Margaret Thatcher's funeral made me proud to be an Anglican
A funeral, even the funeral of Baroness Thatcher, is hardly a moment to make partisan points. So it's with a sense of respect rather than boastfulness that I'd just like to observe how wonderfully suited Anglicanism, and the Anglican tradition, are to such great occasions.
From the gorgeous cathedral at St Paul's, to the simple yet beautiful music, to the moving sermon by the Rt Rev Richard Chartres, the funeral ceremony was perfectly suited to the occasion – welding together the personal and the public, the religious and the secular, into an occasion that felt perfectly suited to the family's and the nation's needs.
I'm sure there were many, myself included, who were thinking of their own loved ones during the service, and were able to draw comfort and inspiration from its beauty and dignity, whatever their views on Lady Thatcher herself. Indeed, while the Established Church may come in for a lot of stick – much of it justified – it still shows, on the great occasions, why we would be so much poorer without it.
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