Some people find it rather strange that military bases are members of the Community of the Cross of Nails
The experience of the Reverend Canon Dr David Stone, Canon Precentor, who travelled to Den Helder in the Netherlands to present a Cross of Nails.
I had the privilege of presenting a Cross of Nails to the Protestant Chaplaincy of the Dutch Armed Forces at their Naval Base in Den Helder, right at the top of the Netherlands.
Klass Ubels heads up the chaplaincy department and his colleague Wilco Veltkamp made me and my family feel most welcome. It was also good to be joined by Bert Kuipers, who chairs the CCN in the Netherlands.
A new Chaplaincy Centre in Den Helder was built and opened in 2013 and, in preparation for their application to join the CCN, they have been praying the Litany of Reconciliation on Fridays since January.
Here’s what they say:
“With the start of the Litany of Reconciliation in Den Helder, we realize how special it is to pray the Litany in a military area. We also realize that the aim of the Dutch Armed Forces to support international law and order, if necessary by fighting for peace, is in the end from a totally other level than the peace we believe in through Jesus Christ. It is extraordinary to pray for the coming of his peaceable Kingdom, wearing a military uniform!
“We hope that, in time, more centres of the Chaplaincies in the Dutch Armed Forces will join the Coventry Litany at their barracks, at the ships and during deployments, for example now in Afghanistan or Mali. The opportunities for prayer are many, not at least for the so called ‘opposite groups’ during our deployments.
We wish to be a part of the CCN as network of Churches and Christian organisations who share a common commitment to work and pray for peace, justice and reconciliation, inspired by the story of Coventry Cathedral.”
David Stone, Canon Precentor (2014)