The Coronation of King Charles III takes place at Westminster Abbey on Saturday 6 May 2023.

The Coronation will be an important opportunity to invite people to take part in the same kind of worship as their King.

It will reinforce the bond of communion between people and to gather to hear God's Holy Word. The events in the lead up and in the aftermath of May 6 will encourage prayer for Church, nation, and the welfare of the King himself and all his subjects around the world.

We therefore offer here a growing collection of resources to help you prepare and pray.

Table of Contents

Overview.

Liturgy.

Thy Chosen Servant.

Joy & Felicity: The Prayer Book & the Monarchy

Articles

External links

Overview

We look forward to seeing our Prayer Book enabling us again to give resonant and fitting expression to the nation's common prayer.

If you're planning to mark His Majesty's Coronation using the Book of Common Prayer, please do share it with us here.

Have you started planning yet? For example, we have heard of churches planning:

• Using the Prayer Book's Litany and/or order for Evening Prayer to pray for the King, Church, Kingdom and Commonwealth on the Sunday before or on the evening before the Coronation
• Churches gathering people for a live screening, prefaced with or followed by prayers from the Prayer Book's Accession Service
• Services of prayer and thanksgiving the day after the Coronation (Sunday 7th) using Accession Day or other Prayer Book prayers to supplement services.

Liturgy

To help you plan ahead below are various Liturgies which might be useful.

Order of Morning Prayer (Word)  Order of Evening Prayer (Word)

The Accession Service (Word) The Coronation Litany (Word)

Order of Morning Prayer (PDF Booklet) Order of Evening Prayer (PDF Booklet)

The Accession Service (PDF Booklet) The Coronation Litany (PDF Booklet)

1937 Coronation Form of Prayer (Word)  1937 Coronation Form of Prayer (PDF)

Thy Chosen Servant: The Rite of Coronation

Week 1 Anointed, Blessed and Consecrated: The Coronation Liturgy
The Revd Canon Dr Robin Ward, Principal of St Stephen's House, Oxford.

Week 2 The King Shall Rejoice: Music and the Prayer Book at the Coronation. 
The Revd Philip Corbett, Vicar of All Saints', Notting Hill, London.

Week 3 Rod of Equity and Mercy: The Objects of the Coronation
The Revd Canon Dr Robin Ward, Principal of St Stephen's House, Oxford.

Week 4 Reflections on Coronations, 1661-1953

The Revd Prof Ian Bradley, Divinity Emeritus Professor, University of St Andrews.

Week 5 Here is Wisdom: The Coronation and the Bible

The Revd Dr Michael Brydon, Chaplain to the Bishop of Sodor & Man and Vicar of St Matthew's, Douglas.

Joy & Felicity: The Prayer Book and the Monarchy

A series of six seminars given in Lent 2022 on the close relationship between the Book of Common Prayer and the British Monarchy. See more.

Articles

What does the Book of Common Prayer have to do with the Coronation? - Iain Milne

Michaelmas 2022 Jubilee edition.

Michaelmas 2021 edition : Micheline White's article on Queen Catherine Parr's contribution to BCP's prayers for the monarch.

Anthony Kilmister's authoritive article from the Trinity 2022 edition of The Prayer Book Today on the Coronation.

External Links

The Crown Uncovered podcast

The St Edward’s Institute for Christian Thought Lecture

The Theological Significance of the Coronation Rite: A Study Guide (PDF)

A synoptic presentation of Coronation liturgy since 1603

The Royal Family's short guide to Coronations

Westminster Abbey's short guide to Coronations

"The coronation: history and ceremonial" by David Torrance for the House of Commons library

Video of the 1953 Coronation

Lecture from Westminster Abbey on a theology of monarchy in the 21st century