Editing Cosmo Gordon Lang (section)

===First World War===

[[File:Cosmo Lang, Prelate of the Order of Knights of St. John of Jerusalem.jpg|180px|thumb|upright|alt=Cosmo Gordon Lang, as Prelate of the Venerable Order of Saint John, at the Grand Priory Church of the Order of St John of Jerusalem, Clerkenwell, London, on 11 January 1918|Lang on 11 January 1918, celebrating the outcome of the [[Battle of Jerusalem]] ]]
When war broke out in August 1914, Lang concluded that the conflict was righteous, and that younger clergy should be encouraged to serve as military chaplains, although it was not their duty to fight. He thereafter was active in recruiting campaigns throughout his province.<ref>Lockhart, pp. 246–47</ref> At a meeting in York in November 1914 he caused offence when he spoke out against excessive anti-German propaganda, and recalled a "sacred memory" of the [[Wilhelm II|Kaiser]] kneeling with King Edward VII at the bier of Queen Victoria.<ref name= Wilk3>{{cite odnb|last= Wilkinson|first= Alan|title= (William) Cosmo Gordon Lang (1864–1945)|id=34398}}   ("First World War" section)</ref> These remarks, perceived as pro-German, produced what Lang termed "a perfect hail of denunciation".<ref name= L249>Lockhart, pp. 249–51</ref> The strain of this period, coupled with the onset of [[alopecia]], drastically altered Lang's relatively youthful appearance to that of a bald and elderly-looking man.<ref name= Wilk3/> His friends were shocked; the king, meeting him on the Royal train, apparently burst into guffaws of laughter.<ref name= L249/>

Public hostility against Lang was slow to subside, re-emerging from time to time throughout the war.<ref name= L249/> Lang continued his contribution to the war effort, paying visits to the [[Grand Fleet]] and to the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]].<ref name= Wilk3/> He applied all his organisational skills to the Archbishop of Canterbury's National Mission of Repentance and Hope,<ref>Lockhart, pp. 254–55</ref> an initiative designed to renew Christian faith nationwide, but it failed to make a significant impact.<ref>Manwaring, p. 12</ref>

As a result of the [[Battle of Jerusalem]] of December 1917, the [[British Empire]]'s [[Egyptian Expeditionary Force]] captured the [[Jerusalem|Holy City]], bringing it under Christian control for the first time since the [[Crusades]]. As Prelate of the [[Venerable Order of Saint John]], Lang led a service of celebration on 11 January 1918 at the Order's Grand Priory Church, [[Clerkenwell]]. He explained that it was 917 years since the [[Knights Hospitaller|Order's hospital]] had been founded in [[Jerusalem]], and 730 years since they were driven out by [[Saladin]]. "London is the city of the Empire's commerce, but Jerusalem is the city of the soul, and it is particularly fitting that [[British Armed Forces|British Armies]] should have delivered it out of the hands of the [[infidel]]."<ref>{{cite journal |editor-last=Fenwick |editor-first=Mrs Bedford |title=Editorial: The Deliverance of Jerusalem |date=19 January 1918 |url=http://people.bu.edu/zackcost/page035-volume60-19thjanuary1918.pdf |journal=The British Journal of Nursing |volume=LX |issue=1555 |page=35 |access-date=30 November 2009 |archive-date=27 December 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151227102100/http://people.bu.edu/zackcost/page035-volume60-19thjanuary1918.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Early in 1918, at the invitation of the [[Episcopal Church of the United States]], he made a goodwill visit to America, praising the extent and willingness of America's participation in the war.<ref>Johnson, p. 14</ref> The ''[[Westminster Gazette]]'' called this "one of the most moving and memorable visits ever paid by an Englishman [''sic''] to the United States".<ref>Quoted by Lockhart, p. 262</ref>