Resources for Remembrance Day
(see also resources for ANZAC Day)
Iona/Wild Goose Publications here (downloads)
Centre for Music, Liturgy and the Arts free downloadable resource for the centenary of the armistice.
Music suggestions on Natalie Sims’ website, Singing from the Lectionary.
We remember…
We remember those who have died, the generations who have suffered and communities ravaged because of the pride, arrogance, greed and ambition of men.
We commit to working with all our neighbours for peace, reconciliation and the common good of all people.
We disavow an unhealthy nationalism that glorifies violence or believes your citizenship, skin colour or faith makes you inherently more worthy of safety, justice or prosperity than others.
We remember that war is hell.
(Source: Brad Chilcott, Facebook post 11.11.2018)
surely by now all the mothers are tired of their sons’ names
held
in the sour mouths of men
who find it easy to use the word
sacrifice
as if it were a holy thing
the bone of it splintering, the seeping of it
the red of it darkening the skin of the earth
the noise of the scream, the
smell
as if it could ever sound the same as new breath, as
a hand closing around a finger, the way that mothers say, look!
look at the train, the plane, the automobile
all the places you will go to, some day
all the dreams that i have sewed into the hem of your coat
the way my hips will never be the same shape
after you left my body
and now
now, they have come to give me this word
sacrifice
there is nothing i can do with this word
it does not sound like your name
at all
and all the men with sour mouths say,
amen.
(Source: Liezel Graham 2022)
Prayer
For those whom we have asked
to bear the horror of our violence
we offer our prayers
of thanks for their willingness
to stand between us and our fears,
for forgiveness for having asked them,
of healing for the damage to their souls
by what they have done and seen,
for mercy for them who don’t know
how to carry the horror back to us,
how to shed the darkness
we have asked them to drink,
how to live among us, who are so willing
to sacrifice our children.
May we give others peace to bear, not fear,
healing to carry, not weapons,
and send them into blessing, not danger.
May we, too, have the courage to serve,
to risk, to give our lives in love
for the sake of our homeland,
which is the Kingdom of God,
the whole human family,
in the spirit of peace. Amen.
Steve Garnaas-Holmes, www.unfoldinglight.net
Call to Worship
We come this day
to remember the sacrifice
of service personnel from many nations
who defended against and advanced towards each other.
We remember them in fox hole and mountain top Praying for their friends and families
Before the big push.
And now together
we remember their sacrifice,
their laughter and love of life
and their respective countries
and now we seek God’s blessings this day.
(Source: Rev Dr Karen Campbell, Church of Scotland)
Prayers of Approach, Confession and Absolution
Most gracious God,
whose love reaches out to us
no matter where we are
no matter what we do
no matter how we think of God,
we offer our thanks
for the good of creation
and the renewing liberty of Your grace.
We rejoice in the freedom and peace in which we live.
Especially on this day we give thanks
for the remembrance of those whose lives were given in time of war, and for the bonds of friendship and appreciation
between the nations of the world.
Forgive us when we fail to be the hand of peace, the voice of magnanimity,
and the example of justice in our lives.
Forgive us when we keep silence when we should be speaking out.
Jesus calls us to receive His forgiveness and to practise it in our lives,
whether we want it or need it
whether we deserve it or seek it.
Jesus calls us always to seek reconciliation With all the people we meet.
Enable us in all things
to seek the good of the world,
to practise forgiveness and reconciliation,
to work for the increase of peace and justice,
to show tolerance and open-mindedness to all
and to practise generosity of spirit and openness of hospitality, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
(Source: Rev Dr Karen Campbell, Church of Scotland)
What do we remember today?
The child with the gun
The shell of the house
The crumble of dreams
The breaking of bodies and peace?
The ringing of ears
The screaming of shot
The shrapnel of brick
The breaking of cover and trust?
The bearing of arms
The bearing of grief
The bearing of news
The breaking of treaties and pacts?
The braving of stares
The shaking of heads
The silence of days
The breaking of promise and hearts?
