 325 euros per month. Any contributions would be so very helpful, and will not only support our work but provide the means to a life-changing year for the young intern. Watch Lea, one of this year's outgoing interns', videoshort 'A Day in the life', filmed during one of our CCN pilgrimages earlier this year.

Previous resources:

2023: online service, in Dutch and in English; Creed for CCN Sunday, Reconciliation Eucharist for CCN Sunday, and Dean John's 2023 CCN Sunday sermon.

2022: our South African partners' online service (service liturgy here)

2021: US partners' online service

Read our CCN Governance Document.

Download and print our information leaflet here and/or the low res version (for reference only)

The Community of the Cross of Nails in 2023

Late in 2022, around the 75th anniversary of the first Cross of Nails presentation in 1947, we asked several CCN partners, from different parts of the world, to record a short video about what they do and their connection to the CCN. The story begins with that very first partner, the parish of St Nikolai in Kiel, Germany, and moves on to feature partners across a range of organisations which have joined the network in the succeeding decades: a theological seminary in Germany, a hospital chaplaincy in London, a retreat centre in rural Canada, an ICON school in Austria, and the social justice arm of the Church of South Africa.

With our very grateful thanks to all those partners who contributed these short films, and to the Ecumenical Prize of the Catholic Academy of Bavaria for enabling the film to be produced.

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