Dear Friends in the Northwest
This week is the fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost. This Sunday, there will be a service in Ullapool. Next Sunday, there will be services in Ullapool and Achiltibuie.
Following the death of Her Majesty the Queen, our service this Sunday and this newsletter will reflect the period of National Mourning.
As next Sunday will still be during the period of National Mourning, the Harvest Festival celebration planned for Achiltibuie that day is postponed until our October service.
The Scottish Episcopal Church has given us the following prayers for use following the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth and the accession of His Majesty King Charles III.
A Prayer for use on the death of the monarch
Almighty and eternal God, you uphold and govern all things both in heaven and on earth, and by your grace alone kings and queens do reign. We thank you for all the blessings which you have bestowed upon us through our late sovereign lady, Queen Elizabeth, whom you have called from this life in recent days.
We thank you for the wisdom of her guidance and her love of peace, for the care and devotion with which she served her people, for the example of her gracious life. We pray that you would fill our hearts with gratitude for all these good things, and give us grace that we may use the memory of them as a perpetual call to live according to your will, for the good of all the world, and the glory of your great name, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
A Prayer for the repose of the deceased monarch
Eternal Lord God, you hold all souls in life: Shed forth upon your faithful servant, Queen Elizabeth, the bright beams of your light and heavenly comfort; And grant that she, and we with her, may at length enter into the joys of your eternal kingdom; Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen.
A Prayer for the accession
O God, you govern your people by your creative love: we hold before you your servant [Charles], our King, praying that, guided by your Spirit, under him this nation may be wisely and justly governed, and your Church proclaim your Gospel in peace; may he be dedicated to you in heart, and mind, and soul. persevering in good works to the end, through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.
With love and prayers
Rev’d Clare
Please click the link below for this week’s reflection