CCN
About CCN
The Community of the Cross of Nails is an international network of 160 CCN Centers around the world. This network is made up of individuals and institutions that share a commitment to a practical vision of reconciliation along with a genuine intention to live a disciplined Christian life. In the United States the community is comprised of individuals, churches, schools, seminaries, and several cathedrals. It stems from and works with the International Centre for Reconciliation of Coventry Cathedral in England, one of the world's foremost centers for conflict resolution and reconciliation.
Members of the Cross of Nails are called to live within the framework of a spiritual discipline based on the Benedictine Way. This discipline stresses reconciliation and Christian hospitality. It assumes that reconciliation includes inner and outer spiritual work. As members of CCN, we make a commitment to daily prayer, meditation and silence, spiritual formation and reflection, and to be of service in a suffering world.
Study Guides
Each month at Saint Mark's, CCN presents a unique and thought-provoking perspective on peace and reconciliation and the people who lived and, in some cases, died for these goals. Please feel free to download these articles in PDF form.
Mission
Saint Mark's CCN Ministry focuses on the following key areas:Pilgrimages and Missions
Hospitality and Reconciliation Circles
Sister Parish Relationships
Teaching personal and communal practices that promote peace and reconciliation
International and Interfaith Relationships
As a part of our CCN Ministry. Saint Mark's was formally commissioned as a centre for the Community of the Cross of Nails on January 11, 2004. Since that time, St. Mark's has developed mission friendships and partnerships with Diocese of Cuba, Peru, and S. Africa and have sponsered mission trips and pilgrimages to each of these Diocese, as well as other locations of spiritual significance.
Cuba
CCN Mission Partner: The Diocese of Cuba
The Church in Cuba has a long history; starting in 1871 when Bishop Henry Whipple of Minnesota found himself stranded in Havana on his way to Haiti. In his 1899 book entitled Light & Shadow - Reminiscences and Recollections. Bishop Whipple writes, "...God in His providence has brought me to Havana for some wise purpose..."
During his stay, Bp. Whipple discovered that the people of Cuba were in great need of spiritual comfort and ministry. Upon his return from Cuba, Bp. Whipple convienced the Episcopal Church to send missionaries to Cube to assist with the Spiritual care of it's people.
St. Mark's continues in this connection to Cuba through it's mission partnership. In 2005 and again this past December, missioners from St. Mark's made a pilgrimage to Cuba, offering spiritual and pyhsical support and recieving an enrichment of spirit and greater understanding.
2009 Cuba Trip Video
History of Episcopal Church in Cuba
Bp. Whipple on Cuba
'07 Mission Trip Book
Feb '08 - Cathedral builds partnership with Cuba...
Peru
CCN Ministry Friendship: The Diocese of Peru
As a intigral part of St. Mark's CCN Ministry, we have built a relationship with the Diocese of Peru, inviting guest speakers from the diocese and engaging in mission trips to parishes in Peru.
"Only the walker who sets out toward ultimate things is a pilgrim. In this lies the
difference between tourist and pilgrim. The tourist travels just as far,
sometimes with great zeal and courage, gathering up acquisitions and
returns the same person as the one who departed. The pilgrim resolves
that the one who returns will not be the same person as the one who set out.
The pilgrim must be prepared to shed the husk of personality or
even the body like a worn out coat. For the pilgrim the road is home;
reaching the destination seems nearly inconsequential"
(Andrew Schelling, Meeting the Buddha, edited by Molly Emma Aitken,)