I’ve met the Queen twice. Once in a cathedral and another time in her garden. I say ‘met’, though neither encounter constitutes what could normally be described as meeting someone. We shook hands in a line-up, all of us dressed a bit funny. Both times I was too self-consciously focused on my own etiquette to use the three or four seconds of our meeting to establish any sort of connection. Remember, “Your Majesty” first, then subsequently “ma’am” which rhymes with spam not palm. I never got to the “ma’am” bit on either occasion. I bowed my head, we shook hands, she said something nice, I smiled and agreed, she smiled and moved on.I wonder how many times she has done this? 10,000 people a year? For 69 years. Round up a bit. That’s three quarters of a million. A YouGov poll in 2018 found that 31% of the British public said that they have met or seen the Queen. By a long distance, she has been the most met monarch in history. Which is extraordinary given how shy she is. “You were so shy” Prince Philip recalled, thinking of their first meeting. She once told a friend that she was “terrified” of sitting next to strangers “in case they talk about things I’ve never heard of.” She soldiered on anyway. Fewer people will meet her now. Rest, withdrawal, and slight diminishments are her future. After all, she is 95. More audiences on Zoom, which she won’t like. Back to her Tupperware packed lunches and jigsaw puzzles by the fire. No more gin in the evening, on doctors orders. Her troublesome children to worry about. And now a widow. Her vulnerability only underlining once again how central she remains to this nation.But this vulnerability has long been a characteristic of her reign. Just 5ft 4, she walks among suited and uniformed men towering over her. The only Prime Minister to ever look her directly in the eye was Margaret Thatcher. She was just 25, little more than a girl, when she acceded to the throne, and 27 when the Archbishop of Canterbury placed the responsibility of the crown upon her head. 277 million people worldwide were gathered round their small black and white television sets.What they didn’t see was the central moment of the whole ceremony. Then the Queen was disrobed of her crimson cloak and her jewellery removed. Here she sat in a simple white dress on a wooden throne to be anointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury with holy oil, a mixture of ambergris, civet, orange flowers, roses, jasmine, cinnamon, musk and benzoin, ladled from a 12th century spoon. This is when the choir sings ‘Zadok the Priest’, its words extracted from the first Book of Kings, sung at every English coronation since 973 AD. These echoes of the Hebrew Bible are deliberate. She, like Solomon, was dedicated to God. Kings and Queens are supposed to be servants too. In Christian terms, like the servant king who emptied himself of power in order to achieve His most important work.This bit was too raw for the cameras, the daylight of technology threatening to cheapen the magic of sanctity, to paraphrase Walter Bagehot. The monarchy, he wrote in <em>The English Constitution</em><em>, </em>was the “dignified” branch of power. Romantic, awesome, sublime. The government was merely “efficient” — cabinet ministers and civil servants chewing pencils and pushing paper.Monarchy is a religious business — or else it would be nothing more than a technical constitutional necessity that sits at the intersection of money and class and power. And the essence of this religious business, the unseen holiness as it were, is a kind of vulnerability that places one’s life in the service of other people and of God. This is why all these headlines we now see about the Queen being “tired” and “exhausted” reflect something of the heart of her ministry — for that is what her role remains.In theological terms, the crucial word is <em>kenosis</em>, which means self-emptying. Christ “emptied himself, taking the form of a servant” is how Paul’s letter to the people of Philippi puts it. What is being described here is a process by which the ego is set aside for the fullness of God’s love to enter into a human life. The less of me, the more of You. In this way vulnerability is regarded as the defining feature of precisely the sort of holiness that was there in that moment of the Queen’s anointing. A ‘tired” Queen is an exemplification of just this sort of kenotic servant monarchy. In other words, a “tired” Queen is the perfect sacrificial embodiment of what a monarch should be. And demonstrates why the well-being centred virtue-signalling showiness of some of her relatives is such a grotesque parody of the role.But to put this in more secular terms, vulnerability is the means of connection between people. Our vulnerability is how we are open to the other and the other is open to us. Which is why — and I don’t think I am just imagining this — the present vulnerability of the Queen is establishing a renewed kind of intimacy between the Queen and her subjects. Given the formality within which she is encased, it is entirely inappropriate to say this — but I want to give her a hug. We don’t need the handshakes or the curious peering into a familiar woman’s face to try and work out what is going on behind all that well-rehearsed small talk. The more vulnerable she becomes, the more human, and so also the more fully a Queen in the theological sense.Such public defencelessness is rare, at least in leaders. The last one I can remember achieving anything like this was Pope John Paul II. His last few years — and these may well be the last few years of the Queen’s life — were marked by a reduced physical capacity, while at the same time he became a more intense version of what he was called to be. To be a Pope is partly to perform a certain function. But when ill health robbed him of the ability to perform that function, all the job description utilitarian bits of being Pope dropped away and his, as it were, symbolic role was more fully exposed.A tired dying Pope turned out to be a beautiful example of what a Pope should be. In his pain, and specifically in the dignity of his final years, he expressed a kind of solidarity with the suffering of the world. That, in turn, modelled the solidarity of God with human beings as expressed in the final hours of Jesus, a king, a man crowned with thorns. In this vulnerability, he became most fully the Pope as saint.Thankfully, the Queen is not yet this ill. But she is 95 and easily the longest serving monarch in history. Her Christian faith has long been a comfort to her. And this is especially evident now, in the twilight of her years. Indeed, the version of the Queen that we are now seeing is the greatest of her roles as our monarch. It is not important if she misses COP26 or other political talking shops. She is doing something much more important now.She is showing us what human life is all about when we loosen our grip on power and status and function. Her last act may well be her finest.
