Why I Love Royal Weddings

It is, perhaps, a curious thing for an American to admit, but I just love watching members of Britain’s Royal Family get married. Like a lot of folks, I got up early last Saturday to watch the TV coverage of Prince Harry and Meghan Markel’s nuptials broadcast live from St. George’s Chapel at Windsor, and I was truly in my element. If you know me, you know what kind of a liturgical junkie I am. I may be Lutheran, but I so envy the beauty and dignity of the Anglican High Church. This wedding displayed the sumptuous liturgy of that tradition, showcased within the walls of a gorgeous house of worship with soaring Gothic vaults and rich stained glass windows. There was live classical chamber music and the great poetry of the Book of Common Prayer read by the Archbishop of Canterbury in his splendid cope. It was such a lovely, dignified service that I almost wanted to weep.

Even better than the above, the service was augmented by the gospel singing of an Afro-British choir, the talented music of young Afro-British cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason, and the rousing homily of the Most Reverend Michael Curry, the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church USA, who preached in the ebullient style of the American black church—a style which speaks to the heart as well as to the head. Having done my seminary field education in an African American congregation in South Philly, I have a great love for the way folks of African ancestry do church here in the US. The fusion of the Anglican high liturgy and the power and passion of the black church made for one of the most satisfying worship experiences I could ever imagine. It wasn’t a clash of cultures, but a beautiful interface of the best two cultures have to offer. And it worked perfectly.

(Of course, as a Welsh American, the cherry on my sundae was the singing of Cwm Rhondda, that quintessentially Welsh hymn which my ancestral people sing with great hwyl—spirit, passion, and love—as a second national anthem. I’m told it’s often sung at rugby games in the UK, and I suspect its inclusion in the weddings of both Harry and William had more to do with football than theology, but I love to hear it sung—and to sing it myself—all the same!)

Maybe the most satisfying aspect of the recent Royal Wedding was the fact that, at least for a day, it knocked Donald Trump and the never-ending clown show of his Twitter Tweets off the front page. In a time when America could elect such a personality as our Commander-in-Chief, when the British public is willing to pull out of the European Union (possibly in abhorrence of open immigration laws), and much of Europe is turning xenophobic, what a glorious thing it is to see the British Monarchy—quite possibly the most Caucasian of all institutions on the globe—lovingly embrace a foreign-born, bi-racial, divorcee with a passion for supporting LGBT rights as one of their own. Way to go, Windsor family! And way to go, HRH Meghan, Duchess of Sussex! Your pride puts a smile on all of our faces.

I see the marriage of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex as yet another small victory in what I’ll call the Second Battle of the Bulge. I liken the current political situation to the moment in World War II, during the winter of 1944, when the retreating army of the Third Reich made one last desperate attack and broke through the Allied lines. They fought fiercely, but eventually they ran out of gas both literally and figuratively. While Hitler raved and raged against surrender in Berlin, his Wermacht’s bulge was flattened out by the unstoppable wave of the armies of Democracy. Today the voices of wounded entitlement, xenophobia, racism, and status quo nationalism might be shrill and loud, but they can’t stop people from loving and accepting one another. The tide is still rising towards inclusivity, diversity, mutual respect, and love of neighbor. Old institutions can be made new by the infusion of new blood from formerly marginalized people, and the bulge of resistance will soon be flattened out.

Every valley shall be lifted up,
   and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
   and the rough places a plain. 
Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
   and all people shall see it together,
   for the mouth of the Lord has spoken. (Isaiah 40:4-5)

And that’s a good thing.

PS – Just in case you’re wondering what a High Church junkie like me is doing as Pastor of the low-ceilinged, low liturgical, and hopelessly informal blue-collar Faith Lutheran Church of Philadelphia, all I can say is that it hath pleased Almighty God to place me in this parish, and I am grateful to be here. We may not be elegant, but we’re never dull! What we lack in dignity and piety we make up for in fun and love. You should come and visit us if you can!