It is quite clear that Great War memories are very close to the hearts of the people of Eccleston.  On 4 August 1918 King George V called a National Day of Prayer: one hundred days later the war ended.  The national Church of England is marking the Hundred Days of Prayer this year.  Linked to this initiative there is a project called There but not There  which enables communities to purchase silhouettes for benches/pews along with name blocks to remember the fallen of the First World War.

 We intend to purchase up to 24 silhouettes to 'sit' in church during the annual Remembrance Service on Sunday 11 November 2018.  The number 24 has been chosen as this represents the number of First World War fallen named on the Eccleston War Memorial and recited in the roll call during the service each year.  Along with the ceramic poppies this will make this year's commemoration all the more relevant with a contemporary understanding of sacrifice, loss and reconciliation.

I am hoping that we will have a number of silhouettes funded by the beginning of September so we can dedicate them and place them in church at our Festival Evensong on Sunday 9 September.  If you would like to purchase a silhouette please contact Fr Andrew or a Church Warden.  It will send such a positive message of community involvement if they can attend at this time when reconciliation is the recurrent theme of this centenary year.