The living for peace
The longing to change
The disarming of hate
The breaking of patterns of war?
The piercing of death
The weeping of friends
The anguish of grief
The rising and breaking of bread.?
A Prayer
God of peace and gentleness
we remember with deep sorrow
the fault, fear, and failure
that repeatedly leads to the forming of enemies,
the escalation of hatred
and to war.
We repent of our complicity in cycles of violence
for colluding with anger
or defaulting to patterns of hostility
We pray,
as we remember those who have
suffered as a result of our forgetfulness
or our inhumanity one to another,
that we may also
disarm our desire to overpower, capture or vanquish.
Help us to resist peacefully every form of violence
so that we can follow you
in ways of gentleness and justice,
continually resolving to form life-giving relationships,
strengthened by the forgiveness of Jesus
the fearlessness of the Spirit
the transforming love of the Creator.
Amen
(Source: Barbara Glasson, President of the Methodist Church in Britain 2019/20)
Windsor Park United Church (Canada) Remembrance Day liturgy 2018
Intercessions
The Prophet Amos says:
“Hate evil and love good,
then work it out in the public square. Maybe God, the God-of-the-Angel-Armies
Will notice your remnant and be gracious.” Amos 5:15 (the Message)
Let us pray
Creator Spirit of all that is and was and will be, A hundred years ago and here today
we pray for families
whose loved ones did not return from the place of war.
We raise to You, O Eternal Keeper
husbands and wives,
who sought and still seek to understand the changes deep within the soul of their partners
through their experience of war
We raise to You, O Friend of All friends and comrades
who lived and live in the aftermath, who exist in the space between youth and survival.
For survivors of bomb and blast
and bullet and shrapnel
whose bravery endured and endures through operations and setbacks through rehabilitation and prosthetics, skin grafts and patience.
We raise to You, O Spirit of Hope
people then and everyone now
who have no experience of combat.
May we pray for the healing of hearts and bodies.
Let us ask for God’s blessings that we might
work for peace,
pray in hope
demand justice for powerless people and be the reconciling presence which this world
and every home and community
so desperately needs. In Jesus Name.
(Source: Rev Dr Karen Campbell, Church of Scotland)
Prayer of thanksgiving and intercession
“So do not worry about tomorrow,
for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.”
As the Spirit
hovered over the face of the waters
at the very moment of creation,
and declared everything created as good.
As the Spirit, like a wind
swirled around the Disciples at Pentecost,
and helped them find a common purpose and language.
May Your Spirit of sea and sky
inhabit our souls this day.
Let prayers of thanks arise
for the frightened and valuable souls
of ships and submarines, of army units and flying squadrons
whose names are recorded on memorials
throughout this country and far afield,
who were someone’s son or daughter,
husband or wife, mother or father.
Let prayers of thanks arise For the many people
who came from overseas to serve,
who paid the ultimate price.
We pray for service personnel
working for the building of peace today, and for their families.
Let prayers of thanks arise,
for the people of this land who assisted
in the war effort,
to care for personnel who were wounded, comfort the grieving,
and support those who served.
We pray for people
who through their work promote peace
and comfort those who live in the aftermath of war.
Let prayers arise,
for the good of this day
and the good we value in our lives;
that we might catch a glimpse
and be inspired of what was done long ago and apply examples of service and humility here and now.
For political leaders whose words and decisions can make all the difference in the world,
we pray that they know the responsibility
with which they have been entrusted.
We give thanks
for the meaning of the memorials in this place of worship and in every town centre
and for all that they have meant
to those far and near.
These prayers
and the silent prayers of our hearts
we dedicate to You,
O Creator of Heaven and Earth,
who holds all souls in Your hands
and in whom we place our trust and faith.
(Source: Rev Dr Karen Campbell, Church of Scotland)
Prayers of intercession
Loving God,
The hills resound with Your beauty the birds sing of Your glory
the seas roar with Your grandeur.
