My blog posts revolve around my interests and vocation as a historian: the intersection of history and contemporary church life, the intersection of history and contemporary politics, serendipitous discoveries in archives or on research trips, publications and research projects, upcoming conferences, and speaking engagements.
I sometimes blog for two other organizations, the Canadian Baptist Historical Society and the Centre for Post-Christendom Studies. The views expressed in these blogs represent the views of the authors, and not necessarily those of any organizations with which they are associated. |
Images of a Past Coronation: Canadian Protestant Churches and the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II4/27/2023 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Queen_Elizabeth_II_on_her_Coronation_Day_(cropped).jpg My current research for a book chapter on Canadian Protestant churches and the Korean War has led me to wade through commentary on the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.[1] And that commentary has reminded me of how the upcoming Coronation of King Charles III is set in a very different world from that of his mother. The Queen’s Coronation on 2 June 1953 was a major event and not surprisingly it drew significant attention from various Protestant denominations.[2] Most of the reporting was positive, but, as will be seen, some were concerned about an excessive focus on events. As was customary, the denominations made official statements of loyalty and support. The Presbyterian statements were representative of public declarations coming from other denominations. In 1953, the national assembly produced a proclamation of loyalty to the new Queen, expressing pleasure with the “spirit of faith” that the Queen displayed leading up to the Coronation.[3] Others such as Anglicans, Baptists, and the United Church echoed that common refrain of official loyalty to the young Queen. The weekly periodicals committed a great deal of attention to the Coronation, with familiar comments related to fidelity and devotion. Pictures of the Queen were printed, along with images of the Coronation service itself.[4] Expressions of loyalty were common, with editorials, articles, and letters to the editor expressing heartfelt appreciation for the new Queen.[5] Descriptions of the meaning and events of the Coronation were provided.[6] Liturgies, prayers, and advice was printed for the churches to use in services.[7] Denominations even sent delegates to attend the Coronation, with those delegates then sending back reports for the periodicals to print for avid readers.[8] A few readers of the religious press were not pleased with what were seen to be over-the-top excesses of journalists.[9] In one letter to the editor of the United Church Observer it was lamented that there was too much Hollywood and glamour associated with royalty, and the church had, wrongly, got caught up in the hype. The author went on to criticize the churches for their uncritical acceptance of all things royal: “Now we have special Coronation Day services. We’ll soon be having Emperor worship. Indeed a man may speak against Christ and receive little in the way of rebuke, but woe betide the one that criticizes Royalty: or speaks against the planned programme of the authorities that is attempting today to exalt Royalty and Authority beyond criticism.”[10] However, for most, the faith and integrity of the Queen provided a moral imprimatur for the British “family of nations,” making the Commonwealth appear to be a benevolent family of nations being blessed by the rule of a godly Queen.[11] It was prayed that her rule would influence not only the Commonwealth but the “whole world.”[12] In fact, the discourse during the Coronation was quite idealistic and optimistic when it came to the influence of the monarchy, the positive relations of the Commonwealth, and the subjects’ love of Queen. In sum, through their many public services, symbols, and sermons during the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II the churches (along with the state) sought to shape a new vision for Canada, one that reflected new realities of national identity and empire. It was a unique “nation-building” event whereby the Britishness of the nation was extolled, and its Christian identity assumed. Yet there were also adjustments being made to the postwar and increasingly post-colonial world, such as the language of “Commonwealth” being used and the nomenclature of “Empire” becoming less common. But that was then and this is now. And, as I noted a few years ago, the upcoming Coronation of King Charles III will have to navigate past notions of national identity with current realties, and to cast a fresh vision for nations whose head of state is the monarch.[13] See below for some images from the denominational press. Sorry for the poor resolution on some - the digital reader took terrible scans!) [1] For an earlier blog on my Baptist findings, see https://baptisthistory.ca/2018/05/10/the-crown-baptists-and-the-coronation-of-elizabeth-ii/
[2] The focus of my book is on Anglicans, Baptists, Presbyterians, and the United Church. [3] “Report of the Committee on Loyal Addresses,” Acts and Proceedings of the Presbyterian Church in Canada (1953), 39. For other Presbyterian statements of loyalty to the Queen, see “The Queen’s Birthday,” Acts and Proceedings of the Presbyterian Church in Canada (1952), 46; “Report of the Committee on Loyal Addresses,” Acts and Proceedings of the Presbyterian Church in Canada (1954), 84. [4] Presbyterian Record, June 1953; Presbyterian Record, July/August, 1953; Presbyterian Record, September, 1953; “Elizabeth II,” Observer, 1 March 1952; Campbell Wadsworth, “A Coronation is a Consecration,” Observer, 1 June 1953; “Our Gracious Queen Elizabeth II,” Canadian Churchman, 21 February 1952. [5] T. Langley, “Elizabeth,” Maritime Baptist, 20 February 1952; Rex, “God Save Our Gracious Queen,” Canadian Churchman, 21 May 1953; Sydenham B. Lindsay, “The Position of the Queen in the Church of England,” Canadian Churchman, 4 June 1953; “Basil M, Dale, “Queen and the Church,” Canadian Churchman, 21 May 1953; “Queen and People,” Canadian Churchman, 21 May 1953; W. H. Davison, “A Call to Greatness,” Canadian Churchman, 21 May 1953. [6] A. M. Dutton, “The Religious Significance of the Coronation,” Canadian Churchman, 21 May 1953; Rex, “Coronation Thanksgiving and Prayer,” Canadian Churchman, 7 May 1953; “The Coronation,” Canadian Churchman, 2 July 1953; “U.S. Churches Commemorate the Coronation,” Canadian Churchman, 2 July 1953; Campbell Wadsworth, “A Coronation is a Consecration,” Observer, 1 June 1953; “The Coronation Order of Service,” Observer, 15 April 1953; “By the Grace of God, Queen,” Observer, 1 June 1953; “God Save the Queen!” Observer, 1 June 1953; Norman Coll., “Prayers or Soldiers?” Observer, 1 June 1953. [7] “Attention! Baptist Ministers and Churches of Canada,” Maritime Baptist, 29 April 1953; Frederick J. Horwood, “Coronation Sunday in a Tiny Church,” Observer, 1 May 1953. [8] “The Moderator’s Story,” Observer, 1 September 1953; W. J. MacDonald, “Coronation Comments,” Maritime Baptist, 1 August 1953. A large contingent of youth were sent as well. See “Off to the Coronation,” Canadian Churchman, 4 June 1953. [9] Maurice Cranston, “The Coronation,” Observer, 1 June 1953. [10] Atlas, “Too Much Royalty,” Observer, 15 July 1953. [11] Gordon L. Heath, “Queen Victoria and General Gordon: Heroes in the Age of Empires,” In Baptists and Gender, Baptists and Gender, edited by Melody Maxwell and T. Laine Scales (Macron: Mercer University Press, anticipated 2023) [12] “The New Queen,” Observer, 1 March 1952. [13] https://pcs.mcmasterdivinity.ca/blog/london-bridge-is-down-the-death-of-the-queen-and-post-christendom-realities/
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