Queen Elizabeth’s Anglican Faithfulness Guest Contributor September 19, 2022 Church of England, Commentary By Rowan Williams A great deal has by now been written about Queen Elizabeth, and ample tribute has been paid to her stature. It has been intriguing to see how commentators have tiptoed around the question of her personal faith: everyone who has given this more than a second’s thought recognizes that her Christian commitment was deeply part of her, but it has been obvious that, for many, this is something impenetrably strange, almost exotic. And in a way you can see their problem. Her Anglican faith — like that of her father and grandfather — was redolent of a lost world in which weekly Matins, fervent but infrequent Communion, very private prayer, and unquestioning honesty and uprightness went together. John Betjeman’s poem on the death of King George V described his mourners as “Old men who never cheated, never doubted, / Communicated monthly”; something of this lived on in the queen. That deep, unshowy piety, nourished by the prayer book and the King James Bible, seems very remote in an Anglican world like ours. Even the most dedicated supporter of the prayer book will have grown up in a cultural climate where none of this could be taken for granted as it once had been. But it would be a crass mistake to think that it produced an inflexible conservatism, let alone moralism. The depth of this subdued devotion seems to have allowed the queen — as it had allowed some of Betjeman’s “old men” — to adapt with stoical courage to new circumstances, to look with charity if not always approval at new styles of behavior, even to think new thoughts where necessary. The queen proved adaptable, self-critical, tolerant, and unfazed through a near-century of colossal upheaval. Her patent conviction that her role was a matter of divine vocation and that her anointing was a promise of grace and divine faithfulness allowed her to be strong enough to grow and change. Advertisement When she was awaiting her Coronation, Archbishop Geoffrey Fisher, for whom she retained much respect, prepared for her a book of daily prayers and meditations to guide her through the months. It was a book she used and continued to treasure. Some visitors to Windsor Castle would be shown the book, preserved along with other mementos of that period, and it was obvious that it had been formative — almost an equivalent for her of the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises. These were the foundations for her thinking about her calling. And they helped her make what must have been a difficult discernment in her later years. As British society grew both more religiously plural and more secular, she responded not by watering down what she had to say in her annual Christmas broadcasts but by gently increasing the references to her faith and to the role of religious faith in general. Reading through these Christmas texts, it is striking that, as her society ceased to take for granted the frame of reference that was hers, she recognized that part of her task was to remind us of it. Never triumphalist, never aggressive, she simply reiterated her own commitment, her acknowledgment of God’s grace, and her insistence on the need to remember what the Christmas festival was actually about. Contrary to what some over-anxious and over-apologetic observers might have feared, this did not offend or alienate the faithful of other communities. It reassured them that the monarch understood how and why faith mattered. And that was partly because she was increasingly willing to take part in interfaith events (and was indeed criticized by some Christian rigorists for doing so). This might be at large public events like Commonwealth Day services. But my strongest memory is of an event at Lambeth Palace, late in my time as archbishop, when we had organized a small exhibition of treasures from different faith traditions and invited the queen to come and view this, to meet a number of religious leaders, and to address the group. What she said in her address was a powerful statement of a genuinely theological rationale for the Church of England’s role in a religiously plural society. If there is an “established” church, to which certain legal privileges are given, it is essential for it, in its collective imitation of Christ, to use whatever privilege, access, or resource it has to make sure that other communities are not excluded, to reinforce the voice of minorities in the public realm. If the Church of England was in some sense the “state church” (not the most helpful of terms), it must be a church willing to act for the good of the whole social community; and that meant being attentive and supportive to those whose voices might be muted or suppressed, those who did not feel that they had an entrée into public discussion. In the United Kingdom, solidarity with Jewish and Muslim communities under different kinds of threat was an obvious imperative, but all faith groups would need the same faithful friendship. It was a vision the Church of England tried to flesh out in various local and national projects, including Near Neighbours, which looked to build local collaborative ventures by faith communities in support of the needy or marginalized. The queen gave her unambiguous backing to this vision. So: a deeply traditional believer, whose adherence to the faith was beyond doubt (and who could privately, so they say, be a bit caustic about over-enthusiastic liturgical or theological reformers); but one whose depth of fidelity allowed her to discern, adjust, think ahead. Someone who had a clear sense of the church’s role in changing times, who did not confuse firmness of faith with loudness of utterance or hostility to strangers. Queen Elizabeth was an incalculably important person for British society, without doubt. But she also, without ever advertising it, helped to model for her church a particular kind of Anglican faithfulness, confident without arrogance and generous to the entire community she and that church sought to serve. We owe her a very great debt for this, as for so much. The Rt. Rev. Rowan Williams has served as the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury (2002-12) and 35th Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge (2013-20). 