May our frail lives
reflect the vulnerability
and beauty
of Your Son, Jesus Christ
who lived to bring everyone to wholeness, who died a brutal death,
who came forth on Easter Day
still with the wounds of suffering on His body.
May we show in our words and actions the hope and reality of new life, lived fully.
Let us pray for families,
who live in the aftermath of war in the space between remembering and bitter loss.
Let us ask for God’s blessings, that we might
work for peace, pray in hope
and be a reconciling presence, which this world
and every home and community desperately needs.
In Jesus Name. Amen
(Source: Rev Dr Karen Campbell, Church of Scotland)
Call to Remembrance
“Those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength,
they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary
they shall walk and not faint.” Isaiah 40.31
We hold before God this day,
The memory of people whose memory we cherish.
In this time of silence may we
lift our eyes above the brokenness of this world and pray for those who might do us harm.
As we honour the past,
let us think of the future;
and all the ways God will work in us and through us for peace.
So, let us stand, and together remember:
Act of Remembrance
“They shall grow not old,
as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them.” We will remember them.
Silence
“When you go home tell them of us and say, for your tomorrow
we gave our today.” Epitaph from the Battle of Kohima
(Source: Rev Dr Karen Campbell, Church of Scotland)
Call to remembrance
“Blessed are the peacemakers;
For they shall be called the children of God.” Matthew 5.9
We come, with our personal experiences of War;
Vivid, cruel, anarchic and vibrant.
We come, our only knowledge,
through television, newspaper and the internet of the realities of modern warfare.
And together
we remember the colourful, frail and human lives cut down in conflicts
and seek faith in God,
whom we are told
suffers as we suffer in our brokenness and walks with us through
the valley of the shadow of death into the wholeness and promise
of the dawning day of Resurrection.
(Source: Rev Dr Karen Campbell, Church of Scotland)
Call to Remembrance
“What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” Micah 6.8
Remember Arras, Passchendaele, Verdun.
Remember El Alamein, the Normandy beaches.
Remember Dresden, Nagasaki and Burma.
Remember Korea, the Falkland Islands, Northern Ireland, Iraq and Afghanistan.
Remember the courage, the comradeship, the ingenuity,
the spirit of working together for a common cause,
the planning together for a better world that would come with peace.
Remember the widows of sixty years and more,
the older men and women living now who never knew their fathers.
Remember the new widows,
Whose children still cry for their dads.
Remember the love that was lost, the wisdom wasted, the minds that were twisted and the limbs distorted.
Remember those who survived
With the hidden wounds
And give Your support to all those who support them.
(Source: Rev Dr Karen Campbell, Church of Scotland)
Hymn: “Remembrance”
Once crimson poppies bloomed
out in a foreign field,
each memory reminds
where brutal death was sealed.
The crimson petals flutter down,
still hatred forms a thorny crown.
For in this present time
we wait in vain for peace,
each generation cries,
each longing for release,
while war still plagues the human race
and families seek a hiding place.
How long will human life
suffer for human greed?
How long must race or pride,
wealth, nationhood or creed
be reasons justifying death
to suffocate a nation’s breath?
For everyone who dies
we share a quiet grief,
the pain of loss remains,
time rarely brings relief,
and so we will remember them
and heaven sound a loud amen.
(Source: Words: Andrew Pratt; Tune: ‘Little Cornard’/Hills of the North)
UCA 2014 Remembrance Day resources
2014_UCA_Remembrance_Sunday_Resources
Remembrance_Day_resources
Remembrance Day youtube resource (3.21 mins) – prayer meditation
Prayer for Remembrance Day
Let us pray for all who suffer as a result of conflict,
and ask that God may give us peace:
for the service men and women
who have died in the violence of war,
each one remembered by and known to God;
may God give peace. God give peace.
Remembrance Day service – liturgy prepared for UK
Prayer (based on lines from CH4 161, possibly spoken by different voices)
O God, our help in ages past, our hope for years to come:
We have gathered in remembrance of days long gone,
lives long given up, telegrams long since read;
and to continue remembering through the generations,
confident that your faithfulness lasts for ever.
