Funeral Considerations

Our extensive experience enables us to arrange for:

  • A funeral locally
  • A funeral away any distance
  • A funeral abroad
for a person who has:-
  • died locally
  • died away
  • died abroad
It is advisable to consult with us at an early stage in order to decide upon the options available, particularly
if the circumstances appear difficult or complicated.
You need to decide on Cremation or Burial.

Cremation

We attend to the additional documentation which is required for a Cremation, any fees payable
on your behalf being itemised on the final account.
Most Crematoria have adequate facilities for a full funeral service in pleasant surroundings - often with facilities to sing hymns - although you may prefer a Church service is held before going to the Crematorium.

Points to Consider

Crematoria in this area are situated at Vale Royal, Altrincham, Warrington, Macclesfield, Crewe, Chester, Manchester and Stockport. Seating is limited at some of these and time constraints should be considered if the service is to be held solely at the Crematorium chapel.
A short committal ceremony can often be more private if non-family mourners attend at church only.  The committal at the Crematorium can be held prior to a service in Church allowing for the family to remain with mourners afterwards.
We can collect cremated remains from the crematorium for you and hold them safely until a decision is made about their final resting place.  The crematoria offer Gardens of Remembrance where ashes can be scattered at no extra charge and also chargeable private plots where memorials can be placed.
It is usual for an appointment to be made in order to witness the final resting place of the remains.

Burial

We arrange with the appropriate authorities for the purchase and opening of a grave for the Burial.  In this area we are served by Public Cemeteries offering traditional, lawn and woodland graves and some Churchyards where Burial is still available.
Public Cemeteries
Everyone has the right to purchase a grave in a Public Cemetery, although non-residents of the Borough are sometimes required to pay double or treble fees, dependent upon local bye-laws.
Available space in existing graves can be used with the grave owner's authority.   A transfer of ownership declaration will be required if the grave owner has passed away.
Churchyards
A Churchyard which still accepts burials is known as an Open Churchyard. Usually there are no grave deeds; the Church registers being the statutory records.
A Churchyard which no longer accepts burials is known as a Closed Churchyard.
Those eligible to request a Burial in an Open Churchyard are:-
  1. Residents living within the parish boundaries.
  2. Regular attenders at the Church, whose names appear on the Church Electoral Register but who do not necessarily reside within the parish boundaries.
  3. Others, including temporary residents, who die within the parish boundaries.
  4. Anyone wishing to use available space within an existing family grave and who has the permission of the nearest relatives of the person already buried there.

Points to Consider

  1. Only two of our local public cemeteries have a Chapel where a small funeral service may be conducted though other venues such as hotels may be willing to provide facilities.
  2. Although possible, it is unusual to conduct a grave side service, the customary procedure being to use a local Church for the service and then proceed to the cemetery.
  3. It is quite acceptable to use a person's regular Church for the service and then proceed to another Churchyard for the burial.
  4. A grave that is full with burials may still be available for cremation caskets in a Cemetery or Open Churchyard.

 

A religious or non-religious funeral service

A Christian Service

The Christian funeral service centres around a message of God’s love and hope, that you and your loved one will be reunited after death in a place free from pain and suffering. Anglican funeral services may also emphasise the need for love and support within your community. The person who has died does not have to have been a member of the Church and neither does the person arranging the funeral. A member of the clergy will take the funeral of anyone who lived within their local parish.
A Church of England service is generally structured to include hymns, prayers, a sermon and funeral readings. Typically a minister will preside over the service and lead mourners in prayer.  The funeral service may also include a eulogy or speech from friends and family members. The Church of England is open to personalising the funeral service to reflect the character of your loved one, whether that be through special music, readings or telling stories about their life.
Catholic beliefs differ in that they express the Christian hope in eternal life and the resurrection of the body on the last day.  The funeral rites are not “a celebration of life,” as they are referred to sometimes, but a privileged opportunity to return to God the gift of the deceased, hoping to usher them into paradise with the aid of our prayers.  
The Church encourages Catholics to have a funeral Mass, also known as a Requiem Mass because it includes Holy Communion. It therefore has at its heart the commemoration of Christ’s death and resurrection.
If the person who has died was a practising Catholic, it is likely they would have wanted a funeral Mass in their parish church. In some parishes, funerals are celebrated at a regular weekday Mass and are part of the life of the parish.  The Requiem Mass is more formal and structured than a church of England funeral and can last up to 1 hour.
Methodist beliefs are slightly different.  Mortal life is understood as a gift from God, and when a Methodist dies he or she is taking a step closer to eternal life with God. Many Methodists believe that when Christ comes back to earth the dead will be resurrected, as Christ died and was resurrected.  Similar to a Church of England funeral service, a Methodist funeral will normally consist of a Bible Reading of your choice, a religious address, a tribute to the deceased, 2 hymns of your choice and prayers including the Lord's Prayer.

 

A Non-religious Service

Today non-religious ceremonies and memorial services are fairly common.  Nearly half the UK population classifies themselves as ‘non-religious’, according to research and therefore are more likely to opt for ‘celebration of life’ ceremonies than a religious send-off when they die.
Humanist funerals offer a personal and fitting way to say goodbye to those who have lived without religion.  Humanist funerals bring people together to express sadness at the loss but also to celebrate the life lived. They focus sincerely and affectionately on the person who has died, paying tribute to the connections they made and left behind and the way they lived their life.
What type of ceremony you choose is entirely up to you. And since funerals themselves have no legal status, humanist funerals – like all others – can be held in a variety of places, although in practice most are held in crematoria, cemeteries or woodland burial sites. 
Many people, though not being church goers, have some underlying faith and as Humanist funerals are strictly non-religious, this might not be the right fit. Therefore a balance of content is more appropriate with the majority of the service centring around the deceased's personality and achievements, together with a favourite hymn or some short prayers.  We have contact with several "Celebrants" in our area who independently conduct funerals and memorials with your input and supervision and offer a greater degree of flexibility which may help you find ways to accurately capture the essence of the person.