Of all the final arrangements you make for that moment when family and friends want to say goodbye, those for planning funeral arrangements are the most complicated. For loved ones, forced to make decisions they neither asked for, nor are equipped to make, under the circumstances, they become the most incredibly difficult, agonizing, stress filled, emotionally devastating, confusing moments of your life.
In developing your final arrangements, it is critical the planning of funeral services and arrangements being carried out on your behalf get correctly interpreted and recorded and safely stored, but immediately accessible to those who you want to carry them out.
To reduce the physical and emotional pain of the loved one's family, it is strongly advised that they engage the services of a professional funeral director. Nothing is too trivial to consider - small details can make all the difference at this stage. A thorough, professional and dignified approach is required at all times.
It is a time to reflect on someone's life which has come to an end as well to commend a loved one to God within the setting of the Christian faith and hope. Here at Holy Cross, Uckfield with St Margaret of Antioch, Isfield and St Michael and All Angels at Little Horsted, we offer a Service of Thanksgiving for the life lived with an emphasise on dignity and with a personal touch which reflects the sorrow of the occasion but also the joy of remembering the life of a loved one. Our Christian faith is the re-assurance that Christ is with us also in the valley of sorrow. The cross is not just an empty symbol but the reminder that Christ himself knows the anguish of pain and sorrow. He is the one who ultimately makes sense of the journey of life. As Christians we believe in that love which changes everything and which through the cross brings forgiveness and fulfilment.
You can make contact with Father John via email or telephone 01825371688 for pastoral support and guidance regarding a funeral. If you would like us to remember a loved one in our weekly prayers, please contact Julia Brown who can add their name to our prayer list.
For further information in relation to bereavement support, please click here.