Dear Ones,
Together with many of you, I heard with sorrow the news that Queen Elizabeth II has died. Her long and steadfast life of service was a witness to her deep faith and an inspiration to me and to many Anglicans across the globe. I give special thanks for her devotion to the Church of England, which she served as supreme governor for the seventy years she reigned, and I extend my deepest condolences to her family.
For as long as many of us have lived, the Queen has been a powerful symbol of the deep relationships and bonds of affection that we share with Anglicans in other parts of the former British Empire. While colonialism’s history includes much that we mourn and seek to dismantle, our relationships with our Anglican siblings are rooted in those shared experiences and traditions. Tonight, we will all mourn the Queen as a sister in Christ.
O God, whose mercies cannot be numbered: Accept our prayers on behalf of your servant Elizabeth, and grant her an entrance into the land of light and joy, in the fellowship of your saints; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Bishop Jennifer
