Queen Elizabeth Calls Jesus Christ 'the King She Serves' in 90th Birthday Book
Britain's Queen Elizabeth II reflects on Jesus' central role in her life in a new book ahead of her 90th birthday, calling Christ "the King she serves" in the title.
"I have been — and remain — very grateful to you for your prayers and to God for his steadfast love," the British monarch writes in the foreword to The Servant Queen and the King She Serves, which is to be released in April.
"I have indeed seen His faithfulness," she adds.
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Thousands of churches will reportedly be giving away copies of the book, which is being published by HOPE, Bible Society and the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity, according to the Church of England.
"As I've been writing this book and talking about it to friends, to family who don't know Jesus, to my Jewish barber, I've been struck how very interested they are to discover more about the Queen's faith," said Mark Greene, executive director of LICC, who is the co-author of the book.
"The Queen has served us all her adult life, with amazing consistency of character, concern for others and a clear dependence on Christ. The more I've read what she's written and talked to people who know her, the clearer that is," he added.
The Star Tribune noted that besides her faith, the queen also talks about the ongoing mass persecution of Christians in the Middle East in her book, which is a subject she has touched upon on a number of occasions.
She highlighted the persecution of Christians in her Christmas address of 2015, which Church observers called the "most Christian message yet" of her 60-plus year reign as monarch.
Michael Nazir-Ali, the former Bishop of Rochester, said at the time that "if people in this country gave greater heed to what the queen says about the importance of Christianity in our personal as well as our national life, then we would be in a better place to confront it."
He noted that "the queen will also be aware that Christians and others have faced unprecedented persecution over the last year in parts of the Middle East, and could even face extinction."
HOPE's Executive Director Roy Crowne said that the book on Elizabeth's birthday, which is on April 21, will be a chance for Christians "to say thank you to God and to the Queen for her life and example as a follower of Jesus Christ."
Paul Woolley, deputy chief executive at the Bible Society, added: "In drawing attention to the central role of the Queen's faith in her life and reign, The Servant Queen will be a unique 90th birthday publication. The book will inform, surprise, entertain and challenge, all at the same time."
