Helena Mbele-Mbong writes
Last Sunday, the Canterbury Cross was presented to the congregation of Holy Trinity Nice, France, during their service.. The organizing team of the next Convocation Convention came forward to receive the Cross from Samuel and Helena Mbele-Mbong of Emmanuel Episcopal Church Geneva Switzerland. It was well received, and many wondered about the story behind the Cross.
At the Closing Service of the Convocation Convention at Emmanuel on 27 October, the Canterbury Cross was presented to Father Peter Jackson and Joe Voelker representing Holy Trinity, Nice, where the next Convention will be held. However, they could not take it with them on the plane. So Samuel and Helena drove down last week with the cross. Although part of the Diocese of Gibraltar in Europe of the Church of England, Holy Trinity, Nice, has a special and very welcomed relationship with the Convocation since absorbing the congregants of the Episcopal Church of the Holy Spirit in Nice when it closed many years ago.
The Canterbury Cross was made in 1997 for the Convocation from wood removed from Canterbury Cathedral during renovations. That year the Cross made a pilgrimage to all parishes and missions of the Convocation, coinciding with the pilgrimage from Rome to Canterbury to commemorate the 1400th anniversary of St. Augustine being sent to England. The first group of Youth Across Europe brought it forward at the Convention which was in Paris that year with Presiding Bishop Edmond Browning. Since then, at the close of each Convention, the Cross is presented to the parish hosting the next Convention.