The Queen's Message to the opening session of the 11th General Synod of the Church of England - a co

The Queen’s message

“Your Graces, the Convocations of Canterbury and York, duly called together in obedience to Our Royal Writs, are on this day joined together in accordance with the Synodical Government Measure 1969 and the House of Laity is added to them in accordance with the Measure, so as to constitute the Eleventh General Synod of the Church of England. Archbishops and members, the opening of a new Synod provides an opportunity for us all to give thanks for the witness of those who have gone before, and pray for wisdom as you seek to balance change and continuity in the decisions that lie ahead.It is hard to believe that it is over 50 years since Prince Philip and I attended the very first meeting of the General Synod. None of us can slow the passage of time; and while we often focus on all that has changed in the intervening years, much remains unchanged, including the Gospel of Christ and his teachings. The list of tasks facing that first General Synod may sound familiar to many of you: Christian education; Christian unity; the better distribution of the ordained ministry to the needs of the population. But one stands out supreme: “to bring the people of this country to the knowledge and the love of God.Of course, in our richly diverse modern society, the well-being of the nation depends on the contribution of people of all faiths, and of none.But for people of faith, the last few years have been particularly hard, with unprecedented restrictions in accessing the comfort and reassurance of public worship. For many, it has been a time of anxiety, of grief, and of weariness. Yet the Gospel has brought hope, as it has done throughout the ages; and the Church has adapted and continued its ministry, often in new ways - such as digital forms of worship.St. Paul reminds us that all Christians are entrusted with the ministry of reconciliation, and the deepening of relations across the great Christian traditions has been a continuing priority since the first General Synod in 1970. And so I am pleased to note the enhanced cooperation between the Church of England and the Church of Scotland, as well as the sustained ecumenical links between many churches, in the pursuit of Christian unity.Your Graces and members of the Synod, the next five years will not always be straightforward. Like every new Synod, you have inherited weighty responsibilities with many issues to address, reports to debate, and difficult decisions to make. You may have to consider proposals on governance, on conduct, on the use of resources, and on other issues; and on a vision for the future of the Church.In some areas, there will, of course, be differing views and my hope is that you will be strengthened with the certainty of the love of God, as you work together and draw on the Church’s tradition of unity in fellowship for the tasks ahead.At the beginning of this new Synod, my prayer is that the Lord’s blessing may be upon you as you embark on your deliberations; and that you will find inspiration in the joyous words of the hymn you sang this morning:‘O Comforter, draw near,within my heart appear,and kindle it, thy holy flame bestowing.’”ELIZABETH R.

The future of the Queen

The above was actually delivered by His Royal Highness the Earl of Wessex. For the Queen is 'easing up' through age and health reasons. But she is not yet retiring or abdicating. And we must thank God for that. For we understand her faith is a real trust in Jesus as her Lord. So when she underlined the hymn sung at the opening of the new Synod, I am sure she meant her underlining to be taken seriously as a prayer for the Holy Spirit to be working. And how members of the Synod need to pray (and Christians outside the Synod need pray) that, over the next five years (God willing) John 16.8:

…the Holy Spirit will convict the world [i.e. all – including Christians inside and outside the Synod] concerning sin and righteousness and judgment

I, too, am sure the Queen has taken her Coronation Oath of 1953 seriously. This Oath includes the Archbishop saying: "Will you to the utmost of your power maintain the Laws of God and the true profession of the Gospel?” And it ends with the Queen laying her hand on the Bible and saying these words: “The things which I have here before promised, I will perform and keep. So help me God.” And immediately following the Oath she is presented with the Holy Bible by the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, with the Archbishop (of Canterbury) saying:

Our gracious Queen: to keep your Majesty ever mindful of the Law and the Gospel of God as the Rule for the whole life and government of Christian Princes, we present you with this Book, the most valuable thing that this world affords.

And the Moderator continues:

Here is Wisdom; This is the royal Law; These are the lively Oracles of God.

