A New Remembrance Service

The following is the text of a memorandum from Ian Townsend, Director General of the Royal British Legion.

Following such tragedies as Dunblane and 9/11, the Churches were approached by many non ex Service organisations for advice about appropriate Remembrance Services. There were no resources readily available for the clergy to draw on, and this led to the production of a book called Beyond Our Tears by a committee of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland (CTBI) under the auspices of the Joint Liturgical Group (JLG). During the development of the material for this book, the Legion was approached for its views about developing a new Remembrance Service which could be used in non military as well as military environments by people of all faiths and none, and could be adapted for use in a variety of locations such as a cathedral, a church, a churchyard, a school or at a War Memorial, since the last time it was updated was in 1968.

The Legion was concerned that it was being brought into the discussions at a late stage, but agreed that the  publication could go ahead without a new Remembrance Service which would need further discussion. Beyond Our Tears was published last year, and is available at all good booksellers. 

Since then the Legion has been represented at CTBI committee meetings by the National Chaplain, the Director General and the Director of Administration. The discussions have mainly concentrated on making the liturgy simpler, more straightforward and more inclusive, but the Legion representatives have ensured that all the essential traditional elements (the Exhortation, the Last Post, the Two Minute Silence, Reveille, the Kohima and appropriate hymns and National Anthems) remain. The Service includes many options so communities can decide for themselves the sort of service they wish to arrange. 

The Legion's  Ceremonial Handbook will be updated in due course.

85/1005

Click here to Continue in original sequence or select from menu left

Return to Main menu