06/11/2020
The service, from the Royal Military Chapel (Guards’ Chapel) in London, will be broadcast on the Church of England’s Facebook and YouTube accounts at 9am on Sunday. It will be led by Revd John Vincent CF, Senior Chaplain, London District, and Chaplain to the Household Division.
The Act of Remembrance will be read during the service and The Last Post will be played, followed by a two-minute silence and the sounding of the Reveille. There will be music from the choir of the Guards’ Chapel and The Band of the Irish Guards.
Major General Chris Ghika CBE, General Officer Commanding London District and Major General Commanding the Household Division, will lay the wreath.
The pre-recorded service will be broadcast days after the start of the second national lockdown in England, with public worship suspended during this time.
Remembrance Sunday services and events, remembering those who have died in war, including civilian casualties, and those bereaved by war, are due to be held outdoors, in accordance with restrictions.
In addition to online services broadcast from churches and cathedrals across the country, BBC local radio will broadcast a church service led by the Bishop to the Forces, Tim Thornton, at 8am on Sunday. There will also be a Service of Remembrance from the Royal Air Force College, Cranwell, broadcast on BBC Radio 4.
The online service from The Guards’ Chapel will hear prayers read by Revd Vincent, including prayers for the Armed Forces, for all those who have been bereaved and remembering all those who have been victims of war.
In his sermon, Revd Vincent will say that on Remembrance Sunday, the nation remembers ‘all those who were prepared to take a stand against those forces and powers which threatened and continue to threaten the things that we hold dear.’
“We remember those millions who for us are just names inscribed on war memorials, and we remember those who are closer to us – family members or those we have served alongside on operations,” he will say.
“And we also call to mind and pray for those who today will face danger on our behalf, protecting our values and working for peace.”
Revd Vincent said remembering the war dead should be ‘more than just a memory of what they have done.”
He will add: ‘We must be inspired by their example for their values to become our values, their vision for a just and peaceful world to become our vision, their love for others become our love for others.
“In this way their name will live on and the peace they fought so hard to achieve we take forward and pass on to others yet to be born.”