Thinking allowed

Thanksgiving for the Queen's ninetieth birthday

on Wednesday, 3 February 2016 at 6.14 pm by Simon Kershaw
categorised as liturgical texts, liturgy

The Litur­gic­al Com­mis­sion has pre­pared two col­lects (one in tra­di­tion­al lan­guage and the oth­er in mod­ern lan­guage) for use at ser­vices cel­eb­rat­ing the nineti­eth birth­day of HM the Queen, which falls on 21 April this year. These have been approved by the Queen, and the Com­mis­sion has asked that they be cir­cu­lated as widely as pos­sible. The Com­mis­sion has also provided two graces for use at church and com­munity gath­er­ings such as street parties.

Col­lects:
Heav­enly Fath­er, who hast brought our gra­cious sov­er­eign Queen Eliza­beth to the com­ple­tion of her nineti­eth year, and dost gath­er her people in cel­eb­ra­tion of the same: grant that we, rejoicing before thee with thank­ful hearts, may ever be united in love and ser­vice to one anoth­er, and her king­dom flour­ish in prosper­ity and peace, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Heav­enly Father, 
as we cel­eb­rate the nineti­eth birth­day of Her Majesty the Queen, 
receive our heart­felt thanks
for all that you have giv­en her in these ninety years 
and for all that she has giv­en to her people. 
Con­tin­ue, we pray, your lov­ing pur­poses in her,
and as you gath­er us togeth­er in celebration, 
unite us also in love and ser­vice to one another; 
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Graces:
Boun­ti­ful God, giver of all good gifts,
we give thanks for the many years and long reign of our Queen; 
Bless our food, our neighbourhood,
and our enjoy­ment of each other’s company.
Help us to learn from Queen Elizabeth’s com­mit­ment to her people,
so that our com­munity may be strengthened 
and all may flourish.
We ask this in the name of Jesus, the King of love.

Gra­cious God, give our Queen con­tin­ued wis­dom and strength
to carry out the prom­ises she has made;
and bless (this food, and) those who are gathered here,
that, sus­tained by ser­vice for others,
we may faith­fully serve you, all the days of our life. 
[With words from The Queen’s First Christ­mas Broad­cast, 1952]