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For nearly two hundred years the 29th May was a public holiday, set aside by an act of Parliament for the celebration of the restoration of the monarchy in 1660. Popularly known as Oak Apple Day, this day was not only the birthday of Charles 2nd but also the day on which he returned to London following his exile in Europe. “A day of thanksgiving for our redemption from tyranny and the King’s return to his Government” wrote Samuel Pepys in his diary, making it pretty plain what he thought about Oliver Cromwell’s military Republic. For some it’s also a day to celebrate the establishment or re-establishment of the Church of England that had been effectively disestablished under Cromwell. So, for example, in this week’s Church Times there’s an advertisement for a service to be held later today in a well-known London church “in thanksgiving for the restoration of church and state, 1660”. But unlike those attending this Mass, I am much less keen on the establishment of the Church of England. During the Civil War some in Cromwell’s Army carried banners proclaiming “No King but King Jesus” – and I do have my sympathies with that line. I remain a royalist, albeit a lukewarm one, because I can’t think of a better Head of State than someone like Her Majesty the Queen. I certainly wouldn’t want a career politician doing the job. Or Oliver Cromwell for that matter. Even so, I still don’t think it’s healthy for a church to become too close to the source of temporal power. Even the A of C said recently that disestablishment wouldn’t be a disaster. It’s not that I think the privileged position of the Church of England is all that bad for the country – but I do think it’s bad for the church. It turns us into courtiers, too concerned with pageantry, dressing up in fancy clothes and processing around in medieval buildings. No church should sell itself this short. We have a higher calling than to be the masters of ceremony at large state occasions. Take those who thought that Bishop Michael Curry’s sermon for Harry and Megan’s wedding was just a bit ‘too religious’ for such an occasion – my word, it was in a church, for heaven’s sake. Being religious is exactly what the preacher should be doing. But, for me, too often the C of E does vanilla religion designed to fit in a little too tastefully with its local surroundings. I would miss many aspects of the establishment – not least the whole parish system and the way the local Church of England is not just a club for religious people but exists also for the benefit of non-members. Nonetheless, if the church is going to look a little less like a historical re-enactment society, it is going to have to do without the reflected glory of lords and kings. We have a king of our own. He was crowned with thorns. And He does things differently.