St Francis of Assisi, Petts Wood

For it is in giving that we receive.

Funerals
Funeral pic

When a love one dies it can often be a very traumatic time for the family and friends, contacting and dealing with funeral directors is something that most people have never done before.
We hope that St Francis will be able to help you in this sad time.
If you so wish we can put your loved ones name on prayer list and their name will be a part of our daily worship in church, and hopefully you can take great comfort in hearing their name within this setting, alternatively our Vicar Father Stephen can come to your home if you wish, for a more intimate setting for prayers to be said

The funeral service in the Church of England is a church service and has to conform to basic rules. Many families wish the service to be one which celebrates the departed’s life and that can easily be achieved within the bounds of the service.
The Church of England has an arranging a Funeral page to help you, and we linked it to aid you with this

The prime purpose of the service is for us to ask God to care of the departed and to place them in his hands (what are called in the service the Commendation and Committal). We do this in the knowledge that there is nothing better we can do for the departed than to ask their heavenly Father to care for them.

The funeral service can be a very sad occasion but it is a necessary part of the grieving process and it does offer the Christian hope that God loves and cares for each one of us.

Arranging a funeral

Most of the funeral arrangements, including the finances, will be handled by the Funeral Director.
 Many people will visit the Funeral Director first, though if you have a Vicar who you would like to take the service you should contact him as soon as possible, then it will be easier for the Funeral Director and Vicar to liaise

Services can be in church, where they may be a funeral or a funeral Eucharist (‘Requiem Mass’ or communion), followed by a committal at a crematorium or graveside. Alternatively the full service can take place at either a crematorium or cemetery. In either case, the body may be received there the night before so that the departed leaves on their final journey having rested in their spiritual home.

Ashes may be interred in the grounds of St Francis church. If the departed lived in the parish or an adjoining parish they may have the right to be buried in the churchyard of All Saints, Orpington.

At St Francis there are usually several meetings and general contact points between the family and Vicar before the funeral, this gives ample opportunity for the family to ask questions about the service and for the priest to explain what the service might contain.
Where service booklets are to be printed we can provide information which can help with the family’s printing requirements. The family may find it useful to draw up their thoughts about the departed before they meet the Vicar and to have considered what music they would like. When thinking about music it is important to consider how appropriate it may be – not everything we might like to play will do justice to the service and the departed.

We have a qualified florist Zonie who could be of an assistant in helping create or choose the appropriate floral display.
Please click through to  contact points for help

Funeral fees

These can be varied depending on your requirements, below is the  Church of England  fee table for 2022 to assist 
Funeral Table 22