Would you go toa funeral fair?

jpns-21-01-16-023 GOSP comm anch church

caption: Last years Candlemas service.

By the Rev Andy Norris, Rector of Alverstoke

THE start of a new year is often a time when people look back to the year that has just passed and look forward to what lies ahead, considering their hopes and dreams.

But if you have suffered any kind of loss , for example the death of someone you love or a family breakdown, a new year can also heighten your feelings of grief and pain.

At this time, many of us in Gosport are feeling the deep sadness and grief of losing someone we love. It doesnt just go away - for me personally it built up over time until I talked about it.

At these times, it can help to have a safe place to drop in for a cuppa, a nice cake and a chat with others who are in a similar place.

And thats why we offer Cuppa & Company once a month at St Marys Parish Centre, Green Road, Alverstoke.

Its a space for those who have been bereaved to come together for a cuppa, cake and a chat. For some it is — jpns-21-01-16-023 GOSP comm anch church caption: Last years Candlemas service. By the Rev Andy Norris, Rector of Alverstoke THE start of a new year is often a time when people look back to the year that has just passed and look forward to what lies ahead, considering their hopes and dreams. But if you have suffered any kind of loss , for example the death of someone you love or a family breakdown, a new year can also heighten your feelings of grief and pain. At this time, many of us in Gosport are feeling the deep sadness and grief of losing someone we love. It doesnt just go away - for me personally it built up over time until I talked about it. At these times, it can help to have a safe place to drop in for a cuppa, a nice cake and a chat with others who are in a similar place. And thats why we offer Cuppa & Company once a month at St Marys Parish Centre, Green Road, Alverstoke. Its a space for those who have been bereaved to come together for a cuppa, cake and a chat. For some it is

As diocesan communications officer and in the parish I have been involved in wedding fairs where we meet young couples and try to dispel some of the myths about marrying in church.

There are lots of other stalls informing on wedding cakes, photography, dresses and so on. Great fun and which attracts a fair bit of interest, but a funeral fair?

From the blurb it has a similar approach with stalls on memorials, funeral planning and the like.

It is the second one being held due to the success of a previous event.

I find it rather surprising that there was an audience for something like this. Funerals and death are not things that most people spend time pondering. Weddings, yes, but funerals, no.

Over my ministry I have encountered many different approaches to death and funerals.

There are those who like to think ahead and plan out their final departure.

They go for the funeral plan and a list of hymns, songs music and readings they would like.

It is a strange mix really, to be preparing for something which your family and friends are going to be involved in more than you. It expresses a concentration on this world and little about preparing for the next.

But then there are those who simply want to ignore death as a possibility. There is no conversation about the approaching end, nor crucially what lies beyond it.

I knew of a long married couple who never spoke of matters spiritual and so when one of them died the surviving spouse was possibly the most bereaved person I have ever met as they had fundamentally got nothing to hold on to or help them through the darkness.

I won’t be going to the funeral fair, but I do hope there is somewhere in there an opportunity to think more about what happens to the soul rather than the body.