Having a Funeral in Church
If you’ve just lost a loved one, our hearts go out to you. Whether you want a funeral in church, our help with a funeral at a crematorium or cemetery or simply someone to talk to or pray with you, we are here to help.
What do you need to know?
Connected with the Parish
If your loved one lived in the parish he or she is entitled to be buried in the parish church’s churchyard. If not, we have a discretion to allow burial in our churchyard and in most cases we can say ‘yes’, so please speak to us. If you just want a funeral or thanksgiving service in church, with no burial, there is no need to have any connection with the parish. Nor is there any requirement for your loved one to have been baptised, confirmed or indeed to have held any particular set of beliefs in order for their funeral or thanksgiving service to be held in church.
Faith and Belief
Obviously God comes as part of the package in Church. However, we recognise that not everyone shares our beliefs in full. Whilst we hold our faith dear, that same faith urges us to be generous, hospitable and compassionate and accordingly we want to welcome and care for all people, regardless of where they might be on faith’s journey. We believe that each individual is precious in God’s sight and we want to care for you and your loved one without judging or imposing our faith on others.
Consequently, we try to offer as much flexibility as we can within the context of a Christian funeral service to personalise it to your loved one and their family and friends. We want you to feel comfortable in church. We want to honour your loved one and bring comfort and love to those they have left behind. Please speak to us about what you would like and we will do what we can to help.
What should you do first?
Contact our Vicar, Stewart Fyfe on 01931 714620 or by e-mail.
We are also able offer:
- Funerals or Thanksgivings outside church (e.g. in the crematorium, cemetery or a village hall)
- Memorial services
- Burial of cremated remains in our churchyards
- On-going bereavement support
Let us know how we can help.
Find out more
The Church of England’s funerals website is full of useful information and good ideas.
Visit it at: https://churchofenglandfunerals.org