AT ST ANDREW's, Ford, in Chichester diocese, an
old metal box on top of a cupboard was opened some time ago for the
first time in years, and revealed not only a collection of
candlesticks, but printed Orders of Service for use in churches,
dated 1914.
So, in an unusually packed
St Mary's, Yapton (in the same benefice as Ford and Clymping), on
the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of the Great War, the Revd
Richard Hayes provided facsimile copies of the Form of Intercession
with Almighty God on behalf of His Majesty's Naval and Military
Forces now engaged in War.
He explained how the service
sheets had been found, and how George Bell - later the Bishop of
Chichester, during the Second World War, but then a chaplain to the
Archbishop of Canterbury - had helped to draw up the service and
prayers.
Mr Hayes then told the congregation how there had been a
conflict of views whether those prayers should ask God for victory
for our side, and they had evidently compromised on the side of
Christian generosity of spirit. The opening prayers sought "the
help and guidance of God in this time of trouble"; asked for
"wisdom and courage for the government of the nation"; and
carefully prayed for "the sailors and soldiers of the King, and for
the wounded, whether our own, or of the enemy". Donations were made
to the Royal British Legion.