Our Faithful Queen
Dear Friends,
On 6 February 2022, the seventieth anniversary of her accession, Her Majesty the Queen became the first British Monarch to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee. This month, we are celebrating the Jubilee in a variety of ways across our villages, including holding special services and exhibitions, community picnics and parties, and by the lighting of a beacon. And - as someone who enjoys puddings – I am also glad to see that there will even be a Platinum Pudding Party on Pentecost in Scalford Church!
During the past seventy years, the Queen has given us a shining example of service, commitment, discretion, loyalty, resilience, modesty, and of a sense of duty. As well as being Head of State, the Queen is Supreme Governor of the Church of England. Hers is a sacramental role - apart from the Pope, the Queen is the only Christian monarch who has been anointed to her task. For the Queen, this is clearly not just about ceremonial, but about a Christian faith which is a deep and personal reality.
In her Christmas message in the year 2000, the Queen bore witness to her faith in these words: “For me the teachings of Christ and my personal accountability before God provide a framework in which I try to lead my life. I … have drawn great comfort in difficult times from Christ’s words and example.” The Queen is someone who seeks to live her life in the light of Jesus Christ, the Saviour sent from God. As she said in her Christmas broadcast of 2011: “Although we are capable of great acts of kindness, history teaches us that we sometimes need saving from ourselves – from our recklessness and greed. God sent into the world a unique person – neither a philosopher nor a general .. but a Saviour, with the power to forgive.”
During this month, we shall be using the following prayer of thanksgiving for our faithful Queen. It is a prayer which you and I can also make our own:
Gracious God, we give you thanks
for the reign of your servant Elizabeth our Queen,
and for the example of loving and faithful service
which she has shown among us.
Help us to follow her example of dedication
and to commit our lives to you and to one another,
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
With all good wishes,
John Barr, Rector
Dear Friends,
On 6 February 2022, the seventieth anniversary of her accession, Her Majesty the Queen became the first British Monarch to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee. This month, we are celebrating the Jubilee in a variety of ways across our villages, including holding special services and exhibitions, community picnics and parties, and by the lighting of a beacon. And - as someone who enjoys puddings – I am also glad to see that there will even be a Platinum Pudding Party on Pentecost in Scalford Church!
During the past seventy years, the Queen has given us a shining example of service, commitment, discretion, loyalty, resilience, modesty, and of a sense of duty. As well as being Head of State, the Queen is Supreme Governor of the Church of England. Hers is a sacramental role - apart from the Pope, the Queen is the only Christian monarch who has been anointed to her task. For the Queen, this is clearly not just about ceremonial, but about a Christian faith which is a deep and personal reality.
In her Christmas message in the year 2000, the Queen bore witness to her faith in these words: “For me the teachings of Christ and my personal accountability before God provide a framework in which I try to lead my life. I … have drawn great comfort in difficult times from Christ’s words and example.” The Queen is someone who seeks to live her life in the light of Jesus Christ, the Saviour sent from God. As she said in her Christmas broadcast of 2011: “Although we are capable of great acts of kindness, history teaches us that we sometimes need saving from ourselves – from our recklessness and greed. God sent into the world a unique person – neither a philosopher nor a general .. but a Saviour, with the power to forgive.”
During this month, we shall be using the following prayer of thanksgiving for our faithful Queen. It is a prayer which you and I can also make our own:
Gracious God, we give you thanks
for the reign of your servant Elizabeth our Queen,
and for the example of loving and faithful service
which she has shown among us.
Help us to follow her example of dedication
and to commit our lives to you and to one another,
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
With all good wishes,
John Barr, Rector