St. Andrew's Church in Moscow is a community of Christians who seek to
- nurture the development of our faith through an Anglican form of worship, providing regular services which communicate the Gospel of Christ;
- apply our Christian beliefs to our daily lives;
- develop a community to support each other while living in Moscow;
- encourage ecumenical initiatives and activities;
- serve the community
Community of the Cross of Nails
On June 20, 2002, St. Andrew’s Moscow was welcomed into the Community of the Cross of Nails during a visit to Moscow of the Rev. Canon Andrew White of Coventry Cathedral where the community is headquartered.
The Cross of Nails is a powerful and inspirational symbol worldwide of reconciliation and peace. It has its origins in World War II when on Nov. 14, 1940, the city of Coventry was reduced to ruins by German bombs. Its Cathedral, at the heart of the city, burned with it. Rather than look to revenge, the cathedral's Provost, pledged to go in peace to Germany.
He did so immediately after the war, taking with him a symbol of reconciliation, a Cross of Nails, originally made from three mediaeval nails taken from the wooden beams of the ruins of the Cathedral. This was taken to Kiel, Berlin and Dresden.
Coventry Cathedral's ministry of reconciliation is the most well established, church-based centre for reconciliation in Great Britain. The Cross of Nails, the symbol of this courageous vision, has been taken to all five continents to encourage people who are working towards peace and reconciliation within their own communities - from Slovakia to the United States, South Africa to Australia and the Corrymeela Community in Northern Ireland to the House of Hope in Israel.
St. Andrew’s Anglican Church in Moscow is among this network of over 160 Cross of Nails Centres spread around the world which incorporate into their prayer life the following Coventry Litany of Reconciliation:
All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God
The hatred which divides nation from nation, race from race, class from class
Father forgive
The covetous desires of people and nations to possess what is not their own
Father forgive
The greed which exploits the work of human hands and lays waste the earth
Father forgive
Our envy of the welfare and happiness of others
Father forgive
Our indifference to the plight of the imprisoned, the homeless, the refugee
Father forgive
The lust which dishonours the bodies of men, women and children
Father forgive
Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you
