Fast forward to the Coronation of King Charles III on 7 May 2023, and the tradition continues. As the Archbishop of Canterbury explained in the liturgy, \u201cThy prophets of old anointed priests and kings to serve in thy name and in the fulness of time thine only son was appointed by the Holy Spirit to be the Christ the Saviour and Servant of all.\u201d<\/p>\n The act of anointing \u2018behind the screen\u2019 makes the occasion deeply personal for the monarch \u2013 and it might be added, a unique rite in comparison to all other European monarchies. De-robed of his vestments, the King is \u2018set apart\u2019 to serve his people before God. Is he a priest? No, he is a king. But the optics of a \u2018go between’ the people and God, accessed \u2018behind the veil\u2019 at the very least have in times past led to the idea of the King having the divine right to govern.<\/p>\n England was still a Christian country when Queen Elizabeth ll came to the throne in 1953. At the time, 34% of Britons believed that she had been placed on the throne by the hand of God. The Church of England was the church to which almost everyone belonged, as much a sign of national identity as a sign of religious belief. With Britain in recovery from the destruction of the Second World War, hopes for a brighter future were alive. Still, economically and politically times were austere as the British Empire ended.<\/p>\n The people of the Empire lived elsewhere, with some (but not all) holding strange beliefs, ideas, and practices which British Evangelicals (including Adventists) of the time would commonly describe in their literature as \u2018the heathen.\u2019 But just as Empire ended, Britain had a critical post-war employment problem \u2013 not enough people to fill all the available jobs. An invitation was made for people to immigrate to Britain. From that moment Britain began its journey towards a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, multi-faith society.<\/p>\n Staying Faithful in a Changing World<\/strong><\/p>\n Charles was just four years old when his mother came to the throne and crowned to be \u2018defender of the faith\u2019 and she said \u201cI am willing\u201d in response to two key questions. \u201cWill you to the utmost of your power maintain the Laws of God and the true profession of the Gospel? Will you to the utmost of your power maintain in the United Kingdom the Protestant Reformed Religion?\u201d Charles at his Coronation was asked the same questions and responded in the same manner.<\/p>\n But the times have changed, which the King clearly holds in tension. On the one hand is his deep respect for British tradition and continuing commitment to the Christian faith, and on the other hand, a secular Britain he finds himself reigning over today. As Gavin Ashenden, former chaplain to the Queen, pointed out in his 8 May The Sunday Times article, the times we now live in have created a balancing act in \u201chow to reconcile the historic claims of there being only one truth, with the contemporary insistence that all truths are equally valid.\u201d He continues, \u201cBoth the monarchy and Christianity make absolute claims: at the heart of Christianity is the claim that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life and the only way to the Father.\u201d<\/p>\n “Defender of Faith?”<\/strong><\/p>\n With a personal interest not only in the Christian faith, King Charles lll has also shown great interest in non-Christian faiths, particularly Islam and Judaism, and in 1994 said he should be \u201cdefender of faith\u201d as opposed to the \u201cDefender of the Faith\u201d, leading one critcal commentator to recently suggest \u201cThe king has grown up a relativist\u2026!\u201d<\/p>\n At face value we could be tempted to react with distress over a further signal of the demise of Christianity in Britain. But the King also made this oath: \u201cThe Church\u2026you will swear to maintain, is committed to the true profession of the Gospel, and in so doing will seek to foster an environment in which people of all faiths and beliefs may live freely\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n Respect and Wrestle<\/strong><\/p>\n When it comes down to it, I am called to live out the solid biblical call to, \u201cRespect everyone, and love the family of believers. Fear God and respect the king.\u201d (1 Peter 2:17 TLB) In his role as the titular head of The Church of England (the recognised established Christian church in England), I find it encouraging that Charles lll is committed to the value religious freeedom for all, for all religions and none. It does us well to remember that some who once sat on the throne of England were oppressors of religious freedom.<\/p>\n The Kings Prayer<\/strong><\/p>\n And while it is easy to pin on the King a \u2018relativist\u2019 label, we too, need to admit that sometimes personally, and as a community of faith wrestle over the same matter he does \u2013 there being only one truth, with the contemporary insistence that all truths are equally valid. In our wrestling, may we pray the prayer of King Charles lll.<\/p>\n God of compassion and mercy <\/p>\n Notes:<\/p>\n “It was worship – not theatre” is attributed to the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby as a quick comment to a question from a BBC reporter after the Coronation.<\/p>\n Photo credits: Featured image of King Charles lll and open bible, courtesy of Shutterstock. Image of Annointing Screen, courtesy of https:\/\/www.royal.uk\/<\/p>\n The Full Coronation Service which took place at Westminster Abbely can be found at: https:\/\/www.churchofengland.org\/coronation\/liturgy<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cI come not to be served but to serve.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":14543,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1570,7,1588],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14537","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-discipleship-spiritual-growth","category-news","category-united-kingdom-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14537","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/37"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14537"}],"version-history":[{"count":24,"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14537\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14568,"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14537\/revisions\/14568"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14543"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14537"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14537"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14537"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/The-Coronation-Anointing-Screen_16x9-e1683871182818.png\")
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\nWhose Son was sent not to be served but to serve,
\ngive grace that I may find in thy service perfect freedom
\nand in that freedom knowledge of thy truth.
\nGrant that I may be a blessing to all thy children, of every faith and conviction,
\nthat together we may discover the ways of gentleness
\nand be led into the paths of peace.
\nthrough Jesus Christ our Lod.
\nAmen.<\/p>\n