Arranging a Funeral

A difficult and sensitive time

Some people make careful plans for their own funeral, relieving loved ones of the worry of 'getting it right'. Many do not, of course and at a very painful and sorrowful time decisions have to be made. All of the Ministry Team in the Fellside are available to help at this time.

Usually we are notified by a Funeral Director that a family has suffered a bereavement. Sometimes we help prior to a death, if asked, with prayers and services at the bedside.

We will want to make sure that you understand the different ways in which the Funeral Service may be organised. These are:

Service in Church and Interment in the Churchyard
Service in Church and Committal at the Crematorium*
Service at the Crematorium*

*Cremated remains may be interred at a later date in a Garden of Remembrance.

There are quite detailed regulations about the erection of memorials in Churchyards. Again, please ask before making a decision.

The Common Worship Prayer Book introduces the Funeral Service in ths way:

The Funeral Service

Pastoral Introduction

This may be read silently by those present before the service begins.

God's love and power extend over all creation. Every life, including our own, is precious to God. Christians have always believed that there is hope in death as in life, and that there is new life in Christ after death.

Even those who share such faith find that there is a real sense of loss at the death of a loved one. We will each have had our own experiences of their life and death, with different memories and different feelings of love, grief and respect. To acknowledge this at the beginning of the service should help us to use this occasion to express our faith and our feelings as we say farewell, to acknowledge our loss and our sorrow, and to reflect on our own mortality. Those who mourn need support and consolation. Our presence here today is part of that continuing support.