By Renee Wood
The Yarra Valley Anglican Church has held two public memorial services on Sunday 18 September remembering Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
Community members gathered at St Paul’s in Yarra Glen at 11am and St John’s in Healesville at 3pm to pay their respects to our late sovereign.
Reverend Matthew Smith said the church wanted to give the community an opportunity to mourn and grieve but also give thanks and celebrate the Queen.
“She embraced that role with humility and service and when people go before us and give us a good example, I think wisdom and humility demands that we sit up and take note,” Rev. Smith said.
“There is much to learn from her life and that’s just what I tried to convey today – something that whether you’re a Christian or not, that there’s something you can take from the life of this great woman and improve your own life as well.”
Yarra Glen resident Noel Buchanan was invited to share a New Testament reading while also telling the story of when he saw Queen Elizabeth during the 1954 royal tour.
Mr Buchanan brought to the church the same flags that he was waving at the young Queen when he was nine years old while standing on Princes Bridge in Melbourne.
“Her Majesty was in an open vehicle, as I recall, beside Prince Phillip, the Queen was standing and doing the royal wave,” Mr Buchanan said.
“[Seeing the Queen] brought home being involved in Wolf Cubs, which are now called Cub Scouts, because we had a little promise that we made as a starting point, that on my honour, I will do my duty to God, the Queen and my country…so I think, actually seeing the Queen, who mum made sure I understood…that brought it home to me.”
Casey MP Aaron Violi was also a special guest speaker at the service, sharing how the Queen’s true leadership and dedication of service always prevailed.
Mr Violi said something that will stick with him was when the Queen declined Downing Street’s offer to have special exemptions for Prince Phillip’s funeral.
“It is as a great example of leadership and understanding her responsibility to her people, and we all could have understood if she decided to take advantage of that exemption given her grief, but she knew her responsibility to serve her people is bigger than her,” Mr Violi said.
“That’s a just one example but one that I’m going to hold in my time as an MP and not lose my sense of responsibility to serve the members of Casey and the nation.”
