A Commonplace Funeral for an Extraordinary Queen   

Not one media commentator pointed out the absolute normality of the Queen’s Funeral Service.

Apart from the two thousand worshippers inside Westminster Abbey, I suppose that a billion were in the global television congregation – virtually inside the Abbey. For many it would have seemed exotic. But most of it was commonplace, and we can know that any Anglican anywhere could have the same core event for his or her funeral – word for word. To me the most remarkable thing about the State Service was that it was in essence a parish, commonplace service applied to this distinctive setting. The actual Service lasted barely one hour.

Many viewers of the funeral commentators in the media and absorbers of social media would not know that what was said and done was absolutely ordinary, normal business for the Church of England, and Anglican parishes globally.  Well, it was absolutely normal until modern re-inventors of liturgy got rid of The Book of Common Prayer, replaced the…