Anglican Communion News Service - Digest News

A letter thanking Her Majesty The Queen for 60 years of service has been delivered to Buckingham Palace today (Monday, September 24^th). The Big Jubilee Thank You, coordinated by the Church of England and HOPE Together, was signed by the public in churches and cathedrals throughout the year and contains thousands of signatures from all over the country.

Dr Rachel Jordan, National Mission and Evangelism Adviser for the Church of England, said: “It was a great honour to deliver The Big Jubilee Thank You - a moving collection of messages and letters created during the Diamond Jubilee Celebrations in cathedrals and churches across the UK and Europe, to express our gratitude to The Queen for her faithful service and Christian witness over her 60-year reign.” 

Letters of thanks were first signed by bishops, vicars and pastors, before being made publicly available in churches for the public to add their own comments and signatures. They have been pouring into Church House in London for several months, some dioceses and churches choosing to use the Big Jubilee Thank You downloads available from the Church of England website, others choosing to create their own ways of saying thank you: 

• The Dioceses of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich, York, Chichester, Birmingham, Blackburn, Carlisle, Leicester and Truro were among those saying thank you to The Queen via large packs of pages utilising the ‘official’ Big Jubilee Thank You downloads (see picture – Flickr link below).
• Durham Cathedral and the Diocese of Europe chose to present signatures of thanks in beautifully bound books (see picture).
• Ellie Davidson from Brighstone Church of England Primary School on the Isle of Wight won a competition to design a striking cover for the Diocese of Portsmouth’s thank you letter (see picture).
• The parish of Great Horton St John’s in the Diocese of Bradford, and the parish of Ottershaw in Guildford Diocese, designed particularly striking covers for their letters (see pictures).
• The people and churches of Foulsham, Guestwick, Stibbard, Themelthorpe and Wood Norton in the Diocese of Norwich designed their own thank you card, with crowns by the children and adults of Wood Norton Messy Church (see picture).
• Hornchurch Methodist Church was one of many churches choosing to illustrate its thank you’s with pictures from its Big Jubilee Lunch event (see picture).
• A child from the parish of Earsham in Norwich Diocese contributed a poem to her thank you: “Much experience you have gained, 60 years you have reigned, You wear a lovely gown, You wear a Shining Crown, You Sit on a Golden Chair, Which Makes Me Look and Stare, I wish I was just like you, I wish I could meet you too.”
• Comments from adults included: “You have been the one person we can all depend upon. May you enjoy many more years on the throne”; “Thank you for a wonderful 60 years of dedication and loyal service”; “When even my children in their 20s are staunch royalists, I realise what an amazing job you have done throughout your reign.”
• Comments from children included: “Thank you for keeping the country safe and for lots of other things. PS I really like your hats : )”; “Queen Elizabeth is great! Uniting the country. Everyone adores you. Nation celebrating loads!”; “Dear Queen, I hope Prince Phillip is feeling better now.”  

There were contributions to the Big Jubilee Thank You from Church of England, Baptist, Methodist, ELIM, Catholic and independent churches; Churches Together from around the country; Boys’ and Girls’ Brigades; church schools and academies; Guides and Brownies; Cubs and Scouts; and Mothers’ Unions. 

Compiled together into one huge Big Jubilee Thank You, the contributions were delivered to Buckingham Palace by Dr Rachel Jordan, the Church of England’s National Worship and Evangelism Adviser; Roy Crowne, the Executive Director of HOPE Together; and the Revd Ian Bunce, Head of the Mission Department for the Baptist Union of Great Britain. They were received by Christopher Sandamas, Chief Clerk, Buckingham Palace.  

Notes to editors 

Pictures of the delivery of The Big Jubilee Thank You are available to download here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/52081765@N03/sets/72157631587238174/  

Pictures of some of the contributions to The Big Jubilee Thank You are available here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/52081765@N03/sets/72157631587140618/  

For more on HOPE visit: www.hopetogether.org.uk