Lament with a Grateful Nation
We thought getting an earlier bulletin to you this week might just be helpful given the funeral on Monday.
 
I’m not sure there is much that I can add to what I said last week that will be helpful to you, except that I am increasingly aware of just how sad I feel about the loss of Her Majesty. I know I am not alone in that. I keep hearing it from different people. We are more upset than we thought we would be.
 
Lament is such an important part of the grieving process and we are certainly grieving as a nation. The images on television seem like history passing before our eyes. I get distracted by work demands for a time, but then there is a moment when I ‘tune in’ once again and reconnect with the sadness of the nation. It feels very similar to the loss of a loved one. Surprisingly so.
 
These days are also an opportunity to come together as a nation, in kindness and love. Archbishop Justin said as much while speaking to the people in the queue to pay respects in Westminster Hall.
 
I feel love too for our own Church of England, whose traditions, buildings and wonderful priests are helping the nation through this. I am thankful that our broad church can still serve the people and our whole society so powerfully while also serving Christ our Saviour.
 
May Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II rest in peace and rise in glory.
 
A prayer on the death of Her Majesty The Queen
Gracious God, we give thanks
for the life of your servant Queen Elizabeth,
for her faith and her dedication to duty.
Bless our nation as we mourn her death
and may her example continue to inspire us;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. 
Amen
 
Schools will be closed on Monday and we need to use that time, in our own way to reflect on the loss of someone who has served in the public eye for her entire lifetime, especially in the last 7 decades. I intend to watch the ceremony and I hope this will be helpful in enabling us all to absorb and process what has happened.
 
The Lord bless you and keep you in the days ahead as we navigate though the next week in school.
 
God save the King
 
Andrew
Canon Andrew Teale
Diocesan Director of Education