The Queen attended Scripture Union’s 150th Anniversary Service of Celebration at St Mary’s Church, Islington on 6 December.
St Mary’s Church, Islington is close to where Josiah Spiers held the first Scripture Union (SU) meeting in December 1867.
God’s faithfulness
Alongside Her Majesty, many others with links to SU, both from the UK and from much further afield, attended, as well as children recently impacted by various SU ministries. It was a special time as so many joined together to thank God for his faithfulness to the movement and to celebrate what he has done in the lives of countless children over the years.
Dudley-Smith’s new hymn
The music was provided by the All Souls Orchestra, who revealed a new hymn, God of Unchanging Grace, which was written by Bishop Timothy Dudley-Smith for the occasion. A choir of local children sang His love will last forever, and there was an inspiring drama from Artless Theatre Company, documenting the entire history of SU in just five minutes – no mean feat!
Baroness Floella Benjamin read from the Bible and the Bishop of Durham, Paul Butler, gave the address, reminding the congregation that God is love, the simple unchanging gospel truth that Josiah Spiers chose to write in the sand in Llandudno, kick-starting Scripture Union.
The service was recorded for future transmission on BBC Songs of Praise.