The draft routemap, published among today's General Synod papers, suggests how all parts of the Church of England can make changes together to achieve the ambitious target set by General Synod in 2020 to be net zero carbon 20 years ahead of the Government’s targets. It includes recommendations for building maintenance, heating and the availability of specialist advice for each setting alongside how the central Church and dioceses can offer support.The newly elected Synod will be formally inaugurated on Tuesday November 16 at the start of a two-day meeting. Items on the agenda include a debate on the wealth gap in the UK and discussions about Church matters including the recent review of governance and the development of a new vision and strategy for the Church of England in the 2020s and beyond.That includes an ambitious goal to double the number of children and young people in churches.The recent elections attracted a record number of candidates (with 956 standing for the Houses of Clergy and Laity combined) and returned a majority of new members - 60 per cent of those elected.The meeting at Church House Westminster will be the first full group pf sessions held in person since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. Making possible Synod's 'ambitious target' of net-zero by 2030.The draft net zero carbon routemap has been written by a sub-committee of the Church of England’s Environmental Working Group, chaired by the Bishop of Selby, Dr John Thomson, with advice from across the Church and charities. He said: “God’s creation is in crisis, and there is an urgent call to address this at every level of our global community, to protect creation, including the world’s poorest communities who are being affected the most and soonest by climate change.“Synod has set an ambitious target, and this represents the next step in building consensus around a workable plan for the whole Church to meet that aim and to make the target possible.“We recognise this will be challenging and there will be a financial cost, however many adaptations can also be made simply and quickly, such as switching to a green energy provider, filling gaps in windows, and changing lightbulbs, all of which can help to reduce energy costs.“I encourage individuals and communities to engage with these consultation proposals and to think at every level what can be done to be part of the change we need to live out in response to our Christian calling to safeguard and care for all of God’s creation.” Global leaders will be meeting in Glasgow to discuss how the world can tackle the climate emergency following increasingly frequent extreme weather events, the IPCC’s “code red for humanity” report, and depleting biodiversity. The Government has committed to a target of net zero carbon by 2050, with an interim target of a 78 per cent reduction, set in April 2021.Becky Clark, Director of Churches and Cathedrals for the Archbishops' Council, said: "This consultation seeks to gather a wide range of views to build consensus on how the Church of England can both reduce its carbon footprint and also model care for creation."Buildings are at the heart of this and all involved are aware of the significant challenges, not least to parishes and cathedrals struggling to recover from the pandemic."However there are already amazing examples of churches that are at the vanguard of low carbon adaptations, demonstrating that even the highest listed buildings can make vital changes and be part of tackling the climate emergency.”Anyone can respond to the consultation online before the closing date of 28 February 2022, with responses particularly requested from Dioceses and Cathedrals.There will be a series of information sessions, open to all, in the autumn of 2021 to discuss the suggestions, and answer questions arising during the consultation period.
The Commission on Reimagining Care has been charged by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York to develop a radical and inspiring long-term vision for care and support in England, underpinned by a renewed set of values and principles, drawing on Christian theology and ethics.The focus of the Commission is on adults with disabilities and those with care and support needs in later life.The Commission began work in June 2021 and is due to publish a final report in September 2022.Today, the Commission is publishing a draft set of values which draw on Christian theology and ethics. The Commission believes these should underpin any future vision for care and support in England.The Commission is inviting feedback on these values as part of a wider Listening and Engagement exercise.The values include concepts that are not usually heard in policy discussions about care such as flourishing, loving kindness, empathy, trust and justice.A full list of proposed values can be accessed on the Commission website. Today marks the start of a formal period of Listening and Engagement which will run until Friday 10 December. The Commission wants to hear from a wide range of individuals and organisations and ensure that its work is shaped by the views and voices of people and organisations who have experience of care and care giving.They are calling for contributions from:Those who draw on formal services. Unpaid carers, and the relatives and friends of those who draw on care and support. Those who work in the care sector and the voluntary and community sector. Churches of all denominations and other faith communities. Those who commission, provide and regulate formal services. Community groups and people who provide informal supportThe consultation launched today aims to gather views about the challenges experienced by those currently drawing on care and support and those who work in the sector.They are also interested in identifying examples of good practice.The Commission is particularly interested in the role that communities play in supporting people with disability and in later life to live well, in particular the role of church and other faith communities.The Commission hopes to generate information, insights and ideas through the Listening and Engagement Exercise that can inform the work of the Commission and contribute to the findings of a report to be published in September 2022.Commenting on the Listening and Engagement exercise, the Commission Chair, Dr Anna Dixon MBE (see photo) said: “The early focus of the Commission has been on understanding the principles that have informed past reports and policies on social care and reflecting on what Christian theology and ethics have to say about the values that should underpin care and support."Our draft values are not the language of policymakers or indeed professionals, but we hope that these resonate with those who draw on care, their family and friends, and those who provide care."As we continue our work to develop an inspiring vision of care we want to get some new and different perspectives, people from all walks of life, people from different faith backgrounds and those with no faith."The Listening and Engagement exercise we are launching is an essential stage of our work. "We want to hear about where care and support is working well, but also the honest stories of where things need to change."We want to gather ideas to help shape a reimagined future of care and support, not just a reformed statutory care system, but wider changes that will enable people with disability and in later life to live a full life.”The Rt Revd. James Newcome, Bishop of Carlisle, and Co-Chair of the Commission added: “The insights, thoughts and examples that we receive in response to this listening and engagement exercise will be vital for our work over the coming months. "We look forward to taking the insights, ideas and experiences gathered, and going out into communities to listen and learn in greater depth from the people and groups who respond to us.”About the Listening and Engagement Exercise and ConsultationThe evidence gathering starts today and finishes on Friday 10 December 2021. There is an online form on the website, or a printed form which can be downloaded and sent to:Call for Evidence – SecretariatReimagining Care CommissionLambeth PalaceLondon SE1 7JU
