Mount Olive Provides Grace Prayer at Queen�s 2013 Birthday Luncheon

Members of Mount Olive Lutheran Church (Rod Gellner, Pauline Sesula and Rev. Ted Giese) were on hand for the Annual Queen’s Birthday Luncheon (Saturday May 18^th) on the 2013 Victoria Day Long weekend. The guest speaker was the Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan, her Honour the Honourable Vaughn Solomon Schofield. After those gathered had sung the National Anthem “O Canada,” Rev. Ted Giese was asked to give the grace prayer. And taking a cue from Lutheran Church–Canada President Rev. Dr. Robert Bugbee’s diamond jubilee letter of congratulation to the Queen, Pastor Ted addressed those gathered and prayed the following:  

In 1 Timothy 2:1, we are enjoined to pray “for kings and all those in authority,” “we are not only bound by duty, but are also glad and grateful to do so.” Please rise and let us pray,

Almighty God, bless this day Your servant, Elizabeth, our Queen, as she celebrates (in this year) the 60^th anniversary of her Coronation. We joyfully give You our grateful thanks and praise for her long and faithful reign over us. Grant her, we pray, continued health and strength in the days and years to come, that we may continue to know Your peace under her good and gracious dominion.

Bless too her faithful servant Lieutenant Governor Vaughn Solomon Schofield, as she represents her Majesty the Queen in Saskatchewan.

Bless each of us in our vocations LORD, as we work in community, to that end we pray that You would bless that hands that prepared our meal today, and that in this blessing You would bless this food, which we are about to receive, to our good health; send Your Holy Spirit to enliven and sanctify our fellowship together this day: All this we pray in the name of Your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, who teaches us to pray ….

     Our Father who art in heaven,

     hallowed be thy name.

     Thy kingdom come.

     Thy will be done

     on earth as it is in heaven.

     Give us this day our daily bread,

     and forgive us our trespasses,

     as we forgive those who trespass against us,

     and lead us not into temptation,

     but deliver us from evil.

     For Thine is the kingdom,

     and the power, and the glory,

     forever and ever. Amen.

After the meal the Lieutenant Governor gave a brief, but informative, address beginning with the words spoken by the queen, at her then 21^st birthday speech, “I declare before you all that my whole life whether it be long or short shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong.” Our Queen has enjoyed a long life and this prompted the LG to tell how last year H.M. The Queen, accompanied by H.R.H. Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, paid a Jubilee visit to Nottingham and attended a children’s event where children, 5-to-10 year olds, were asked to produce something in honour of the Jubilee. Six from among the more than 1,000 children attending were chosen to give their own speech to the Queen which had to be 50 words or less. It needed to express their fondness and appreciation for Her Majesty’s long reign. The last child to speak was a young boy named Devon Parker who said “Your Majesty, I think you are the nicest old lady in all of England, but I wish you weren’t so old because, if you were younger, you would live a lot longer. Thank you very much.” The Queen’s reaction was photographed and reportedly her response was: “Now, what can I say to that!?” Mr. Michael Jackson provided a warm response to the guest speaker’s address.

This year marks the Queen’s 87th birthday; Her Majesty’s birthday is officially celebrated on the Victoria Day Long weekend in Canada.

At the conclusion of the event the Royal Anthem, “God Save the Queen,” was sung and following the departure of her Honour the Honourable Vaughn Solomon Schofield, the members of Mount Olive who were present were able to take a quick photo with Mr. Scott Hazelwood, the chair of the South Saskatchewan Branch of the Monarchist League of Canada. The event was a great way to mark the Queen’s dedicated service in her vocation, to give thanks to God for her longevity, and to pray for her continued work as Canada’s Head of State.

For a recent sermon, based on Psalm 20, that mentions the Queen and the nature of the Royal Anthem as a prayer to God click here!