19 July 2024

For some people, the sight of King Charles and Queen Camilla travelling down the Mall from Buckingham Palace in the Diamond Jubilee State Coach, pulled by six grey horses, ahead of the State Opening of Parliament, may have looked ridiculous in our ever expanding technological world!

A real King with a crown upon his head and a Queen dressed in white beside him would certainly have attracted the attention of visitors to the city and even hardened royalists, who seek out these public displays of monarchy whenever they can experience them.

I imagine someone who is good at arithmetic can calculate how much the nation benefits in additional income from these royal events. It may even be incalculable. But the colourful, if outmoded, public display of our constitutional Head of  State, actually adds a great deal to Government.

By contrast, we have the attempted assassination of a former President of the United States and one who has just become the Republican candidate for the election of a new President in November. Whatever our political views, the gunman’s attack on Trump was a shocking attack on democracy.

So what is to be gained with a royal coach and horses, a King with a crown upon his head and the formalities of  the State Opening of Parliament? There are three attractive features. Firstly, it roots our constitution in a very long and often distinguished history. This is reassuring even comforting.

Secondly, it makes the distinction between our Head of State and the Government visible to the public. Although their roles are different, they are tied together by law and the will of the people.  Thirdly, this pause in confrontational politics, reveals a more mannerly and even playful context in which to locate  our life together. It is something which cannot be secured by weaponry, only grace.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

  18 August 2024 I am concerned  that when smaller charges are subsumed into larger units, ministry is reduced to  ‘needs must’ and this will prejudice the smaller rural units. They require ministers to have more time to stand and stare, to build up relationships which may or may not lead anywhere  and to work with all ages and all community agencies. The value of this work may be lost without a specialist dedicated to the task. Here are six  areas of specialist training: 1. breaking down the division between secular and sacred – in the rural charge this is much more diffuse and more in keeping with the true nature of the Gospel where God is at work in all places and all people 2. integrating  young and old – in the rural charge people are not so self-conscious of these age differences and work together in community events and initiatives 3. embracing  the pace of the natural world and nature’s discrete  modus operandi – results are not immediate nor immediately recognisable, G
Read more
  15 August 2024 David Fergusson, Regius   Professor of   Divinity at Cambridge University, and Kirk minister has just produced a series of essays on theology, philosophy and the Church. One is entitled, ‘Mapping the Church – Current Challenges of History and Mission’. In it, he tackles the issue of mission in the Church. He begins by acknowledging that mission is a constituent part of the Church’s work not least in handing on the faith to those who are coming after us. But he points out   that the ‘Five Marks of Mission’ which have been embedded into our current thinking are not comprehensive. ‘The church has many functions,’ he writes, ‘the glorifying of God in its worship, the education and nurture of its people, the pastoral care of the sick and the dying, and the bearing witness to the gospel in the life of the world.’ Mission is one of several aspects of being the Body of Christ. He recognises that there is a mistaken view in some quarters that by focusing our attention a
Read more
  10 July 2024 The Revd. Will Pearson-Gee was an Army Chaplain rising to the rank of   major in 1999. He is now the rector of Buckingham where he said that some of the services for which he is responsible were ‘overflowing with widows’. So Kaya Burgess has reported. He has been so concerned about the lack of men in church that he raised it at the Church of England Synod in York. ‘What resources has the church developed to help people think about and practise evangelism among men?’   Two facts justify his concern. Firstly, 59% of worshippers in the Church of England are women. In some kirk congregations, this would be an under-estimate. Secondly, the British Social Attitudes Survey found in 2019 that at every age men were less likely than women to say they had a religion, went to church or believed in God. In his address to the Synod, Will Pearson-Gee argued that men who became Christians were more likely to bring their whole family with them. He also argued that the language of
Read more