In a Queen’s Grand Funeral, an American Bishop Finds a Larger Story
September 20, 2022
On Monday, Queen Elizabeth’s state funeral and burial was conducted with the full solemnity of the Church of England, borne of nearly 500 years of solemn Anglican tradition. As a bishop in the Episcopal Church, I mourn the Queen as a sister in Christ, and honor her long reign as a woman of deep faith. She was an inspiration to me and to many Anglicans across the globe. But this Anglican tradition we share is not a simple one, and it contains much that I grieve and seek to dismantle.
The Anglican Communion is a loose confederation of churches around the world that share a history with the Church of England, which was founded by Henry VIII in 1534. Anglicanism began travelling around the world with British invaders, missionaries and colonial rulers almost as soon as the English church separated from Rome. But even as colonial ties dissolved beginning in the 18th century, Anglican bonds have remained, sustained not by shared doctrine or a single spiritual leader, but by shared worship traditions, music, and relationships that span the globe. This summer, I spent two weeks at Canterbury Cathedral in England with more than 650 other bishops from across the Anglican Communion for a meeting called the Lambeth Conference that takes place once a decade. Gatherings like this foster mission partnerships and shared priorities among Anglicans around the world.
Our shared history and worship mean that, even when we harbor deep grief and concern about the violence, racism and injustice perpetrated by the British Empire, Anglican eyes are often glued to television screens when the Royal Family and the Church of England are in top ceremonial form. The liturgies offered for Queen Elizabeth in Scotland, Northern Ireland, and England in the past week have contained elements familiar to Anglicans everywhere, even as they have illustrated the Anglican gift for adapting our traditions in our own countries and contexts.
Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Reverend Justin Welby, speaking during the State Funeral of Queen Elizabeth II, held at Westminster Abbey on September 19, 2022 in London, England. (Photo by Gareth Fuller – WPA Pool/Getty Images)
At the Lambeth Conference in England this summer, Bishop Jennifer Baskerville-Burrows with (l-r) Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby; her husband, Harrison Burrows; and Bishop Keith Riglin of Argyll & The Isles in the Scottish Episcopal Church. Archbishop Welby officiated at Queen Elizabeth’s state funeral in Westminster Abbey in London on Sept. 19, 2022.
Bishop Jennifer Baskerville-Burrows
Bishop Jennifer Baskerville-Burrows serves as the bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Indianapolis. She is the first Black woman to lead a diocese in the Episcopal Church.
A native of New York City, she holds a bachelor’s degree in architecture with a minor in urban studies from Smith College, an M.A. in historic preservation planning from Cornell University, and an M.Div. degree from Church Divinity School of the Pacific (CDSP) in 1997. Before being elected bishop in 2016, she served in the Dioceses of Newark, Central New York and Chicago.
