Today our nation awakes to the reality of the death of our late queen, Her Majesty Elizabeth II. Due to the constitutional norms the throne is never vacant. King Charles III is now our Monarch, and as our new King he is due the same fervent prayerful support and loyalty as his mother enjoyed.

The presence of Queen Elizabeth II for so many decades, ruling with a meekness and steadfastness, had an immense impact on our nation, and beyond. Her unwavering profession of the Christian faith set an example to our nation in an age of rapidly declining church attendance. Indeed in a recent comment the Queen said, “Throughout my life, the message and teachings of Christ have been my guide and in them I find hope.”

Her winsome personality drew the affection of the people. Her genuine smile, her sacrificial commitment to duty, her fierce protectiveness of her family meant that in the late Queen we had not only a Monarch we respected but a Queen who was genuinely liked, loved and admired.

For the Lord’s people this made it easy to pray for her, to express loyalty to the Crown, and to cherish the hope that her profession of faith was more than a mere profession. In the turbulence of the modern age, these are things not readily replicated.

To our new King, Charles III, we offer our steadfast Christian loyalty, the continuation of our prayers and our dutiful support, seeking to voice the truth of God‘s unchanging Gospel, the only way of salvation for sinners, to both high and low in our land. To His Majesty and the whole of the Royal family we offer our sincere condolences, sharing in great measure the sorrow of this moment.

In the death of our Queen the whole nation has the opportunity not only to reflect on a remarkable life, but to ponder the realities of the life to come. For us all there is a heaven to win, a hell to shun, a judgement to come and a Judge to face. We cannot see beyond the veil but we can prepare for it now. We cannot judge the soul of anyone else. God is Judge. But we can make our own calling and election sure in this life (2 Peter 1v10).

We give thanks for the long reign of Queen Elizabeth. We pray for the new reign of King Charles. And we remind our nation of the One whose reign is forever, and whose kingdom never ends, Revelation 11v15.

Rev Greg MacDonald, Moderator of the 2022 General Assembly