A new name for Good Friday?

A sermon for the United and Anglican congregations in Summerland BC on Good Friday, 2026 by the Very Rev. Ken Gray

We need a new name for today, for what is “good” about Good Friday? By definition, “Good Friday, also known as Holy Friday, Great Friday, or Friday of the Passion of the Lord, is a solemn Christian holy day.” For Roman Catholics it is a day of obligation. For protestants, participation varies. Typically for us, there is room in the parking lot.

The term Good Friday comes from the sense “pious, holy” of the word good. Regardless, amongst the horror, where is the good? I ask. To my mind, the most inspiring moment comes from Jesus’ words from the cross, especially “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” For a victim of capital punishment to say such a thing, at such a time, is, literally, incredible. It is spoken not as a summit of passive resistance, but as an act of faith. So, I have a better name to suggest for today: “Forgiveness Friday.” In this, I am inspired by an event during 1940 in Coventry, England.

I don’t remember the first time I learned about the Community of the Cross of Nails based at Coventry Cathedral in England. No matter, I am so glad that we are now acquainted. It is one of those organizations, those Christian initiatives which will outlive us all — because of its inherent value and goodness, it’s rich and relevant history, and the sheer beauty of its intentions.

Based on the need and desire for reconciliation, globally, expressed and embodied through local commitments and worship practices, it gives hope to so many hopeless situations, as the need for healing and reconciliation — between persons, peoples, nations, races and with the earth — is presently as great as ever. The need will never disappear!

As the Dean of Coventry notes in an explanatory video, the ministry of the CCN is “a vein of reconciliation, and not revenge. It is a particular historical manifestation of reconciling love given by the grace of God, rooted in the response of one man following a catastrophic human event.”

Following the devastating bombing of England’s Coventry Cathedral in 1940, its provost, the Very Reverend Richard Howard, made a commitment not to seek revenge, but to strive for forgiveness and reconciliation with those responsible. Using a national radio broadcast from the cathedral ruins on Christmas Day 1940 he declared that when the war was over he would work with those who had been enemies “to build a kinder, more Christ-child-like world.” His words were preceded by comments made the morning after the bombing from the Cathedral Ruins.

“We will rebuild as a sign of hope and a sign of peace . . . this must never happen to anyone in the world again . . . Father forgive, everyone, for we all play our part in the perpetuation of violence.” Through such brave and radical words the ministry of the Cross of Nails was born.

Today the Community of the Cross of Nails (CCN) is a Christian network of churches, charities, training organizations, chaplaincies and schools, who, drawn together by the story of Coventry Cathedral, share a common commitment to working and praying for peace, justice, and reconciliation. The ministry lives according to three key priorities:

    Healing the wounds of history

    Learning to live with difference and celebrate diversity

    Building a culture of peace

The ministry of the CCN is based in part on 2 Corinthians 5:18-19:

All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.

Truthfully, changing the name of Good Friday will accomplish little. Following the example of the CCN, will, with Jesus, change us, and the world.

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