Funerals: Articles

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The Opportunity of Dying Matters Awareness Week
Dying Matters Awareness Week, which takes place in May, raises an opportunity to help parishes and congregations feel more confident about talking about death and dying. Programmes supported by the Diocese of Lichfield range from deanery 'funeral champions' to producing videos and promoting
Open The Opportunity of Dying Matters Awareness Week

Death on the mountains
Follow the link below for a theological analysis of a dramatic story in which an unexpected death turns a holiday into real life, and a priest is asked to work outside normal comfort zones. Read Death on the Mountains
Open Death on the mountains

Being present, being there - live-streaming of funerals
I was in a traditional English market-town church this Sunday, and as I scanned their weekly pew-sheet, I noticed that they had live-streaming of the service on offer. In fact, the vicar drew attention to this right at the beginning, welcoming any who were listening. There didn't seem to be any issue or difficulty...
Open Being present, being there - live-streaming of funerals

Breathing new life into the funeral business
This is an interesting overview of how the funeral business has developed since the Victorians and, from a business perspective, how trends continue to change. The article is from The Conversation, an"independent source of news and views, sourced from the academic and research community.
Open Breathing new life into the funeral business

"Shattered"
Like most vicars I have taken quite a lot of funerals, some straightforward, others complex and challenging. I have also experienced bereavement in my own life and since I often process things through writing about them, I decided to write a short novel about a vicar struggling with his own experiences of bereavement.
Open "Shattered"

Can a Christian have a vocation to be a Funeral Celebrant?
My name is Alan Stanley. Six years ago before I took an early retirement from my dental practice, I had been asking the Lord, 'what next?'. I knew that there was always the probability that people, and especially people in the church, would say 'now that you are retired would you..?'
Open Can a Christian have a vocation to be a Funeral Celebrant?

Dying Matters and GraveTalk
The past few years has seen the beginning of a major cultural shift in our attitudes to talking about death.
Open Dying Matters and GraveTalk

Bishop of Sheffield blog on GraveTalk
The Rt Revd Steven Croft, Bishop of Sheffield, has posted this blog...
Open Bishop of Sheffield blog on GraveTalk

Why our bodies matter!
The funeral of Philip Bradbourn has caused a stir in the press recently. The MEP died just before Christmas and had a cremation service in January. It was reported that there had been a mix up at the mortuary and in fact the body of Philip Bradburn had been taken and was contained in the coffin that should have had Philip Bradbourn.
Open Why our bodies matter!

The Relationship Between Funeral Directors and Clergy
My name is Richard Reakes and I am currently Team Vicar of Bishop's Cleeve in Gloucestershire, but prior to this I was a funeral director for twenty-eight years and ran my family business in Somerset. During that time I served for a while as regional chairman of The British Institute of Funeral Directors.
Open The Relationship Between Funeral Directors and Clergy

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