Funeral Services

For those who have suffered a loss and are in immediate need of planning a funeral service:

Please call the church office, to let the clergy know of your loss. When the office is closed, a recorded message will provide emergency contact information.  In most cases, arrangements are made through a funeral director, who will in turn consult the parish clergy.

A service can generally be planned and held within a week of a death, depending on the availability of the clergy and the church.

The clergy will meet with the family to plan the service, including any music, in accordance with the liturgy provided in the Book of Common Prayer. We commend to you the following description of the burial service of the Church from the Book of Common Prayer (p. 507):

 
“The liturgy for the dead is an Easter liturgy. It finds all its meaning in the resurrection. Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we, too,  shall be raised.

The liturgy, therefore, is characterized by joy, in the certainty that ‘neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord’ [Romans 8:38-39].

This joy, however, does not make human grief unchristian. The very love we have for each other in Christ brings deep sorrow when we are parted by death. Jesus himself wept at the grave of his friend. So, while we rejoice that one we love has entered into the nearer presence of our Lord, we sorrow in sympathy with those who mourn.”

May God bless you in this time of mourning, lighten the burden of grief, and through the gift of grace bring you in due course to wholeness and peace. +

PLEASE NOTE: The clergy are available to all parishioners to discuss funeral arrangements at any time, and are happy to make preliminary plans for a service in accordance with your wishes at a time when you are healthy and able to make choices about the service. The St. Peter’s family is extremely blessed to have the St. Peter’s Columbarium for the interment of the cremated remains of Parish members and their families.