Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II reflects on Jesus’
central role in her life in a new book ahead of
her 90th birthday, calling Christ “the King she
serves” in the title.
“I have been — and remain — very grateful to
you for your prayers and to God for his
steadfast love,” the British monarch writes in
the foreword to The Servant Queen and the King She Serves, which is to be released in April.
“I have indeed seen His faithfulness,” she adds.
Thousands of churches will reportedly be
giving away copies of the book, which is being
published by HOPE, Bible Society and the
London Institute for Contemporary Christianity,
according to the Church of England.
“As I’ve been writing this book and talking
about it to friends, to family who don’t know
Jesus, to my Jewish barber, I’ve been struck
how very interested they are to discover more
about the Queen’s faith,” said Mark Greene,
executive director of LICC, who is the co-author of the book.
“The Queen has served us all her adult life, with
amazing consistency of character, concern for
others and a clear dependence on Christ. The
more I’ve read what she’s written and talked to
people who know her, the clearer that is,” he
added.
The Star Tribune noted that besides her faith, the queen also talks about the ongoing mass
persecution of Christians in the Middle East in
her book, which is a subject she has touched
upon on a number of occasions.
She highlighted the persecution of Christians in
her Christmas address of 2015, which Church observers called the “most Christian message
yet” of her 60-plus year reign as monarch.
Michael Nazir-Ali, the former Bishop of
Rochester, said at the time that “if people in this
country gave greater heed to what the queen
says about the importance of Christianity in our
personal as well as our national life, then we
would be in a better place to confront it.”
He noted that “the queen will also be aware
that Christians and others have faced
unprecedented persecution over the last year
in parts of the Middle East, and could even face
extinction.”
HOPE’s Executive Director Roy Crowne said that
the book on Elizabeth’s birthday, which is on
April 21, will be a chance for Christians “to say
thank you to God and to the Queen for her life
and example as a follower of Jesus Christ.”
Paul Woolley, deputy chief executive at the
Bible Society, added: “In drawing attention to
the central role of the Queen’s faith in her life
and reign, The Servant Queen will be a unique
90th birthday publication. The book will
inform, surprise, entertain and challenge, all at the same time.”
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