The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, which culminates this coming week with a four-day bank holiday weekend and events throughout the country, is a good time to look back on the Queen’s remarkable reign. The seventy years since she came to the throne have seen so many changes in so many areas of our lives - a quite staggering rate of change. The Royal Family, too, has seen many changes, yet somehow the Queen has remained a constant.

I’ve been reading some of her speeches in preparation for the Service of Thanksgiving we are holding on Thursday 2nd at 10.30, and have been struck by the Queen’s deep Christian faith, which undoubtedly underpins her life of duty and service. At 21, in 1947, she vowed to dedicate her life to the service of her people, her country and the Commonwealth, and she has been unwavering in this commitment, which she regards as a sacred duty. That’s inspiring for all of us whose faith calls us to a life of service to others.

But this is also a time for looking forward. Next weekend we will be holding our Jubilee Fete, our first big public event as a church since the pandemic. I hope it will be a lovely, enjoyable occasion - a chance for us to welcome our village to the church and to celebrate together. I hope, too, that it is a harbinger of things to come, a sign that we are an outward-facing, open-hearted, faith-filled church reaching out in love and faith to all.