Funerals - Memorial Services -  Services of Thanksgiving

There was a time when the bereaved had very little choice in the kind of funeral that they might have to mark the death of a loved one.  The 21st century has seen a huge rise in the options that are available. 

The Ministers of the Church in Canvey Island seek to be available to respond sensitively in honouring the wishes of all those who are mourning and to mark appropriately the passing of anyone who has died.  In planning a funeral, our Ministers will meet with you in your home or in a meeting room in the St Nicholas’ centre if you prefer.   Funerals range from those attended by just one person to those attended by several hundred people.   Funerals may take place at the crematorium, in church, at the graveside or in the home of the one who has died if particular circumstances require this.    The funeral service may contain music, readings and tributes that reflect the life and personality of the one who has died, and the needs of those who remain.

Many value the idea of the coffin resting in church the night before the funeral and being able to spend quiet time there before the service the following day.  Services may take place without the coffin present if the one who has died has left their body to science; or the body has not been found; or those gathering are not able to travel to the place of the main funeral.  Services may be held some weeks or months after the main funeral if people were not able to attend the actual funeral for whatever reason.  A short service may be conducted at the interment of the ashes in the churchyard, cemetery or crematorium grounds.