What will Queen Elizabeth II tell the world about her faith with her funeral liturgy? — GetReligion
This week something unexpected happened after I filed my national “On Religion” column, something that I have never seen before in my decades of religion-news work.
What? A retired literature professor responded to my column with a poem.
The topic was easy to predict. Like millions of other people around the world, but especially in Great Britain and the Commonwealth, I have spent many hours watching (primarily on British television) the rites and public drama surrounding the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
I will post the column at GetReligion at the usual time this weekend, after it has run in most newspapers linked to the Universal syndicate. But the podcast team decided to go ahead and use it as the hook for this week’s “Crossroads” (CLICK HERE to tune that in), since so many people are talking about the death of the queen. Here is a short clip from that column:
Throughout her life, Queen Elizabeth II understood the symbolic importance of kneeling, according to former Durham Bishop N.T. Wright. After one Church of England synod, she privately expressed surprise — disappointment, even — that worshippers in Westminster Abbey simply lined up to receive Holy Communion, instead of kneeling.
“Kneeling was important to her,” said the popular author, in a “Premier Christianity” tribute. In his encounters with her, Wright found the queen “very friendly and clearly a very devout, what we would consider ‘old fashioned’ Church of England Christian. I remember thinking during more than one Christmas broadcast, she has just preached the Gospel to the nation in a way that perhaps nobody else could have done.”
In response to the column, a reader raised in Canada — but best known for his work at Baylor University in Texas and at Peking University — wrote a poem and sent it to me.
David Lyle Jeffrey, now a distinguished senior fellow at Baylor’s Institute for Studies in Religion, noted that he has never considered himself a “royalist,” but the queen’s death is certainly a time to explore the “essence of her admirable Christian character and gracious reign.” The former Baylor provost and literature professor entitled the poem “Regina Exemplaris (Queen of Patterns).” Here is how it ends:
… She who longest wore the heavy crown
Knew but to kneel before the unseen throne
And plead her people’s cause as for her own,
And there to praise the Lord of All, bowed down,
More conscious of his glory than her high acclaim,
Exemplar thus in worship, in praise more worthy of the Name.
Yes, the rites marking the era of Elizabeth the Great, as some are now calling her, are definitely news, but not ordinary news.
As hundreds of thousands of Brits, and others, queue to view her casket, with most bowing in honor, journalists should be preparing for her funeral in Westminster Abbey. There have been some advance stories, of course. This feature from Harper’s Bazaar promised, “All the details about the Queen’s state funeral — From what to expect to who will attend.”
As you would expect, it is packed with details about the schedule, symbolic gestures of honor and the role of royals, politicos and celebrities. And the content of this Church of England worship service? That is not part of “all the details,” other than this:
The state funeral service will be led by the Dean of Westminster. The Prime Minister and the Secretary General of the Commonwealth will perform readings, while the Archbishop of York, the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster, the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, and the Free Churches Moderator will say prayers. The Sermon will be given by the Archbishop of Canterbury, who will also give the Commendation. The Dean of Westminster will then pronounce the Blessing.
The New York Times did offer a feature that, at first glance, had real potential — especially for someone like me, who has been active in choral music my entire life. The title: “What Music to Expect at Queen Elizabeth II’s Funeral.” Here is the overture:
What is the sound of a monarch’s death — the music and noise that commemorates the end of one regal life in preparation for the one to come?
Music plays an enormous role in British royal ceremonies, particularly funerals, like Queen Elizabeth II’s on Sept. 19, which function as both state and religious rituals. Because the British monarch is also head of the Church of England, the sounds of these events are often tied to the Anglican musical tradition, springing out of the post-English Reformation Church.
Since 1603, much of the royal funeral’s format has stayed the same, while some aspects shift to reflect the time and the monarch. The result is a striking combination of diverse works that tell both the story of the British monarchy and British music.
What follows is a treasure trove of details about royal funerals, composers and, to some degree, the evolution of British choral music.
What is lacking?
