The Church Uncovered

Episode 2 
Biblical Perspectives on the Rite 

For the Podcast: Rabbi Baroness (Julia) Neuberger DBE
A regular broadcaster, on BBC Radio 2 and Radio 4, Julia was the first woman Rabbi to have her own Synagogue. Following studies in Cambridge and Leo Baeck College, she then taught at Len Baeck from 1977-1997. She was Chief Executive of the King’s Fund from 1997-2004. From 2011 to 2020 she was Senior Rabbi of the West London (Reform) Synagogue. In 2004 she was made a life-peer, and she now sits as a Crossbencher. Her many publications cover a variety of areas, not least health and social policy, and also, Judaism and issues to do with death and dying. Her 2019 Book Antisemitism What it is. What it isn’t. Why it matters. W&N 2019, was a timely reminder of the “canary down the mine” character of what is happening in society if antisemitism is any way on the increase.

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Episode 1 - The Rite and its evolution in 2023

Canon Dr Francis Young
Respected authority on the religious history of Britain and the Baltic region. He published several keys  articles about the Coronation in The Critic, The Spectator and The House in May 2023, as well as his own  detailed studies different Coronation Rites. He is a Reader in the Church of England, a Lay Canon of St Edmundsbury Cathedral. Francis’s work on the Coronation rite includes a scholarly comparison of the  1953 and 2023 rites. 

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Coming on the 6th of May .... This season of the Podcast will concentrate on what has been learned from the 2023 Coronation. We are interested in what is of value in the rite, and what do contributors consider needs to be held on to? There will be discussion of what not included in 2023, which was integral to the 1953 rite, and what the significance of that might be liturgically and constitutionally. The very particular nature of the rite, as encompassing matters of Church and State under one umbrella, will mean that religious and constitutional questions will be explored in tandem.

 Editors/Presenters

The Revd Dr Anders Bergquist
Has been the Vicar of St John’s Wood since 2002. Born of Swedish parents and brought up in various parts of Europe and the Middle East, Anders trained as an archaeologist in Cambridge, where he wrote his PhD on the later prehistory of Transylvania. He then studied theology at Oxford, and was ordained in St Albans diocese in 1986. He returned to Cambridge in 1989 to teach at Westcott House Theological College, and served as President of the Cambridge Theological Federation 1995-7. He was a Residentiary Canon at St Alban’s Cathedral, and was responsible for the continuing theological education and professional development of clergy and Readers in St Albans diocese. Outside the parish, Anders is involved at national level in ecumenical work with the Scandinavian and Baltic churches and as Consultant to the Church of England’s Liturgical Commission.

The Revd Canon William Gulliford
Has two jobs. He is Vicar of St Mark’s Regent’s Park, the neighbouring parish to St John’s Wood, and he serves Director of Ordinands for the Diocese in Europe. He is a Canon of Gibraltar Cathedral. He was asked to do commentary for TF1 for the late Queen’s funeral in September 2022, and was asked to return in May 2023, to be part of the commentary team for King Charles III’s Coronation. He prepared a study guide for the 13 other Diocese in Europe clergy who assisted other national broadcasters across Europe for the Coronation. He gave lectures in Oxford and Cambridge in the lead up to the Coronation and wrote an article on the significance of the rite for The Critic in May 2023. Amongst others involved in this project, he contributed to the two conferences at King’s College London, before and after the Coronation, arranged by Dr Michael Kandiah.

 Producer

The Revd Emily Kolltveit
Has had a career in professional music making since childhood, after a training at Tring Park School for the Performing Arts. She was a founder member of a Metal Band as well as a member of Mediaeval Baebes an all women’s musical ensemble. She trained for ministry at Ripon College, Cuddesdon and after serving her curacy at St Mary the Virgin, Primrose Hill, she is now priest in charge of St Jude’s on the Hill Hampstead Garden Suburb. She and her husband Are, produce and edit the podcast from their studio in NW11.

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A Podcast for those interested in the religious significance and history of the English Coronation Service. Produced by Emily Kolltveit 
 
 The English Coronation Rite is the only remaining anointing ritual of a Christian monarch. The ceremonies which attend the crowning of English Kings date from before the Norman Conquest, and despite huge changes in society, the state and the Church, they persist. The Archbishop of Canterbury presides over an event of particular holiness. 
 
 Two Anglican clergy will host interviews with specialists in the fields of Biblical Studies and Liturgy, as well as friends from other faith traditions, to explore the significance of this rite in the past and for the present.
 
 Dr Anders Bergquist is a Theologian, Church Historian and Liturgist who is consultant to the Church of England's Liturgical Commission. He is parish priest of St John's Wood. William Gulliford is a parish priest in London and Director of Ordinands for the Diocese in Europe. He will be commentating for French TV Station TF1, on 6 May, for the Coronation of King Charles III. While sharing an interest in this rite and coming from much the same part of the Church of England they have interestingly differing perspectives on the rite. They are looking forward to meeting with their guests and exploring some of the questions which surround this rite in terms of the evolving history and contemporary significance. 

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William Gulliford and Anders Bergquist introduce the Coronation Rite and explore the themes which will be discussed in forthcoming episodes

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Rabbi Baroness (Julia) Neuberger DBE cross-bench peer, former Senior Rabbi at the West London Synagogue, discusses the background to issues of Kingship and anointing in the Hebrew Bible, and matters of interfaith representation at the Coronation today. Julia responds to questions about Establishment and the King’s Role vis a vis the Church of England.

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The Revd Dr Mark Scarlata and the Revd Dr Matthias Grebe teach at St Mellitus, the largest of the Church of England’s Theological Colleges. Mark teaches the Hebrew Bible, and Matthias studied Barth and teaches Doctrine. Together they develop some of the issues raised in the preceding episode about Kingship and Anointing, and explore the Messiahship of Jesus.

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Bob Morris had a career as a Senior Civil Servant in the Home Office, specialising in Constitutional matters. On retirement he became one of the early Honorary Research Associates at the Constitution Unit at University College London, which has published a range of articles about the Coronation and the legal status of the Monarchy today. Bob discusses matters relating to the Coronation Oath, who does what in terms of planning a Coronation and the evolution of the constitutional elements of the rite.

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The Revd Peter Peter McGeary is the Vicar of St Mary’s Cable Street, and is a Priest Vicar of Westminster Abbey, where he deputises for the Minor Canons. As a professional Church musician, Peter is well qualified to describe and discuss the musical inheritance of Coronation and to discuss the significance of the English Choral tradition as it has been inherited and exemplified by the choir and musicians of the Abbey.              

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Theo Hobson is a lay Theologian and Marcus Walker is Vicar of St Bartholomew the Great, Smithfield. They both write opinion pieces regularly for different publications. Marcus chairs Save the Parish. Both discuss some of the key features of the Coronation rite, not least anointing, and questions relating to Establishment.

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