Under the shadow of thy throne your saints have dwelt secure:
We come before you, this day, Lord:
recognising that guns have, in the past, fallen silent;
that agreements were reached and led to peace;
that your present Word to us is one of Life and peace.
Sufficient is your arm alone, and our defence is sure:
Help us to put our trust in you, God come among humankind that we may see in all people your image, that we may follow Christ’s way of serving,
that in your security we may risk much for peace.
From everlasting you are God, to endless years the same:
Enable us to discern your way to peaceful living,
to strive against violence to people and to planet,
to struggle for justice for all on this earth,
and to combat all that works against your purposes of peace.
Lord, be our guard while troubles last, and our eternal home:
Keep us from seeing in violence the answer to deeper ills, Embed within us a vision of earth more like heaven and give us confidence that your kingdom shall prevail through Christ, the Prince of Peace. Amen!
(Source: Starters for Sunday, Church of Scotland)
For those who love them in death as in life,
offering the distress of our grief
and the sadness of our loss;
may God give peace. God give peace.
For all members of the armed forces
who are in danger this day,
remembering family, friends
and all who pray for their safe return;
may God give peace. God give peace.
For civilian women, children and men
whose lives are disfigured by war or terror,
calling to mind in penitence
the anger and hatreds of humanity;
may God give peace. God give peace.
For peacemakers and peacekeepers,
who seek to keep this world secure and free;
may God give peace. God give peace.
For all who bear the burden and privilege of leadership,
political, military and religious;
asking for gifts of wisdom and resolve
in the search for reconciliation and peace;
may God give peace. God give peace.
O God of truth and justice,
we hold before you those whose memory we cherish,
and those whose names we will never know.
Help us to lift our eyes above the torment of this broken world,
and grant us the grace to pray for those who wish us harm.
As we honour the past,
may we put our faith in your future;
for you are the source of life and hope,
now and for ever. Amen. (At this point the Lord’s Prayer may be said)
Source: from Common Worship: Services and Prayers for the Church of England (2000), “All Saints to Advent.” Copyright 2000 © The Archbishops’ Council. Posted on the Church of England website.
For all whose lives have been taken by war,
grant your mercy O God.
For soldiers, civilians, those wounded and neglected,
grant your mercy, O God.
For earth despoiled and living beings sacrificed,
grant your mercy, O God.
For our glorification of war and violence
and our willingness to hurt others
to defend ourselves,
grant your mercy, O God.
We give thanks for your beloved
whom we have sacrificed;
we ask blessing for their loved ones,
confess our need for your grace,
and pray for the redemption of society.
Spirit of compassion and gentleness,
in the name of the One who was sacrificed,
save us by your grace,
and grant us your mercy.
Amen.
(Steve Garnaas-Holmes, Unfolding Light)
Prayer of remembrance (originally for 9/11 but can be adapted for Remembrance Day)
May all of us remember with love and compassion this day.
May we grieve with those who still mourn,
And share memories with those who cannot forget.
May we draw strength from those who bravely responded,
And gave their lives to save others.
May we stand with strangers who became neighbours that day,
And remember their generosity and hospitality.
Above all God may we remember your faithfulness
And learn to trust in your unfailing love. Amen.
Christine Sine
God of love and liberty,
We bring our thanks today for the peace and security we enjoy,
We remember those who in time of war faithfully service their country.
We pray for their families, and for ourselves whose freedom was won at such a cost.
Make us a people zealous for peace, and hasten that day when nation shall not lift up sword against nation neither learn war any more.
This we pray in the name of the one who gave his life for the sake of the world:
Jesus Christ, our Redeemer. Amen.
