Using Common Worship: Funerals

A hands-on guide to the Church of England's 'Common Worship' funeral services and the large body of material surrounding them. Common Worship provides material for a number of settings: from prayers with the dying and short forms for use at home before the funeral to the burial of ashes and memorial services.

This guide seeks to offer straightforward and realistic ideas about how to use the services in your church and at the crematorium. Drawing on her parish experience, Anne Horton includes suggestions for a range of local situations, grounded in the thinking behind the new provisions. The new features of the services are set out, highlighting the differences from ASB and BCP.

The introduction by Trevor Lloyd, a member of the Liturgical Commission and of the General Synod Revision Committee working on the services, provides an insight into the preparation of the texts and the reasons why they are presented in this way.

Using Common Worship: Funerals balances practical tips with theological grounding in a way that will enable parishes to make the most of the opportunities of Common Worship as a whole.