Christians believe that the end of this life on earth is the beginning of a glorious new life in Christ. Anglican funerals try to balance the grief of the living with a celebration of the life of the deceased, and faith in the hope of the resurrection.

If your loved one is approaching death or has died, our clergy team would be honoured to walk with you and support you in this difficult time.

Services

The Anglican Church of Canada offers various forms of service from the prayer books of the church. These services offer different opportunities for family and friends to participate.

The clergy and family together arrange the service structure, readings, music, readers, prayer leaders and other appropriate ways to remember the departed. We will also work closely with funeral directors at all of the funeral homes located within the Parish.

The prayer books assume the presence of the body or cremated remains at the funeral. Services may be held also at the graveside, in a funeral home or in a crematorium in addition to or instead of the service in the church.

Cemeteries

Many of our churches have cemeteries and plots are available for purchase. If you are interested in purchasing a plot at one of our church cemeteries, please contact the church in question, a member of the clergy team, or the office at Holy Trinity Pembroke, and we will connect you with the correct person.

Planning Ahead

Planning our own funerals can feel like a strange exercise, however it can be a wonderful way to think about favourite hymns and passages of scripture that you would like to be read and sung after you are gone. Keeping a list of those personal requests at home and/or at the church is a gift to your family and the clergy and it can be as simple or as detailed as you would like it to be.

The prayer books have some suggested readings, and that list, along with a list of favourite funeral hymns, can be downloaded below.