Prayers and liturgical material for 60th anniversary of Coronation of The Queen; Church of England sex abuse investigation into Manchester Cathedral Dean; Barclays ‘let down society’ says Church of England
Prayers and liturgical material for 60th anniversary of Coronation of The Queen
Prayers and liturgical resources for the nationwide celebration of the 60th anniversary of the Coronation of Her Majesty The Queen were released online yesterday, at http://www.coronation.churchofengland.org.
They include texts adapted from the 1953 Coronation service, including the words used when The Queen received the Bible from the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland: “Here is the Wisdom; This is the royal law; These are the lively Oracles of God.”
There is a Coronation Anniversary Prayer in both modern and traditional language, written by the Dean and Chapter of Westminster Abbey with The Queen’s approval, and commended for use throughout the Church of England by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York.
The modern language version reads:
Almighty God, at the hands of priests and prophets you anoint your chosen servants with the oil of gladness and strengthen them with the gifts of your Holy Spirit: accept our joyful praise as with united voice we give thanks for the long and glorious reign of our Sovereign Lady Queen Elizabeth. Renewing your blessings, pour on her your choicest gifts, and on all your people the spirit of humility and mutual service shown in the life and death of him who is the anointed King of all, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
A Prayer Especially for Children, released by the Liturgical Commission, has also been included.
These prayers feature in the resources alongside sentences of Scripture, a Greeting, an Introduction, an Act of Penitence, Collects, Gospel Acclamations, Responsories, and General Prayers.
The Queen and other members of the Royal family will themselves attend a Service of Thanksgiving at Westminster Abbey on 4 June at 11am.
Church of England sex abuse investigation into Manchester Cathedral Dean …
The Independent – The Church of England inquiry into alleged child sex abuse by former Dean of Manchester Cathedral Robert Waddington is expected to crossover with the police inquiry into historical sexual abuse at Chetham’s School of Music after it has emerged that Waddington was a governor at the school between 1984 and 1993.
A former choirboy, Eli Ward, last week waved his anonymity to describe how he was groomed by Waddington from the age of 11 over a five year period in the 1980s. Mr Ward, now 40, said the abuse started when Waddington began the grooming process in 1984 – the year he became both a governor at Chetham’s and Dean of Manchester Cathedral – and ended after suspicions were raised in the Manchester diocese in 1989. Waddington was also chairman of the diocesan education committee at the time.
A Greater Manchester Police spokesman said Operation Kiso, the inquiry into historical sexual abuse at Chetham’s and the Royal Northern College of Music, had received a complaint about Waddington. He added: “Robert Waddington is deceased so there is nothing further that can be done.”
British pianist Ian Pace, who is leading calls to open an independent inquiry into historical sexual abuse at elite music schools, said “the connections between Manchester Cathedral and Chetham’s music school are strong”.
He added: “Chetham’s School lies just on the opposite side of the road from Manchester Cathedral. During the time when I was at the school (1978-1986) weekly services took place in the cathedral and the school provided all of the statutory choristers, who would sing at the cathedral practically every day and often over holidays. The annual ceremony of Founder’s Day, for which boy pupils wore an extremely cumbersome Tudor uniform, celebrating the founder Humphrey Chetham, also took place in the cathedral, as did some other concerts.” More at:
Barclays ‘let down society’ says Church of England
BBC Business News – The Church of England has criticised the conduct of Barclays in its annual report, after a year dogged by scandal and resignations at the bank.
The church, which holds a small stake in Barclays, said the bank had “repeatedly let down society with its conduct” during 2012.
It said it was now looking for a “fundamental turnaround in culture” at Barclays, which declined to comment.
The Church of England has more than £5bn invested in the stock market.
Some of its largest shareholdings are in oil giants Royal Dutch Shell and BP, miners BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto, and pharmaceutical firms AstraZeneca and GlaxoSmithKline.
The church operates an ethical investment policy, under which it says it seeks to avoid activities “that are materially inconsistent with Christian values”.
As part of that policy it said its commissioners had “commenced an intensive engagement with Barclays seeking robust assurance that, having repeatedly let down society with its conduct, the bank is making a determined and successful effort to effect a fundamental turnaround in culture”.
It is also considering new or updated ethical investment policy recommendations, taking into account corporate tax ethics and executive pay.
Barclays was caught up in the Libor scandal last year that led to the resignations of its chairman and chief executive.
Shareholders have also criticised it over the size of executive pay packets.
Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, is himself a former oil executive, but has criticised the City’s culture of entitlement.
Barclays’ current chief executive, Antony Jenkins, has pledged to clean up the bank’s image under his “Transform” programme.