7 Responses Paul Zahl September 19, 2022 This is so fine a statement! Reply Queen Elizabeth’s Anglican Faithfulness – Covenant | Fulcrum Anglican September 19, 2022 […] A great deal has by now been written about Queen Elizabeth, and ample tribute has been paid to her … […] Reply C R SEITZ September 19, 2022 Thank you, +Rowan. One of my favorite poems always, and especially now in my own season of loss. You have been a defender of Catholic Anglicanism. God bless you. HOUSE OF REST Now all the world she knew is dead In this small room she lives her days The wash-hand stand and single bed Screened from the public gaze. The horse-brass shines, the kettle sings, The cup of China tea Is tasted among cared-for thing Ranged round for me to see— Lincoln, by Valentine and Co., Now yellowish brown and stained, But there some fifty years ago Her Harry was ordained; Outside the Church at Woodhall Spa The smiling groom and bride, And here’s his old tobacco jar Dried lavender inside. I do not like to ask if he Was “High” or “Low” or “Broad” Lest such a question seem to be A mockery of Our Lord. Her full grey eyes look far beyond The little room and me To village church and village pond And ample rectory. She sees her children each in place Eyes downcast as they wait, She hears her Harry murmur Grace, Then heaps the porridge plate. Aroused at seven, to bed by ten, They fully lived each day, Dead sons, so motor-bike-mad then, And daughters far away. Now when the bells for Eucharist Sound in the Market Square, With sunshine struggling through the mist And Sunday in the air, The veil between her and her dead Dissolves and shows them clear, The Consecration Prayer is said And all of them are near. Reply Dale Coleman September 22, 2022 A wonderful poem, and favorite of mine for a long time. Same with Christmas. Betjeman’s Sweet Songs of Zion, his comments on various hymns is lovely. A. N. Wilson’s biography of him is cheeky, highly literate, insightful, and of course, delightful. Nice to see both Paul Zahl and Christopher Seitz here. Reply (TLC Covenant) Rowan Williams–Queen Elizabeth’s Anglican Faithfulness | TitusOneNine September 21, 2022 […] Read it all. […] Reply I Want to Be One Too: On All Saints’ Day – Covenant November 3, 2022 […] but after the recent death of Queen Elizabeth II, and the memorial tributes to her long life of sincere Christian faith and undaunted service to her country, I think she is the “one [who] was a queen” who will come […] Reply 2022 in Review: The Anglican Communion December 29, 2022 […] and the traditional texts of the Book of Common Prayer. Many, including Archbishop Rowan Williams, paid tribute to her quiet yet firm commitment to Christ and his Church. Memorial services were held for her in […] Reply Leave a Reply Cancel ReplyYour email address will not be published.CommentName* Email* Website Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Notify me of new posts by email. Δ This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Queen Elizabeth’s Anglican Faithfulness – Covenant | Fulcrum Anglican September 19, 2022 […] A great deal has by now been written about Queen Elizabeth, and ample tribute has been paid to her … […] Reply
C R SEITZ September 19, 2022 Thank you, +Rowan. One of my favorite poems always, and especially now in my own season of loss. You have been a defender of Catholic Anglicanism. God bless you. HOUSE OF REST Now all the world she knew is dead In this small room she lives her days The wash-hand stand and single bed Screened from the public gaze. The horse-brass shines, the kettle sings, The cup of China tea Is tasted among cared-for thing Ranged round for me to see— Lincoln, by Valentine and Co., Now yellowish brown and stained, But there some fifty years ago Her Harry was ordained; Outside the Church at Woodhall Spa The smiling groom and bride, And here’s his old tobacco jar Dried lavender inside. I do not like to ask if he Was “High” or “Low” or “Broad” Lest such a question seem to be A mockery of Our Lord. Her full grey eyes look far beyond The little room and me To village church and village pond And ample rectory. She sees her children each in place Eyes downcast as they wait, She hears her Harry murmur Grace, Then heaps the porridge plate. Aroused at seven, to bed by ten, They fully lived each day, Dead sons, so motor-bike-mad then, And daughters far away. Now when the bells for Eucharist Sound in the Market Square, With sunshine struggling through the mist And Sunday in the air, The veil between her and her dead Dissolves and shows them clear, The Consecration Prayer is said And all of them are near. Reply
Dale Coleman September 22, 2022 A wonderful poem, and favorite of mine for a long time. Same with Christmas. Betjeman’s Sweet Songs of Zion, his comments on various hymns is lovely. A. N. Wilson’s biography of him is cheeky, highly literate, insightful, and of course, delightful. Nice to see both Paul Zahl and Christopher Seitz here. Reply
(TLC Covenant) Rowan Williams–Queen Elizabeth’s Anglican Faithfulness | TitusOneNine September 21, 2022 […] Read it all. […] Reply
I Want to Be One Too: On All Saints’ Day – Covenant November 3, 2022 […] but after the recent death of Queen Elizabeth II, and the memorial tributes to her long life of sincere Christian faith and undaunted service to her country, I think she is the “one [who] was a queen” who will come […] Reply
2022 in Review: The Anglican Communion December 29, 2022 […] and the traditional texts of the Book of Common Prayer. Many, including Archbishop Rowan Williams, paid tribute to her quiet yet firm commitment to Christ and his Church. Memorial services were held for her in […] Reply