Above Image: Elizabeth Wang, T-00216B-OL  ©Radiant Light 2004 www.radiantlight.org.uk 

Funerals at St German's and St Saviour's

Part of our ministry is to be the presence of God in the midst of our local communities and we take seriously the different ways we can be of service to those who are bereaved and have lost loved ones.  As Christians we believe God is with us always and especially with those who are in need.  Our services are founded on deep beliefs and the hope that God is with us and has conquered death because of the death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
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At a Christian funeral we focus on a number of closely related things:
  • we remember with thanksgiving the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, commending to God’s everlasting mercy the person who has died.
    • People often regard the committal at the graveside or crematorium as the climax of a funeral. Christians believe otherwise. For Christians, the real climax is the moment when the deceased person’s family, friends and Church commend them in faith to God’s eternal care.
  • we celebrate all that was good in their earthly life,
  • we express our natural sense of grief and loss,
  • we are reminded of our own mortality

Christian funeral services attempt to keep these various aims in balance and to integrate them into an act of worship which reflects our faith, our experience and our feelings. We express our faith in the risen Christ, remember the person who has died, read from the Bible and say appropriate prayers. Suitable hymns or other music may be included, though they do not have to be.

The ritual actions include the carrying of the coffin into the church or other place chosen for the funeral, the optional setting up of appropriate symbols (of which the paschal candle, the Church’s sign of the light of the risen Christ has particular importance) in the vicinity of the coffin or even upon it, and the burial of the remains of the deceased person. See below about the burial of cremated remains.

Special provision can also be made to assist the private reflection and devotion of those who have been bereaved: at home before the funeral, in church on the eve of the funeral, at home after the funeral. When a child or young person dies, the funeral has a different nature and the prayers and readings will reflect this.

​Since every funeral is different, the Church in Wales provides a very wide range of services. The family is invited to select the one which appears most appropriate to their own needs.
For example:
  • service in church and committal at the grave or crematorium,
  • bringing of the coffin into church on the night before the funeral service which is followed by committal at the grave or crematorium,
  • prayers at home followed by a service in church and committal at the grave or crematorium,
  • the entire service and committal taking place at a crematorium or graveside,
  • private burial or cremation with a subsequent memorial service,
  • the burial of cremated remains in a cemetery or churchyard following a cremation,
  • prayers at home after the funeral service, or on the anniversary of a death,
  • a special celebration of the Holy Eucharist (known as a Requiem) before, during or at some time after the funeral service.
Funeral Fees 2019 :

Ministry Fee - £85  (payable to the officiating minister), committal fee £21*
*  For a committal following a separate funeral service elsewhere, at which a different minister has officiated

Church Fee - £105  (payable to the Church or PCC)

Verger Fee - £40

Organist - £60 



​How do I go about arranging a funeral?
​It is usual in the first instance to consult a Funeral Director, who will advise on all practical aspects of the Funeral, and will then make initial contact with a priest or minister on your behalf, and arrange for all payments which have to be made.  The priest or minister will then visit you to discuss the details of the Funeral and offer pastoral care to you and your family.  The deceased person may have left instructions about their Funeral, either in their Will or separately. If so, their wishes should be made known to the Funeral Director and the priest or minister.




​Readings often used at Funerals:

Among the Bible Readings suggested in the orders of service are:
  • Matthew 5:1-12a (The Beatitudes)
  • John 14:1-6 (I am the Way, the Truth and the Life)
  • John 5:24-29; 6:37-40 (Seeing the Son and believing in him)
  • John 11:21-27 (I am the resurrection and the life)
  • Romans 8:31b-39 (Nothing will separate us from God’s love in Christ)
  • I Corinthians 15:20-26,35-58 (Death, where is your victory?)
  • Revelation 7:9-17 (God will wipe away every tear)
  • Isaiah 61:1-3 (Good news for the broken hearted)
  • Wisdom of Solomon 3:1-9 (No torment will touch them).


Suitable Hymns for use during a funeral service:

There are many suitable hymns. Here is a small selection.

  • Abide with me; fast falls the eventide.
  • All things bright and beautiful
  • As I kneel before you 
  • Guide me, O thou great Jehovah/Redeemer.
  • Here I am Lord
  • How sweet the name of Jesus sounds.
  • How great thou art
  • I watch the sunrise
  • Jesus lives!
  • Lord of all hopefulness, Lord of all joy.
  • Love divine
  • O love that wilt not let me go.
  • On a hill far away
  • Our God Reigns
  • Praise, my soul, the king of heaven.
  • The day thou gavest 
  • The Lord’s my shepherd, I’ll not want.
  • Thine be the glory, risen, conquering Son.