When someone dies
Please don’t hesitate to make contact if you feel you’d like to discuss what is happening to you or your loved one.
Fear of death is much worse than death itself, and our vicars and trained ministers can give you reassurance and support. We will pray for you – it is what we do. Many people turn to prayer quite naturally when facing their own or another’s death.
Approaching Death
You might want to unload your sorrow, or your fear or your anger. You might want to discuss your funeral arrangements. You might want to reassure yourself about support for those who are left.
As Christians, we don’t believe that death is the end, though we find it difficult to be exact about what follows it. A priest can sit with someone in their last days or hours, pray for them, reassure them of God’s forgiveness, bless them, offer them a final communion if that has been part of their tradition. We often anoint the dying with sacred oil to prepare them for death – this is sometimes called the Last Rites. We generally find that those anointed receive a sense of peace, and this is very helpful to them and to relatives who are part of it.
Time of Death
Please contact us when someone has died. We can and will continue to pray for them and for you. We will work sensitively with you to arrange the type of Funeral Service that’s right for the occasion. It might be a service in church or at the crematorium. Your’s or your loved one’s priest can lead the service wherever it takes place, and we will then be there to offer support afterwards if you want it.
A church service gives the possibility for a fuller commemoration of a life and an opportunity to say goodbye and reflect on our own life journey.
Whether you are expecting a handful of people or hundreds, we can work with you to make a fitting occasion. We have a lot of flexibility in music and readings.
If the person who has died has been an active communicant in the church, or if is very important to you, the funeral can take place in the context of a special Eucharist – a Requiem. You might prefer to have a Memorial Service, or it may be a combination of these. Not every undertaker assumes you might want the church or our ministers involved, so do insist if a Christian funeral is what you or your loved one wanted.
After the funeral
We will continue to pray for the person who has passed and for the family and loved ones who are dealing with bereavement. We will also keep an eye out for signs that anyone is really struggling to cope with life after bereavement.
If you’d like to have someone to spend a bit of time with, talking, listening, sometimes praying, we have a team of specially trained pastoral care assistants. Often a regular, sympathetic ear from outside your immediate circle is really helpful. Please get in touch.
We remember the departed every Sunday during the prayers. Each year we offer a couple of events in church specially for those who have recently lost loved ones. On or around 2 November we celebrate All Souls Day, a time when the whole church remembers all those who have died. We have services in the afternoon – a simple service of music and readings when we read out names and you can light a candle, and a Sung Eucharist in the evening where we remember those who have died with beautiful music and ceremony.
Just before Christmas, we have a Quiet Christmas – a service for those who want to celebrate Christmas but still have heavy hearts and want to avoid some of the jollity. We will write to you to give you details of both these events.
More help
Please contact the church office to arrange a visit or to find out about funerals. Also do look at the Church of England funerals website for some very helpful information.
Quest Bereavement Group
We meet regularly for tea, coffee and cake, but also go on trips. We sometimes go walking and have been known to go out for a game of skittles and at Christmas we have a meal out together.
If you would like to know more please speak to one of our vicars or wardens or contact the Parish Office