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Major General PC Marriott CBE Commandant Telephone: Civil: 01276 412530 |
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THE FRIENDS OF THE ROYAL MEMORIAL CHAPEL, SANDHURST – AN APPEAL
I am writing this short appeal in order to raise the profile of the Royal Memorial Chapel Sandhurst and to highlight the key role played by “The Friends of the Chapel”. In so doing I would hope to persuade those that feel as strongly as I do, to join as a Friend and contribute to a particularly important cause.
Since officers were first trained at Sandhurst, the Chapel has been at the spiritual heart of their military training: many find that it continues to play a significant part in their lives. Whilst it is a shrine of remembrance and past sacrifice, it is also a place of prayer and spiritual development, and it remains a key part of the Academy’s life. No cadet currently in training at Sandhurst attends Chapel out of compulsion although we, unashamedly, encourage very strongly all Officer Cadets and recently commissioned officers who are undergoing training, to attend the regular services. On special occasions, such as Remembrance Sunday and Colours to Chapel they all attend as part of their ongoing development. And we do so because Sandhurst has learned over many years that by bringing our trainees into Chapel, the majority of them find it particularly helpful when trying to grasp the spiritual dimension of soldiering - in other words to understand better the intangible link, evident so often at moments of danger, between the practice of soldiering on the one hand and faith on the other.
As those that have worshiped in the Chapel will know, the present building, constructed after the First World War, has a grace and a grandeur which fits its religious, developmental and ceremonial roles. It would not be exaggerating to describe it as inspirational to those who have worshiped there. A great many officers return to the Chapel to be married, or to bring their children to baptism, others are remembered in services of celebration. It is, rightly, used extensively which means that the task of maintaining the building and its furnishings is never-ending. The public purse pays only for the maintenance work to the structure of the building: the cost of everything else cannot be fully funded from Academy funds. In essence, the amount of funding necessary to maintain it to the level required, is simply not there.
In recognition of this need, an Association of "The Friends of the Chapel" was established in 1984, in order to support the life, mission and worship of the Chapel. Friends are encouraged to contribute to a fund to enhance the fabric and support the ministry of the Chapel, and their support has made a substantial contribution to maintaining its quality and excellence since then. In recent years such support has included the refurbishment of the crypt to provide a kitchen and coffee room, a contribution towards the provision of new hymnals and prayer books, the purchase of a new acoustic system, a new casket for the Book of Remembrance, a Paschal Candle holder carved in wood, the engraving of the Academy Collect on a marble tablet above the West Door and the sympathetic re-painting of the regimental cap badges on the memorials. The Friends also have paid for a number of other minor items such as Choir robes and music. All of these improvements have contributed towards enhancing an asset that is central to the development of our future officer corps. Without this contribution, the essential quality would be significantly reduced and with it, the level of excellence that has traditionally been associated with an institution that has world renown.
The Friends have a service in the Chapel each term which is followed by lunch in the Officers' Mess, and are kept abreast of events through a Newsletter and calendar.
I hope in reading this appeal you will agree with me that our Chapel at Sandhurst is, to the Army at least, of crucial importance; it is at the spiritual heart of the British Army. Whilst the building itself will not be allowed to fall into disrepair given the support from the Ministry of Defence, it is only part of the equation. The memorials, chattels and standard of presentation are of equal importance and the funding required to maintain the standard of excellence necessary rests, quite heavily, on the shoulders of the Friends of the Chapel: this is an on-going cost. I believe we have a duty to keep safe the Royal Memorial Chapel for the generations of officers who follow us and this means that we will continue to require both private and public funding. On behalf of the Chapel Council I would like to ask you to consider becoming a Friend of the Chapel, and, by so doing, donate financially, in any way you wish and by whatever amount you wish – every bit of support counts, however small. We very much look forward to hearing from you. Thank you.
If you are interested in joining, please contact the Chaplains’ Clerk or a member of the Friends.
Contact details are:
e-mail:
memsec-rmc-rmas@tiscali.co.uk
Or write to:
The Friends of the Chapel
The Royal Memorial Chapel
RMA Sandhurst
Camberley
Surrey
GU15 4PQ
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The Revd Canon J R B Gough CF The Chaplain The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst CAMBERLEY, Surrey GU15 4PQ Telephone 01276 41 2200 Military 94261 2200 |
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Dear Friends,
As the calendar falls out, the newsletter is being put together in Holy Week, which is at once the most sombre and also the most dramatic week of the liturgical year. The annual reminder of Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday and Good Friday is a sequence that carries us through the final days of Jesus’ life on earth. It is a story of fickleness and betrayal, of anticipation and dread, of faithfulness and self-giving. It is rightly called the time of Passion, carrying both meaning of suffering and love.
This year Lent and Passiontide have been underlined by the regular news of casualties in Afghanistan. I have had the sad privilege of being at RAF Lyneham to assist at some of the repatriation ceremonies, and of meeting some of the families of those killed. For every fatality we hear about, there will be number of soldiers injured, and they will carry the cost of their service for months or years to come. That has given a particular focus to our understanding of the inseparable link between devotion – whether that of a soldier to comrades or a parent to sons and daughters – and suffering. The fortitude of mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, is impressive and humbling. The strength and endurance of injured soldiers is a great testament to their character and bravery. They certainly place minor fears and concerns in a greater context, and we can see both an echo and a re-presentation of the suffering of Christ.
But by the time this is read we will be into Easter, with its good news of resurrection and new life. Though spring is late this year, after a long, hard winter, yet still trees are coming into leaf, birds are nesting and all creation seems to echo the bursting promise of re-creation. The over-arching message is full of hope. Through all the darkness there is light, through the pain there is peace, at the end of the grief there is joy. The context for that is Christ’s victory, so that sin and pain and death will never have the last word, and his promise is to be with us always, to the end of time.
The renewal of the year reminds me of Gerard Manley Hopkins’ poem God’s Grandeur, written in the experience of a newly industrial world that seemed to undermine humanity, yet was incapable of frustrating God’s purposes for Creation.
With best wishes for Eastertide,
Jonathan Gough