Funerals

I got the opportunity to assist with a funeral in our parish this week. The lovely family had lost a grandfather, and agreed that I could assist the rector in the "proceedings". It was a strange experience - I'm not sure if I enjoyed it or not....

The funeral turned out to be quite big - the grandfather had served with the army, and many of his colleagues turned up. As I was reading part of the lesson, I suddenly thought about the last large funeral I had attended, my father's, and almost broke down mid-sentence. Thankfully I didn't.

I also assisted at the Crematorium, for the commital. I'm glad it wasn't my first time actually leading a service at the crematorium, as there are lots of signs and buttons for the ministers - with warnings in red letters like "Don't press this button until the coffin is meant to go down, you can't stop the process once it starts" and "When this red light flashes, you have gone over time, finish immediately".

It was wonderful to speak to the family again afterwards, and be assured by them that I had helped them in their difficult times. Amazingly, some of our pastoral training became useful and relevant! It was all worthwhile after all.