United Kingdom (MNN) — The United Kingdom remains in public mourning today following Thursday’s passing of Queen Elizabeth II, the world’s longest-reigning monarch. She took the throne in 1952 and served dutifully until the very end.
Her last act of public service came two days before her death when she appointed Britain’s new Prime Minister, Liz Truss.
“The monarchy, royalty, is not a celebrity. The monarchy is there as a servant, and the Queen epitomized that so well; she was a servant,” says Roger Carswell, a traveling evangelist in Britain.
“The whole nation is in deep mourning over the death of the Queen. We knew she wasn’t well. But there was a feeling among British people that she would live at least to be as old as her mother, who was 103.”
Queen Elizabeth provided a constant presence to a dramatically changing world during her 70-year reign. More about that here.
Queen Elizabeth II marked 70 years of rule at a Platinum Jubilee celebration this summer.
(Photo courtesy of Richard Surman/Unsplash)
“Everything you see in the news right now is about instability and losing the Queen,” International Media Ministries’ Denise Godwin says, speaking to MNN from an event in Europe.
“It is another indicator that things are different. Life is changing. What an important time for all Christians to be presenting the Gospel.”
The queen’s son, Charles III, will automatically take the throne as King after the state funeral next week. “This is a time of turbulence, and we need calm and acceptance of King Charles III,” Carswell says.
“There have been issues there. But I think everybody would want to live where there is stability.”
Pray the uncertainty during this transition will soften hearts to the Gospel message.
“I work as a preacher of the Gospel, but I also write Gospel tracts. I had prepared a tract for the time when the Queen died, and already 320,000 copies of it have been ordered,” Carswell says.
“There’ll be many more people in church this coming Sunday. Pray for the impact of literature, the impact of the sermons; it is an opportunity for the country to be exposed to the Gospel again,” he continues.
“There is tremendous spiritual apathy in the nation at the moment. Who knows? God might use this to awaken people to the fact that we are mortal. One day, we’re all going to go the same way as Her Majesty the Queen went. We want people to be prepared and ready.”
Header image is a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II in 2012. (Wikimedia Commons)
