Organising a Church funeral
If someone you love dies remember that the church is always available. It doesn’t matter if the person who died didn’t come to church or as people often say ‘wasn’t very religious.’ Those who mourn are welcome to come to church and bring the person they love here. Your first point of call will probably be the funeral director you have chosen to take care of the preparations. Speak to them of your desire for the funeral to take place in church and they will contact the vicar who will arrange to come and see you. The vicar is also licensed and available to conduct Christian Funerals at a Funeral Parlour is required.
There are lots of good practical reason for having a funeral here at church. There are no time limits here as there may be with chapels at cemeteries and funeral companies. If the body of the person is to be cremated those who mourn can gather here for a funeral, and then the body can be farewelled and go to be cremated at the end of the service. There is no need to go with the body; the people can remain at the church and have refreshments in the hall should you wish to arrange this. This means that the people who have come to the funeral stay on to be with those who mourn. If the funeral moves off to Springvale or Bunurong Memorial Parks some people won’t go. Others will not come back. There is nothing to be done at the crematorium that has not already been done here at church. When the ashes are ready the family and friends can gather to bury them. If the ashes are being buried here in our Memorial Garden at All Saints Church it's often good to do this after the Sunday Eucharist when people from the parish can easily be there with you.
If the body of the person who has died is to be buried then the gathered friends and family do need to complete the journey and bury the body. After the funeral takes place at the church hopefully all go to the place of burial and then back to the church or family home for refreshments. The important thing I have found is to make it as easy as possible for those who have gathered to stay together and complete the rituals. Part of the ritual of a funeral is the gathering afterward over food and drinks. The tradition of the wake is a necessary part of the journey. Those who mourn are carried and comforted by the people who gather with them both to remember, pray, give thanks and to talk and eat and drink!
There are lots of good practical reason for having a funeral here at church. There are no time limits here as there may be with chapels at cemeteries and funeral companies. If the body of the person is to be cremated those who mourn can gather here for a funeral, and then the body can be farewelled and go to be cremated at the end of the service. There is no need to go with the body; the people can remain at the church and have refreshments in the hall should you wish to arrange this. This means that the people who have come to the funeral stay on to be with those who mourn. If the funeral moves off to Springvale or Bunurong Memorial Parks some people won’t go. Others will not come back. There is nothing to be done at the crematorium that has not already been done here at church. When the ashes are ready the family and friends can gather to bury them. If the ashes are being buried here in our Memorial Garden at All Saints Church it's often good to do this after the Sunday Eucharist when people from the parish can easily be there with you.
If the body of the person who has died is to be buried then the gathered friends and family do need to complete the journey and bury the body. After the funeral takes place at the church hopefully all go to the place of burial and then back to the church or family home for refreshments. The important thing I have found is to make it as easy as possible for those who have gathered to stay together and complete the rituals. Part of the ritual of a funeral is the gathering afterward over food and drinks. The tradition of the wake is a necessary part of the journey. Those who mourn are carried and comforted by the people who gather with them both to remember, pray, give thanks and to talk and eat and drink!
What makes a Christian funeral distinct?
A Christian funeral holds together the grief and reality of death but with the hope of resurrection. When we come together to farewell someone we love it will be an Easter moment. We light the Paschal Candle. This is the candle we light in the darkness of Easter morning as we proclaim that Christ is risen from the grave. We light this Paschal Candle at baptisms and funerals. It is the light of Christ which dispels the darkness of sin and death. As a sign and symbol of this we sprinkle the body with water from the font to remind us that, just as we were joined to Christ Jesus in our baptism, so too were we also baptised into his death; and if baptised into his death then we were baptised with him in his resurrection.
In grief and in hope the church is where we are at home. The place is alight with candles and filled with flowers. It's a beautiful space for us to be - a sacred space. The Lord is present with us and it doesn’t matter whether those who gather are believers or not because God believes in all of us. God is faithful to everyone and reaches out to heal and to comfort through the prayers, through the people gathered and through all the things we do.
In grief and in hope the church is where we are at home. The place is alight with candles and filled with flowers. It's a beautiful space for us to be - a sacred space. The Lord is present with us and it doesn’t matter whether those who gather are believers or not because God believes in all of us. God is faithful to everyone and reaches out to heal and to comfort through the prayers, through the people gathered and through all the things we do.