Dear Friends,
One of my earliest childhood memories is of hearing the news of the death of John Lennon. I was very young at the time and it may have been something to do with the novelty of having a television set, but I can very vividly remember, even at that young age of being aware that something very important had happened and that people were crying and were very sad because of it. It is a memory that has always stayed with me along with other significant moments such as the death of Princess Diana and the 9/11 bombing of the twin towers; all moments in our history that we know are significant and bring about change. I wonder if my grandchildren will have similar memories in years to come, because there is no doubt that the news of the death of Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday 8th September 2022 was one such history changing moment. Most people today have never known another Monarch in their lifetimes and it is only a few months ago that we all joined in with the Jubilee celebrations for the longest ever reigning Monarch.
To me one of the things that stood out about Queen Elizabeth II’s reign has been her willingness to publicly voice her faith in Christ as being what has driven her to serve her country in the way that she has. She has lived out the life that she believed God had called her to and has done so to the best of her ability. All of us by the time of reading this article will have had the opportunity to pay our respects to Her Majesty, sign condolence books and to give thanks to God for her life.
As we look back though, so we must also look forward and give thanks to God for King Charles III. On Sunday 11th September and along with thousands of other people we sang the words of the
National Anthem, and although it did seem odd singing God save the King, I know that many of you, as I did, find it very moving, and felt as if the baton had been passed from one Monarch to the other.
So let us give thanks to God for the life and reign of Queen Elizabeth II, for her faith and dedication to duty; and let us pray for King Charles III as he takes on his new role and leads us as a nation into a new era.
Every Blessing
Suzan
In late September we are launching our own place of welcome that we’re going to call CAMEO which stands for Come And Meet Each Other. We will be meeting in church weekly beginning on Monday 26th September between 10:30 – 12:00noon, and the idea is for everyone who comes to know it’s a place for them to come and meet other people from the community.
Please contact me for more details.