08/05/2025
The Bishop to the Armed Forces issues a challenge on VE Day to draw inspiration from the “generous generation” who served in the Second World War in today’s increasingly dangerous world.
Speaking in the national online service for VE Day, Bishop Hugh Nelson says the act of remembering is far from “a matter of nostalgia” but a living reminder of our duty to one another.
Bishop Hugh’s message comes during a service recorded in St James’s Church, Piccadilly, in central London, which was itself bombed but continued worshipping throughout the war and hosted special services of prayer and thanksgiving on May 8, 1945.
The church, built in 1684, was partially destroyed by a direct hit on the rectory on October 14, 1940, killing the verger, Charles Murray, and his wife, Edith. The Rector, Archdeacon Thomas Lambert, survived only because he had gone to visit relatives just outside London on the day the bomb hit.
The Rev Lambert’s daughter, Mary, recounts her memories of the years when much of the church was a bombed-out shell, including vivid memories of walking through the rubble and seeing rare wildflowers growing in the nave.
She speaks about how during the war it offered a “haven of peace” for people in the centre of the destruction.
Hymns include I Vow to Thee My Country and Guide Me O Thou Great Redeemer, sung from the roof of the nearby church of St Martin-in-the-Fields, overlooking Trafalgar Square where VE Day celebrations took place. Readings include the passage in Micah 4 which says “they shall beat their swords into ploughares”.
In his sermon, Bishop Hugh speaks about the connections between the word “remember” and being members of a body together.
“Whenever we remember, we re-member, we put back together what has become separated by time, by our forgetfulness, or by death,” he explains.
“And today, the day, we remember, especially those who fought and served in the Second World War.
“And that remembering is not just a matter of nostalgia of a kind of looking backwards to a past that we wish we could return to; when we remember, we become aware that we all belong together, that who I am, is to do with who you are, and to do with those who have gone before me.”
He continues: “And the world's a dangerous place at the moment, isn't it? We know that the wars of the 20th century fought to build a better world were not, in fact, the wars to end all wars, and that the horrors of conflict continue and like all war, they bring with them terrible suffering.
“Today, there is, once again, the threat of a wider war in Europe, one that spills over from Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
“And so, just like that generous generation who knew that they were members of something bigger than themselves and were ready to serve the whole body as a result, the challenges that we all face require a similar re-membering, a commitment to people to whom we're connected by our common humanity and by Jesus's call to love and to serve our neighbour.
“For we are members of one body today, as we always have me, as we always will be.”