Concord

Concord, New Hampshire, CCN Centers

HISTORY: St. Paul's Church and St. Paul's School were designated as separate Cross of Nails Centers in October, 2000.

ACTIVITIES:
Meetings: The two Centers have a joint committee to work on joint efforts and meet monthly for conversation on reconciliation and for planning. Since October, 2000, a joint reconciliation committee from the church and the school has met to determine ways that we might engage the Concord community in reconciliation work.

Projects/Events: St. Paul's Church and St. Paul's School currently participate in activities together. In the Spring of 2002 we gathered a group that came to include leaders from the Concord Chamber of Commerce, the Interfaith Council, the Task Force Against Racism and Intolerance, local houses of worship, the Concord Mayor's Office, and the New Hampshire Governor's Office. We began work on a commemoration of September 11th that would focus on reconciliation, and in August, 2002, the Governor of New Hampshire asked that our event become the official statewide commemoration.

“The events of 9/11 make it clear that differences can lead to terror rather than to reconciliation. We live in an age when understanding the experiences of others should be the focus of relationships among people, nations, cultures, and religions,” said the Reverend Dr. Scott E. Erickson, chaplain at St. Paul’s School and co-chair of the committee organizing the ceremony. “As we gather to remember the variety of tragedies resulting from September 11th, may our commemoration cause us to think carefully about how we move forward to build a community of hope in our state and to ask ourselves and each other: What have we learned?”

We are pleased that our efforts have brought reconciliation into focus and that the CCN has became known as an organization that gathers the community together at important times. Addition details about the event are available on St. Paul's School Website: (www.sps.edu), "Reflections on September 11: One Year Later" and "First Anniversary Service Honors September 11 Victims".

In September 2002, the widely representative September 11th Planning Committee committed to continued efforts in the Concord area. We meet monthly and plan to organize an event on September 11th, 2003, albeit with a much different focus.

CONTACT: For more information about the Concord, New Hampshire, Cross of Nails Centers, contact:

The Rev. Dr. E. Scott Erickson
Email: serickso@sps.edu