Celebrating the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee

Timetable for the day
10.00     Pentecost Sunday Service of Thanksgiving at St John’s Church
12.30     Drinks on the church lawn
1.00       Opening ceremony - the Deputy Lord Lieutenant
1.10       The celebrations begin
              Music from the past 70 years
              Free barbecue and ice creams
              Picnics on the lawn or take a place at a table on St John’s Road
              Make a Crown and other crafts in the marquee
Try hula hooping
              Platinum Jubilee Quiz
              Watch the Platinum Jubilee Pageant livestreamed from London in the church
              Watch the Eastbourne Through Wars films in the church tower
              Add your royal memories and prayers to the Memory Tree
2.00       Art exhibition, tea and cakes in the Jubilee Hall
2.00       Bede’s School choir
2.30       St John’s School choir
2.50       Meet the author of ’Our FaithFul Queen’
3.00       Prize-giving for the Make a Crown competition
3.30       Platinum Jubilee Quiz prize presentation
4.00       Communal singing of the National Anthem to end the celebrations

* The First Aid station is in the church next to the baptistry.
* Photos are being taken throughout the event - please speak to Adrian Butcher if you do not want to be pictured

Meads is to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee with a Big Lunch and garden party on Sunday 5^th June. There will be music and dancing, a barbecue, afternoon tea and cakes, an art exhibition, a Make a Crown competition, and more.

St John’s Church is hosting the event in partnership with Meads Community Association and the Friends of Meads Parks and Gardens. The church gardens will provide space for picnics, tables and chairs, and entertainment. The church buildings will be open to provide a wet-weather venue, and there will be a large TV screen for those who want to watch the Platinum Jubilee pageant in London. The Jubilee Hall, at the side of the church will provide exhibition space plus tea and cakes.

Bring your own picnic – but there will also be a barbecue with burgers, hot-dogs and ice-cream to follow. The church will provide tables and chairs for at least 180 – but there will also be space for picnic rugs and picnic chairs if you bring your own.

We are exploring the option of closing a short section of St John’s Road, between Staveley Road and Bolsover Road, so we can invite the owners of classic cars to bring an example of a car from each decade of the Queen’s life. We are also inviting choirs to sing songs from each decade of her reign.

How to get involved

• Volunteer to be part of the planning group or to help on the day.
• Make a cake to contribute to the Platinum Jubilee tea
• Wear red, white and blue on the day
• Make a crown
• Learn a new song to sing – you can download the words and music for ‘Rise Up & Serve’ theplatinumjubilee.com/sing

PHOTO CALL

Have you ever had your photo taken with the Queen? Send a COPY, with your name, address and phone number written clearly on the back, plus the names of any people in the photo and brief details of the occasion on which is was taken. The copies of the photos should be sent to Meads Platinum Jubilee photo exhibition c/o St John’s Church. They will be displayed in an exhibition in the Jubilee Hall.

ROYAL PREPARATIONS

How did the Queen prepare for her role as sovereign? That’s the focus of a new book by Meads resident Catherine Butcher, who is a member of St John’s Church. Our Faithful Queen is a 64-page souvenir book full of photographs, published for the Platinum Jubilee. As well as highlighting different aspects of the Queen’s life, this new book draws on a small, leather-bound book written by the then Archbishop of Canterbury, Geoffrey Fisher, to help the Queen to prepare spiritually for her reign. The book A Little Book of Private Devotions includes short, daily meditations with Bible readings and prayers for the Queen to use from 1 May 1953 to the day of her Coronation.

Fewer than a dozen copies of the Devotions were printed. Its focus is the deep symbolism of the Coronation ceremony, rooted in the Bible. It explains that, at the heart of the Coronation, there was a hidden ceremony, screened from view under a canopy so the television cameras could not film it. At this most sacred moment, the Queen was anointed with oil.

Anointing symbolically sets people apart for service and pours out the life and power of God. As the Devotions explain, ‘a new relationship is established between God and his servants’. God’s anointing makes the difference between an ordinary human life and a life empowered by God’s Holy Spirit.

Seventy years after her Coronation, Our Faithful Queen aims to show that God equipped the Queen for her extraordinary role through her anointing, and in answer to the prayers of her people, who frequently sing the prayer ‘God save our gracious Queen…’.

Just as God has equipped the Queen for her role as Sovereign over the past 70 years and answered her prayers, Christians believe that God wants to equip each of us for our roles in life and invites us to talk to him in prayer so he can answer our prayers too.

Copies of Our Faithful Queen are available from hopetogether.org.uk/shop. They will also be available at the Meads Platinum Jubilee Party.

The Meads Platinum Jubilee Party

 Sunday 5 June 2022

Meads is celebrating the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee with a Big Lunch and garden party on Sunday 5th June. St John’s Church is hosting the event in partnership with Meads Community Association and the Friends of Meads Parks and Gardens.

 Timetable for the day

10.00               Pentecost Sunday Service of Thanksgiving at St John’s Church    

12.30               Drinks on the church lawn as you arrive to choose your picnic spot                                  

1.00                 Opening ceremony

1.10                 The celebrations begin

Choirs, music and dancing

Make Your Own Crown competition and other games

Exhibition, tea and cakes in the Jubilee Hall

 4.00                 Communal singing of the National Anthem to end the celebrations

To order the special Queen’s Platinum Jubilee book click here Our Faithful Queen