Prayers for Parliament

This morning at Holy Trinity I invited members to sign a petition, and they signed it in their hundreds, queuing up to do so.

It has been the practice since sometime in the 16th C* that each day - whilst Parliament is sitting - begins with prayer The current prayer is a humble acknowledgement that there is a higher authority than Parliament, and asks for God's guidance that MPs 'never lead the nation wrongly through love of power, desire to please, or unworthy ideals'.

"Lord, the God of righteousness and truth, grant to our Queen and her government, to Members of Parliament and all in positions of responsibility, the guidance of your Spirit. May they never lead the nation wrongly through love of power, desire to please, or unworthy ideals but laying aside all private interests and prejudices keep in mind their responsibility to seek to improve the condition of all mankind; so may your kingdom come and your name be hallowed.

Amen."

It is great to know, particularly at this moment of uncertainty and confusion in our nation's life, that Parliament seeks wisdom from above.

So what is the petition about?

The MP for Reigate and Banstead, Crispin Blunt, has put down an Early Day Motion claiming that parliamentary prayers are 'not compatible with a society which respects the principle of freedom of and from religion'. The early day motion seeks to raise awareness of this practice of prayer, and to bring it to an end.

The petition is simply to indicate the level of support for retaining prayer and acknowledgement of God at the heart of our national life. It will be in the church foyer until next Sunday (10th Feb 2019) if you wish to sign it. I will then deliver it to our MP.

I am staggered at the timing of this motion. When MPs of all parties are struggling to find unity in a way forward for our nation outside of the European Union, when the electorate looks on in frustration at lack of leadership and direction and fears abound about the economic repercussions, our MP wishes to end the practice of humbly seeking wisdom and direction from above. Whether you agree with him or not, this is not what we would wish our MP to be focussing on at this moment in time, I suspect.

If you can't make it to HT to sign the petition, then there is an online petition here that you may wish to sign: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/237423


* See below from www.parliament.uk website:

Custom and practice

The practice of prayers is believed to have started in about 1558, and was common practice by 1567. The present form of prayers probably dates from the reign of Charles II. Members of the public are not allowed into the public galleries during prayers.

MPs and Peers stand for prayers facing the wall behind them. It is thought this practice developed due to the difficulty Members would historically have faced of kneeling to pray while wearing a sword.