So thank God that the Queen is not retiring or abdicating. The Queen may be worried about her successor. For those promises may mean little to many of her subjects and to some members of the Royal Family, but they mean a lot to her. Her influence, therefore, is for good and accordingly she is hugely respected. We do not have a Republican system of Democracy, but a constitutional Monarchy and, morally, the Monarch still has, in the UK, great importance. And we should pray for her as she thinks (and is advised) about her future. In the mean-time we, at JPC, are beginning to plan how we can Celebrate her Platinum Year.

Rethinking

Interestingly, there is a debate going in Christian circles regarding how all of us, young or old, should think about old age and retirement. For most of us, not self-employed, unlike the Queen have to retire. There certainly is a debate in America. I was challenged some years ago by Albert Mohler, a Principal (or President) of a large US Evangelical theological college when writing under the heading, The Scandal of Retirement:

In the years after World War 2, Americans developed the idea that the good life meant having a fulfilling career followed by a lengthy retirement. The ideal of retirement seems to be a life of leisure and ease, occasionally interrupted by travel and entertainment. That is a fundamentally dangerous concept.In the first place, it is unprecedented in human history. The idea of a long period of unproductive leisure at the end of life is a modern invention, and it flies in the face of the Bible’s exhortation to meaningful work and service in the kingdom. This retirement ideal is also financially irresponsible, since improved health and the extension of life (good things in themselves) have lengthened the typical span of life after retirement by many years. This is not economically viable for a large population over the long term. This does not mean that we expect workers to stay in the same job until they drop of exhaustion, or that leaders must stay in positions of leadership until death. It does mean that the American ideal of retirement does not meet the Christian standard of faithfulness.For Christians the issue should be redeployment rather than retirement…I can envision a day when I am no longer President, when I do not have to sit in long meetings and bear the burdens of daily leadership. I can look forward, at some future point, to a time when…I can finally get to some of the writing and teaching projects that are important to me…and to investing more directly in certain lives and places where I might make a decisive difference. But all that is not retirement. It is redeployment

And another famous US Christian leader, John Piper, now retired, but writing when still in office as pastor of a large church:

Finishing life to the glory of Christ means resolutely resisting the typical American dream of retirement. It means being so satisfied with all that God promises to be for us in Christ that we are set free from the cravings that create so much emptiness and uselessness in retirement. Instead, knowing that we have an infinitely satisfying and everlasting inheritance in God just over the horizon of life makes us zealous in our few remaining years here to spend ourselves in the sacrifices of love, not the accumulation of comforts.

The next chapter

Actually, I am one of the few clergy in the Church of England that does not have to retire. However, I believe, I personally am approaching the next 'chapter' (another word for 'redeployment') in my life, when I will have been at JPC for 50 years. Like Al Mohler I believe I need to spend most of my energy in teaching through writing. Such is the need in the light of the confusion, as I see it, in the wider church (witness the new Synod’s agenda) and country; and, therefore, JPC is in danger also. But I have problem. I personally have always found the Epistle to the Hebrews so helpful. And I have always taken seriously, and been reminded recently, of Hebrews 13.17. For in “8 Great things about being a Church member” in Tony Merida’s Love your Church (we are studying in our Home Groups) he quotes that verse on page 116 when the writer is talking about obeying leaders and submitting to them. And the reason is:

for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.

So I cannot just leave when I want. For I have to give an account, one day to almighty God, for the souls of the church family at JPC. So before beginning the next chapter, I have to make sure the church will be in secure hands spiritually and theologically under the new senior leadership. For a range of reasons I am confident that is possible and will happen at God’s right time. However, an essential will be in 2022 to be focusing on our vision of Godly Living, Church Growth, and Changing Britain, and 'maintaining and promulgating sound Scriptural and Evangelical Truth'. And God is, indeed, working in our midst. So how we should trust him. For we can thank God for answering our prayers and for the generosity of members at JPC for the result of the appeal. At lunch time on Friday 7 January it was exactly £105,000 – the target!

So how, in our confused world, we should encourage ourselves by the verse for the year (Hebrews 13.5-6):

God has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we can confidently say, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?’