Adapted From A Prayer Book for Australia page 204
See more at: http://www.defenceanglicans.org.au/remembrance-day-prayers-bible-readings-and-resources/#sthash.t6fdBiEb.dpuf
Prayer of the day
O God, our ruler and guide,
In whose hands are the destinies of this and every nation,
We give you thanks for the freedoms we enjoy in this land
And for those who laid down their lives to defend them:
We pray that we and all the people of Australia,
Gratefully remembering their courage and their sacrifice,
May have the grace to live in a spirit of justice, of generosity, and of peace;
Through Jesus Christ our Lord,
Who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
One God, for ever and ever. Amen
Adapted from A Prayer Book for Australia page 628
A Uniting Church order of service for Remembrance Day
REMEMBRANCE-lament-UCA-2012-21
Remembrance Day Music
A simple order of service for Remembrance Day
(Note: Flags should be half mast for the entire morning until the rouse is sounded)
At 11 am on 11 November 1918 the guns of the Western Front fell silent after more than four years continuous warfare. The allied armies had driven the German invaders back, having inflicted heavy defeats upon them over the preceding four months. In November the Germans called for an armistice (suspension of fighting) in order to secure a peace settlement. They accepted the allied terms of unconditional surrender.
The 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month attained a special significance in the post-war years. The moment when hostilities ceased on the Western Front became universally associated with the remembrance of those who had died in the war. This first modern world conflict had brought about the mobilisation of over 70 million people and left between 9 and 13 million dead, perhaps as many as one-third of them with no known grave. The allied nations chose this day and time for the commemoration of their war dead and called it Armistice Day.
After the end of the Second World War, the Australian and British governments changed the name to Remembrance Day. Armistice Day was no longer an appropriate title for a day which would commemorate all war dead. Today we continue in that tradition as we not only commemorate those who died in past conflicts, but we also think of our Defence Force members presently serving on active operations in various parts of the world.
Reading
John 15:12-13 – Jesus said, “this is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”
Prayer
O God, our ruler and guide,
In whose hands are the destinies of this and every nation,
We give you thanks for the freedoms we enjoy in this land
And for those who laid down their lives to defend them:
We pray that we and all the people of Australia,
Gratefully remembering their courage and their sacrifice,
May have grace to live in a spirit of justice,
Of generosity, and of peace;
Through Jesus Christ our Lord,
Who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
One God, for ever and ever. AMEN
ODE
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them.
We will remember them. Lest we forget.
1058 Last Post
1100 Sound the Alert (one whistle blast)
1100 2 Minute silence
1102 Rouse/ Hoist flags
Reflection
Remembrance means different things to different people. For some, memories and a sense of loss are all too fresh and painful. This is something many of us can understand, though our particular traumas may be different. Sights, sounds, feelings which we long to be free of refuse to leave at our command, coming unbidden to flood us afresh with pain. Trauma we cannot escape lays in wait to bring us distress again. Reminders scratch at the scars of losses we thought we had recovered from, or at least accepted.
Remembrance is also about gratitude for sacrifice, again something we can understand even if we are fortunate enough to be decades from war. Many of us recognise what others have given up to allow us to live the lives we do.
Remembrance too holds out a hope for peace, a longing that we might learn to live together without violence, to find a way to embrace difference rather than seek to vilify or destroy it. It seems so elusive in our world, yet for those who seek to follow the Prince of Peace surely it must still be what we strive for?
Remembrance Sunday strikes a chord deep within us, because as well as whatever the traditional elements mean to us, we carry a deep seated fear of being forgotten. Perhaps it is important as we think about Remembrance Sunday, whatever it may mean to us, to hold on to the fact that God never forgets us, or those in our minds as we remember. We are never forgotten or forsaken.
(Source: Jeannie Kendall, Godspace)
Blessing
Go forth into the world in peace;
Be of good courage;
Hold fast that which is good;
Render to no one evil for evil;
Strengthen the faint hearted; support the weak;
Help the afflicted;
Give honour to all; love and serve the Lord,
Rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit,
And the blessing of God almighty,
The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit,
Be among you and remain with you always. Amen
Remembrance Day Multimedia Presentation
This is a reflection based on the poem In Flanders Fields. Suitable for use amongst young people – such as a school assembly setting.
Download:
Resources for Remembrance Sunday
Interesting read here.
