Taking Funerals seriously
Over 170 clergy, readers, and lay leaders were brought together by the Bishop of Truro, the Rt Revd Tim Thornton at the Royal Cornwall Showground in Wadebridge on Tuesday to hear from Canon Sandra Millar from the Church of England’s national team for Baptisms, Weddings and Funerals.
Following Sandra Millar’s successful “Christening Matters” conference earlier in the year we were interested to hear about research into funerals as well as practical advice and resources to help the church in Cornwall in its funeral ministry.
The Church of England is still a major provider of funerals, in Truro Diocese we offer thousands every year in churches, crematoria and in woodland burial sites, but the picture is changing fast. Sandra Millar challenged the conference to be more confident in this key area of ministry, to invest in high quality resources, and to make the most of the amazing privilege and opportunity that this ministry offers.
Sandra Millar will be back in the spring to lead a day on Weddings, and we are exploring ways to further support this important work that is at the heart of Anglican ministry.
The national church has developed a range of online materials to help parishes and to resource ministers:
