Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

During this time of deep sorrow and mourning the Cathedral remains, as it always is, a place of prayer and reflection. We have public acts of worship that will be taking place over the coming days which are listed below, and you are welcome to join us.

The Cathedral welcomes people who wish to say a private prayer, sign the condolence book for Her late Majesty The Queen, light a candle, or to lay flowers. The best times to do these are between 8am and 4.45pm, but you are most welcome to join us at any of our services.

Saturday 17 September

Morning Prayer – 7.10am

Morning Eucharist – 7.30am

Requiem Eucharist for Her late Majesty The Queen – 1pm

Choral Evensong – 6pm

Sunday 18 September

Book of Common Prayer Holy Communion – 8am

Said Matins – 10am

Choral Eucharist – 11am

Civic Memorial Service for Her late Majesty The Queen – 6pm

Choral Evensong – 6pm

Monday 19 September – Funeral of Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

Morning Prayer – 7.10am

Morning Eucharist – 7.30am

Requiem Eucharist for Her late Majesty The Queen – 1pm

Said Evening Prayer – 6pm

Services take place at Oxford Time i.e. five minutes later than BST. Do check our website for up-to-date details. Please note: Meadow Gate is open from 10.30 – 11 and 12.15-12.45pm on Sundays for those attending the morning Eucharist.

Full details will be provided in the daily diocesan emails to all licensed clergy, LLMs and church wardens, along with signposts to resources and key tasks. A timeline is available below but PLEASE NOTE: these timings will be adjusted. We will email you daily with updated information.

Thursday 8 and Friday 9 September: D-Day, Announcement of Death of the Sovereign

Please wait for planning to fall into place. It is not necessary to rush.

Due to the complexity of arrangements, not all information will be immediately available. Check your email and the diocesan website regularly throughout the day.

• Flags to half-mast on all public and civic buildings.
• Statement from the Archbishops and Bishop of Oxford published
• An evensong service will be livestreamed from Christ Church Cathedral at 6pm
• There will also be a national Service of Prayer and Reflection at St Paul’s Cathedral on D-0

Saturday 10 September: D-Day +1, ‘Proclamation Day’

• Flags at half-mast at the start of the day, then raised to full mast at 11am, the time of Proclamation. NOTE: Flags remain at full-mast until 1pm on Sunday (D+2) and that flags with mourning cravats do not need to have them removed when at full-mast.
• Following the Proclamation, bells can be rung open in celebration of the accession at a practicable time following the announcement. Save for local Proclamations tomorrow, when bells can be rung in celebration again, bells should otherwise revert to being rung half or fully muffled until the day of the state funeral.
• Books of condolence open.
• The Bishop of Oxford will publish a statement following the Proclamation. This will available to share on social media.
• Principle proclamation at 11am: accession of the new sovereign and announcement of the new King's name.
• In recognition of the new Sovereign, flags will be flown at full-mast from the time of the Principal Proclamation at St James's Palace, 11am, until one hour after the Proclamations, 1pm Sunday, in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, after which flags will return to half-mast in mourning for the death of Her Majesty The Queen.
• Cathedral livestream of Requiem Eucharist at 1pm and Choral Evensong at 6pm. Lord Lieutenant and Civic leaders in attendance at Evensong. Links will be posted at oxford.anglican/livestream.
• (Flags return to half mast at 1pm on D+2)

Sunday 11 September: D-Day +2

• Cathedral livestream of 1pm Requiem Eucharist and 6pm service.
• Flags return to half mast at 1pm.
• Bells are rung half muffled for the remainder of the period of mourning except for local proclamation services, when they should be rung unmuffled.

Monday 12 September Day (D+3) to Sunday 18 September (D+9)

• Cathedral open for private prayer. Services livestreamed daily.
• Coffin will lie in state D+5 to D+10.
• See above for list of county civic memorial services.
• Flags remain at half-mast.
• Bells are rung half-muffled for the remainder of the period of mourning.
• Make plans for the removal of flowers on Tuesday and the return of parish websites and social media to usual content.
• Please review the model order of service, filename: Special Commemorative Service, which can be adapted for local use as a vigil on Sunday (D+9).

Sunday 18 September D+9

• Please review the model order of service, filename: Special Commemorative Service, which can be adapted for local use as a vigil on Sunday.
• The government has declared a national moment of reflection on Sunday at 8pm. You may wish to share this short service paper, for use at home, with members of your congregation - this will be available shortly. Our thanks to Canon Precentor Philippa White at the Cathedral for sharing this with us.

Monday 19 September (D+10)

We await further details of the funeral service. It could be as late as Sunday evening before the order of service is shared. We will email as soon as we have this.

• State funeral, Westminster Abbey.
• Two minutes silence observed nationally at 11am.
• Public Holiday.
• Cathedral open for private prayer.
• Bells – the Royal Household have requested that, if they can, parishes toll their bells for the hour immediately prior to the time of the funeral service (11am)
• Flags – remain at half-mast throughout the day.
• 10:44: The coffin will be taken in procession from the Palace of Westminster
• 11:00: The state funeral at Westminster Abbey will begin
• 11:55: The Last Post will sound followed by a two-minute silence
• 12:00: After the service the coffin will travel in procession to Wellington Arch
• 15:10: Funeral procession in Windsor
• 16:00: Committal service at St George's Chapel to begin

Tuesday 20 September (D+11)

• 8.00am – Flags to be returned to full mast
• Floral displays to be ended, consider a local ceremony to mark this
• Church website and social media channels reset to reflect life of the parish.
• Local books of condolence can remain on display.
• The official online books of condolence will close at the end of the day.

Wednesday 21 September (D+12)

• Parliament returns.

As soon as is possible within the parameters of your Risk Assessment, open the church building for public prayer and commemoration – whilst there is no obligation, some may choose to keep the church open all through the night, again with careful considerations of Risk Assessment. You may wish to set up a separate memorial space within the church.

Clergy and lay ministers to make themselves available to offer pastoral care to those grieving.

The government has declared a national moment of reflection on Sunday at 8pm. You may wish to share this short service paper, for use at home, with members of your congregation. Our thanks to Canon Precentor Philippa White at the Cathedral for sharing this with us.

Yes, of course, but please ensure that your service time doesn't clash with the county services (listed here) if you are inviting local MPs and dignitaries.

Clergy and lay ministers to make themselves available to offer pastoral care to those grieving.

Suggestions of liturgical resources are above - these are there for your guidance, not instruction. 

Decisions remain local and in partnership with civic offices. Give some thought to pastoral care provision appropriate to your local culture and context.

The CUP materials contain suggested readings. The usual funeral readings are also acceptable.

Suggested readings

Psalms

Psalms 23, 121, 16

Old Testament

Lamentations 3:22-26, 31-33
Job 19:23-27
Isaiah 40:1, 7-9, 11, 28-31
Wisdom 2:22 – 3:1-9

New Testament

Revelation 21:1-7
1 Thessalonians 4:13-end
1 Peter 1:3–5, 8–9
2 Corinthians 4:16–5:4
Romans 8:31b–35, 37–39

Gospel

John 5:21, 24–25
John 6:35–40
John 11:17-27
John 14:1–6

There's a BCP HC order among the CUP material here, and one of the official resources Prayers for Morning and Evening Prayer is in BCP language.

Traditional language prayers from Christ Church Cathedral are also available.

There has been no explicit national guidance but we continue in a period of mourning, which means that purple or black are the appropriate colours. So usual vestments and where a stole is worn, purple is suggested.

A blog post by the good folk at Law and Religion says 'clergy and others may be reassured that whilst it will be necessary to update Canon C 13 Of the Oath of Allegiance (and other Church of England Canons), it will not be necessary for them to remake their Oath of Allegiance'.

In addition to Bishop Steven's prayer, a Church of England prayer card suitable for social media and local publications is available here.

We have received the first copyright-agreed portrait of the King, which can be used by churches. Click here to access. Please use the following credit where this appears on church websites or printed materials: Photo credit: Yui Mok/PA

UPDATED - A number of churches are planning to broadcast the funeral service on Monday 19 September. We are pleased to confirm that the BBC has removed the requirement for a television license and you may screen the live broadcast in your church.

We have also been advised this week that PRS have waived their requirement for a license for Monday 19 only. This means that churches may show the BBC livestream free of charge to parishioners and at no cost to the local church.

Our friends at the Oxford Diocesan Board of Education have prepared some resources for collective worship in schools:

• Guidance for collective worship and spirituality following the death of Queen Elizabeth II
• Story and poem for schools

Yes if the family and minister wish to go ahead. The service should start with an appropriate acknowledgement of the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and a suitable prayer (see liturgical resources, above). Guidance on whether bells can be rung unmuffled for wedding services this weekend isn't set. While it is a local decision, please keep in mind that bells are a very public statement and are playing a part in national mourning.

It is good to bring people together at this time rather than feeling that everything ought to be cancelled. Church meetings and events can go ahead as planned this week with consideration given to the tone and suitable reference to Queen Elizabeth's passing.

It is appropriate for the National Anthem to be sung at any commemorative service in the event of a Royal death. However, please note that the words ‘God save the King’ should be sung, with the appropriate pronouns.

The Union Flag, or Cross of St George, should now be flown at half-mast (two-thirds of the way up the flag pole). When a flag is flown at half-mast, it should first be raised to the top of the mast, allowed to remain there for a second and then lowered to the half-mast position.

Flags cannot be flown at half-mast on poles that are more than 45 degrees from the vertical or have fixed point fixings. A mourning cravat can be used instead. The mourning cravat does not need to be removed during the brief period of full-mast following proclamation (est. 11am D+1 to 1pm D+2)

When a British national flag is at half mast, other flags on the same stand of poles should also be at half-mast or should not be flown at all. We will provide detailed flags guidance on each day during the period of mourning.

Further guidance can be found here.

Bells may be rung or tolled half muffled - please refer to the latest guidance email for timings. 

Your bell captain should acquaint her/himself with the guidance available from The Central Council of Church Bellringers. Bells are a very public statement and are playing a part in national mourning, please refer also to the daily emails from the diocese. 

This should consist of smart black loose leaf binders and a stock of good quality paper. This is preferable to a bound book that can be easily damaged or spoiled. Your book of condolence should be available until 5pm on the day following the funeral (see below). Advice on what to do with completed books will be issued at the time.

Books of condolence will also be opened at the Cathedral, Reading Minster and civic centres across the diocese, and an online book of condolence is available via the Church of England website. You can of course choose to signpost to these regional and national options rather than holding a book in your church.

There may be further county guidance to follow, but condolence books should be retained locally at this stage and available to view for a period before adding them to the parish archive.