Dear Friends

I write this on the 25th of October, and incredible as it seems, it is scarcely more than six weeks since the Queen died, only two days after asking a new prime minister to form a government. Subsequently, we have been moved by the pomp and circumstance of a state funeral, concerned by a signalled return to the trickle-down economic policies of the 1980’s and then seen the new prime minister ousted in less than six weeks and a new leader selected and confirmed in five days. Meanwhile the wildly fluctuating markets may have given us some idea of how the rest of the world sees the whole sorry mess.

As I tried to make some theological sense of the whole thing, I turned in the Bible to 1 Samuel 8. Samuel of course, was that boy who served in the temple and heard God call him in the night, and having three times gone to the priest Eli thinking it was him, is told to say “Speak Lord, for your servant is listening.” He goes on to be a great prophet and leader, but when he appoints his sons as judges over Israel, they are not men of integrity, and the people demand a king. They want to be the same as the other countries of the Ancient Near East and although Samuel, instructed by God, points out to them that a king will take taxes and ask their sons to serve in his armies, still they demand a king and Saul is chosen. God says that it is not Samuel’s leadership that has been rejected, but that God himself has been ignored as king over Israel.

Now, just to be very clear about this, I am not advocating that we don’t have a king, or for that matter a prime minister. We need leaders and our system at its best works very well. However, we are reminded in the story of ancient Israel, and the future history of kingship in the Old Testament, that stability, humility, competence and integrity are all things that matter very much. My hope is that our new Prime Minister, who has explicitly said that he wants to bring all these things in his premiership, is able to do so.

In our prayers this week, let us pray for Rishi Sunak, that he will be given wisdom and discernment, that he will lead a government that balances the need for economic stability with compassion for the poor, that he will have the strength to cope with the extraordinary weight of these turbulent times and that as he seeks to do so, his family will not suffer. For we pray recognising the importance of good government but also in the power of the one who we call King of Kings, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

God bless,

Vicci