When a loved one dies, please contact Fr Richard so that prayers may be said as part of our daily worship.
Most arrangements for the funeral service, including finances, will be handled by the funeral director. Many people visit the funeral director first – but it is also helpful to contact Fr Richard as soon as possible. Fr Richard will meet with you before the funeral, to address any questions and to discuss what the service might contain. We can provide templates for service booklets, which can then be personalised and printed.
The service in church may be either a Church of England funeral service, which conforms to a basic structure, while allowing many personal touches in memory of a departed loved one, or a Requiem Mass: these are then followed by a committal at a crematorium or cemetery. Alternatively, the entire service can take place at a crematorium or cemetery. The body of the departed may be received into church the night before. Many families wish to celebrate the departed’s life, and this can be achieved within the service. We ask God to care for the departed, and we place them into His hands, in the knowledge that there is nothing better we can do for our loved one. The funeral service can be a very sad occasion, but it is an important part of the grieving process, and it reminds us of the Christian hope that God loves and cares for each one of us.
Bereaved families are also invited to our annual All Souls’ Mass (around 2 November), to remember those who have died in Christ and whose funerals took place either at St Mary’s, or with St Mary’s clergy.
Ashes may be interred in the memorial garden, subject to eligibility and other conditions. A memorial tablet may then be placed where the ashes have been laid to rest. Please see below, for further information.
The Church of England sets statutory fees for funeral services, which are reviewed annually: in 2024, the following fees apply –
Funeral Service £228 (either in church, or at a crematorium or cemetery)
[Organist £130]
Committal following a service in church £34
Burial of cremated remains £192
Erection of memorial tablet £89
St Mary’s warmly commends the work of Bereavement Care, a local charity providing high-quality bereavement care and support for over 35 years to the London Boroughs of Harrow and Hillingdon (and neighbouring areas), regardless of background.