Thought for the Day-God Save our Gracious Church

King Charles III (b. 1948) by Peter Kuhfeld (b. 1952), Royal Collection Trust.

A meditation drawing on the imagery of Proverbs 8.1-17 and Revelation 21.22-22.4 and on the words of the first verse of the national anthem, offered during a lunchtime service of Holy Communion at St Olave Hart Street on Tuesday 8th September 2026. Following the service, at 1pm, a 62 gun salute was fired at The Tower of London, nearby.

Today the Church of England marks Accession Day — the anniversary of the accession of King Charles III to the throne. In recognition of his position as Supreme Governor of the Church of England, and drawing on the imagery of our readings from Scripture, I offer you this meditation based on a well-known text.

God save our gracious Church!

Save us from our reluctance to change. May your amazing grace prise apart the doors of our hearts and minds, that they might be filled with your enduring wisdom.

Save us from the temptation to speak instead of listen, to look but not truly to see; flattering ourselves with a filtered perspective on the world, hearing only the sounds of our own echo chambers.

Save us from pride and arrogance: from getting stuck on our own high horses, with our heads in the clouds, so that we fail to encounter your messengers on the ground.

Save us from our addiction to the shining jewels of this world; help us to appreciate the true value of your living Word.

Save us from navel-gazing while the makeshift ships of our brothers and sisters capsize around us. May your call from the gutters, gates and doorways of this city move us to stretch out our hands and bridge the divides that separate us.

Save us by the transforming power of your grace.

God save our gracious Church.

Long live our noble Church!

Long live our nobility — our noblesse, our privilege — of being baptised by the Spirit and drawn into this one great family of faith: not because of our own efforts or skill, but through the abundant grace of God.

Long live the guiding image of that noble kingdom: a heavenly city where people of all nations walk together in divine light; healed by the fruits of your Spirit and refreshed by the pure water of the river of life.

Long live our desire to recognise and challenge earthly privilege, including our own; to recognise the image of Christ in the faces of those around us, with whom we are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation.

Long live those noble virtues of integrity, honesty and courage; may they lead us to act with boldness, proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Long live our noble Church!

Send her victorious.

Send her out of this place, driven by the Spirit, into every street, home and place of work in this parish and beyond — a living witness to Christ's victory over darkness and despair.

Send her out imperfect, displaying the scars of fleeting victories over the temptations of the world; a repentant sinner, always forgiven.

Send her out to nurture peace and reconciliation wherever there is discord and distrust; proclaiming Christ's victory on the cross and finding security not in stockpiles of weapons, but in his outstretched arms.

Send us, her people, out of our comfort zones as ministers of life and hope, knowing that the strife is over, the battle won.

Send her victorious.

Happy and glorious.

Happy that through our baptism and the example of Christ we are drawn ever closer into the glorious relationship that is Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Happy that we have each received gifts through which we can glorify God, becoming his image-bearers in the world.

Happy that the glory of God is humanity fully alive: so let us seek to live life in all its glittering fullness.

Happy that, despite our failings, false starts, loose ends and unfinished business, we are continually being transformed by the Spirit, from one degree of glory to another.

Happy and glorious.

Long to reign over us.

A reign which is Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end; established before the creation of the world.

A reign in which the fake news of our earthly allegiances is held up against the reality of the Good News of the living God.

A reign made visible in the incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection and ascension of Christ, who has promised to come again.

A reign we glimpse through Scripture and sacrament, and through our loving service to one another.

A reign which is our deepest — our only true — longing: Thy kingdom come.

Long to reign over us.

On this Accession Day, as we pray for our earthly King and give thanks for his service, we remember the King whose kingdom has no end.

God save the King.
God save the Church.


Image : King Charles III (b. 1948) by Peter Kuhfeld (b. 1952), Royal Collection Trust.