Anna Page, Author at Parish of Stony Stratford with Calverton

Statement from the Bishop of Oxford:
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

The Bishop of Oxford, the Rt Revd Dr Steven Croft, issued a statement following the announcement of the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday 8 September 2022.

“Her Majesty the Queen has been a cherished presence in all of our lives and for the whole of our lives. She has been our example and a rock for the nation and commonwealth. Her devoted service has given stability to the nation throughout this Elizabethan age. Her deep, personal Christian faith has been an inspiration to many, including me.

The whole nation will be united in mourning for our beloved Queen in the coming days. We will need time to grieve and to share our grief with others. We pray at this time for the Queen’s family and especially for Charles as he prepares to become King. This will be a season for deep reflection in the life of our nation as we look back in thanksgiving and forward in hope.

This United Kingdom has deep foundations in Christian faith. A key part of our faith is the distinctive hope of resurrection from the dead: that our life in Christ endures beyond death and for eternity. As we grieve and pray, we also look forward together in hope to that new and eternal life with God.

We have prayed through all of our lives: God save the Queen. We now entrust Her Majesty to her Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and commit ourselves afresh to his service and to God’s eternal kingdom.”

https://www.oxford.anglican.org/news/statement-from-the-bishop-of-oxford.php

Both St Mary & St Giles church and All Saints have a photo and flowers for the late Queen. St Mary & St Giles is open during the day every day for prayer and reflection.

Online books of condolence – the two official online books of condolence can be found at http://royal.uk/ and http://churchofengland.org/remembering-her-majesty-queen

On 5th June 2022 the nation celebrated our Queen’s Platinum Jubilee and we decided to mark the occasion with a Bring and Share Lunch at St Mary & St Giles.

We decorated the church with handmade bunting and beautiful red, white and blue flower arrangements.

Many people got into the Jubilee spirit and dressed in red, white and blue.

Volunteers moved the chairs and set up tables at the back of the church after the Sunday morning service whilst people chatted over their teas and coffees in the parish hall.

The food started to arrive and just kept coming – we had to set up another table to put it all out!

The celebrations started at 12 noon.

Everyone was so generous with the food so there was more than enough to go round, with quiches, salads, sandwiches, pastries, bread, cheese and biscuits, crisps and much more – even some hot dishes.