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Parish Church ofSt Mary the Virgin, Lewisham
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Funerals

Funerals

We are here to help, whether you are a funeral director checking a date or a family who has just lost somebody.

To check availability

020 4630 7051

[email protected]

  • We are glad to take services at crematorium chapels as well as in the church. Please do ask.
  • Any service we take is a Church of England service. If the family would like something else, we will happily point you to somebody who can help.

If you have just lost somebody

We are very sorry. There is no hurry to do anything today, and you do not need to have made any decisions before you ring us.

You do not have to be a churchgoer, and neither did the person who has died. Most funerals we take are for families who have never been to a service here. If you would simply like to talk to a priest, without arranging anything, that is a good enough reason to call.

In practice most families are working with a funeral director, who will speak to us on your behalf about dates. Either way is fine.

Where a funeral can be held

  • In the church, followed by burial or cremation elsewhere.
  • At a crematorium chapel or in a cemetery, with no service in church.

Our churchyard is closed, for burials and for ashes alike. It is full. Burial or the interment of ashes in a cemetery is very much possible, with the service here or at the graveside, and we will help you arrange it — several local cemeteries take both.

Fees

Most of what a funeral costs is the statutory Church of England parochial fee, set nationally rather than by this parish. These are the ones that come up most often. More than one can apply — a service here followed by a cremation, for instance — so please ask us rather than adding them up.

Please ring for the current fees.

Parish fees for . There are other combinations — a service at the funeral director’s premises, or a committal only. Ask and we will tell you exactly what applies. We would always rather talk about cost openly and at the start; nobody should be worrying about it.

Send us an enquiry

If you would rather write than ring. We aim to reply within two to three hours. For a date today, the telephone is still quicker.

We need a telephone number or an email address in one of the two boxes below, or we have no way of coming back to you.

In full, as they would be named at the service.

If you are a funeral director
If you are a member of the family

In your own words is fine. Nothing is held or agreed until we have spoken.

Where you would like the service held, whether there is to be a burial or cremation, hymns the family have asked for — anything at all, or nothing.

Sending this does not fix a date. We will come back to you to arrange one.

This check confirms you are a person rather than a program, so the office is not buried in automated messages. If it will not let you through, please telephone or email the parish office instead — that always works.

Afterwards

We remember those who have died at the Sunday mass, and you are welcome to ask us to pray for someone by name. We also keep an annual commemoration for those buried from this church.

If it would help to talk to somebody in the weeks afterwards, ring the parish office and we will arrange a visit. That offer does not expire.