Funerals

A funeral is used to mark the end of a person’s life here on earth. Family and friends come together to give thanks for the life lived, express grief and commend the person into God’s keeping. Funerals can be small, quiet ceremonies or large occasions in a packed church.

Everyone who lived in our parish is entitled to a funeral service followed by burial in the churchyard or to have their ashes buried in the churchyard regardless of whether they attended church or not. We also conduct funeral services in church followed by cremation, or services at the crematorium chapel for our parishioners.

Funeral arrangements

The first step in arranging a funeral is to contact your chosen funeral director. They will then make all the administrative arrangements for you, liaising with our parish office. The Vicar will meet you to arrange details of the service, including readings, music and the order of service. He will want to talk with you to build up a picture of your loved one’s life.

Churchyard memorials

After burial the grave will be marked with a simple wooden cross for six months to allow time for the ground to settle. After this a permanent memorial may be placed on the grave. The Church of England only allows certain memorials in its churchyards so you must check with our parish office before ordering any memorial to ensure that it meets the conditions here.  Anyone who wishes to be buried in our Churchyard must agree to abide by these regulations.

Book of Remembrance

All Saints’ has a Book of Remembrance. Details here.

Burial of Cremated Remains (Ashes)

Arrangements for the burial of ashes may be made directly with the Parish Administrator or through the funeral directors. Ashes may be buried in the churchyard, in family graves or along certain pathways where a memorial stone may be placed, or in the garden of remembrance. It is also possible to place an engraved plaque in memory of your loved one in the memorial wall in our Garden of Remembrance. Please contact the Parish Administrator for details.

Bereavement group

Following a funeral arranged through All Saints’, one of our Bereavement Visitors will make contact and offer to make a visit. Some people who have been bereaved like to meet and share with a support group from time to time. The bereavement group meets monthly (the last Friday of each month at 2pm in our church hall) to offer support to those recently bereaved.

If you would like to consider this, please telephone one of our Lay Ministers, Pamela Mercer (01689 821171).

Each year, at the end of October or the beginning of November, All Saints’ holds a Memorial Service at 3 pm on a Sunday afternoon. We invite all families bereaved in the previous year but all are welcome to attend this service where we remember the lives of those we see no more and pray for God’s blessing on all who mourn.

We can also advise on the availability of bereavement counselling in our area. A bereavement leaflet, detailing where counselling help may be obtained, is given to families at the time the funeral is arranged.