As the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations fast approach, churches across the country are gearing up to mark the occasion. They are seizing the opportunity to reach out to their communities as the country celebrates the faithful life of service of our Christian Queen. HOPE Together, with a host of national ecumenical partners, has developed a suite of resources for churches to use as they celebrate this national milestone.
Here is an example of how one local ecumenical partnership is planning to use HOPE Together’s new gift book, Our Faithful Queen, which features rarely seen prayers used by the Queen before her Coronation. The 64-page coffee table book is a wonderful way to start a conversation with family members and friends about the Queen’s faith, prayer, and the Bible.
The Hampton Mission Partnership is a local ecumenical group of Baptists and Methodists in Surrey, who have a real heart for reaching out to people in their local community. They are involved with several regular local activities and projects. For example, ‘Tea and Memories’ is a monthly memory café that welcomes people living with dementia and their carers. ‘The Extra Mile’ is a project that supports children and families by providing practical items that they need.
Additionally, the partnership hosts weekly IT help drop-in sessions for over-55s, run in conjunction with Age UK. They also organise regular Messy Church sessions, where children and their carers enjoy activities based around a story or theme from the Bible. The partnership also functions as a Bike Hub, a project that collects unwanted bicycles to distribute to refugees and asylum seekers in London and Birmingham.
Keeping these activities in mind, the Partnership ordered copies of HOPE Together’s Platinum Jubilee book, ‘Our Faithful Queen,’ to mark the special celebrations. They are currently planning a one-off Jubilee Messy Church session, with crafts, activities and a focus on the Queen’s life of faith, inspired by the book. The Tea and Memories group will be using it as a basis for a reflective activity, looking back over the Queen’s many years of service. And the IT drop-in on the 7 June will feature celebratory scones, tea and coffee, with copies of the book being given out to draw attention to the Queen’s committed Christian faith.
The Partnership also plan to host a Platinum Jubilee bring-and-share lunch on 5 June. They will invite volunteers and participants from their various groups, as well as friends and neighbours. They hope that, if the weather is good enough, they will be able to hold this in the front garden of their building, which faces onto one of the main through-roads in Hampton. The day will feature activities for all ages, with crafts, a quiz with prizes, fun, games and more copies of ‘Our Faithful Queen’ for people to take away.
This is just one example of how a church is planning to make the most of this unique Platinum Jubilee year to reach people in their communities by giving away this inspiring and hopeful, souvenir book. You can purchase the book for just £1.00 a copy when you buy 50 or more copies to share from the HOPE online shop.
If you have yet to make plans for the Platinum Jubilee, it is not too late! HOPE Together, in conjunction with their network of partners, have pulled together a whole bank of resources to help you engage with your community – with children’s resources, ideas for acts of community service, and even a specially-commissioned new anthem thanking God for the Queen and her faithful commitment to her role! Find out more and get inspired.