Not everyone knows that they have the right to a funeral in their parish church, even if they and the person who has died have not been church-goers. Nor do practising Christians always realise that they can have a Communion service as part of the funeral.

Our clergy at St Mary's regard the taking of funerals as an important part of their work. They give a lot of time to visiting families, comforting those who are facing loss, finding out what service they want to use and helping them to arrange it.

If one of the clergy is to be asked to take the service, please do this before any other funeral arrangements are made to make sure someone is free and available. Ring the Parish Office on 0191 251 4216 (mornings are best). If we did not know the person who has died, it would help to provide some details, especially if there is to be an address at the funeral.

The funeral director plays a very important part in all these arrangements and will want to know if the funeral is to be in church or if the service is to be taken at the crematorium. Funeral directors know the local clergy, the local cemeteries and the crematoria.

Do have a look at the Church of England website (www.cofe.anglican.org/lifeevents/funerals); it contains a lot of useful information and reflection on funerals and support for families.