Coronation lunch 2023
After the Coronation Day on Saturday 6th May, we were all still in high spirits and very much in celebration mode! Cynthia and Wendy kindly set up the hall seating together with bunting and a large paper crown that someone had made which took pride of place on the noticeboard. It was a bring and share lunch – or should I say a feast fit for a King. You should have seen Marian’s celebration cake – it was impressive and she had decorated a union flag on the top of the cake with cream, raspberries and blueberries. I didn’t get a chance to photograph it because it disappeared so quickly!
About 32 people attended and each table had an icebreaker dingbats quiz to get the old grey matter going. We had three rounds of quiz questions, each round followed by reflections and prayers from a Church of England booklet entitled ‘Daily Payers for the Coronation of King Charles III. We then had a patriotic song, with much energetic flag waving. This was fun but also a wonderful way that we could celebrate the Coronation of our new King as a church family. Sharon and I had ordered a Commemorative Book on the Coronation of King Charles III and the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II for each member of the congregation as a gift from us.
One thing that really spoke to me when I read about the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth, was during the anointing with oil from the Archbishop of Canterbury, the cameras stopped filming and she was disrobed. She wore just a plain white dress and knelt before God, not as monarch, but as an ordinary person in humility and humbleness before her God, asking for his strength and wisdom for her forthcoming task as an anointed reigning monarch. This was replicated during the service of King Charles III when beautifully embroidered screens were suddenly pushed together, allowing the King to disrobe in private, and be anointed for his reign as our King.
This is the only way we can come before God, as ourselves, in humbleness and humility asking for His strength to enable us to work for His kingdom.
We prayed this last prayer:
Living God you bring us together in community and teach us to love one another as you have loved us. May we be beacons of your light in the communities in which we are set, that through truth, justice and action we may see your kingdom come upon the earth, in Jesus Christ our Lord AMEN
We then stood and sang the National Anthem. God Bless His Majesty King Charles III
Keg