St. John the Evangelist
280 St. James Street
London, ON N6A 1X3
Phone: 519-432-3743
Email: office@stjohnslondon.ca
FUNERALS
FAITH, HOPE AND LOVE
Funerals provide an important opportunity to celebrate the life of the deceased and to say goodbye. As Christians, funerals are the time when we remember the hope of eternal life with those we love. The Priest's ministry is to lead the bereaved into and through the rites of the Church where the voice of the Gospel can be heard with healing power and clarity. As a people of faith, we know that the pain and loss of death must not be minimized or ignored. St. John's congregation promises to do its best to support you in any way needed. To learn more about funerals, you can read our Funeral Handbook found in the Resouces below.
The power of faith, hope and love ...
BEREAVEMENT
When someone close to us dies, whether at the end of a long illness or without warning, we are deeply affected. Often we are in pain and have searching questions about the meaning of life, about death, and about our faith. At this time the Anglican Church offers support in your bereavement and a hope which points beyond death to resurrection and a new life.
A funeral is used to mark the end of a person's life here on earth. Family and friends come together to express grief, give thanks for the life lived and commend the person into God's keeping. These can be a small, quiet ceremony or a large occasion in a packed church.
Everyone is entitled to either a burial service (funeral) or to have their ashes buried in their local parish cemetery by their local parish priest regardless of whether they attended church or not. Because the Church is a caring community, it knows something of the hurt felt when a member of the family dies. Death may have been preceded by a long and draining illness. It may have come suddenly. The deceased may have been young or old. The hurt is there, and the Christian Community is eager to ease something of that hurt.
The Church lives in hope because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ and we see a sense of victory underlying death. Both the hurt and the hope find expression in the Church's rites at the time of death and after. Our priest will assist you in the planning of the funeral that will give thanks to God who is the Lord of the dead and the living. He/She will do everything possible, in consultation with you, to help in making the funeral service a dignified expression of caring love and Christian hope.
The Raising of Lazarus by Carl Heinrich Bloch. (1834 - 1890) He was born in Copenhagen, Denmark and studied there at the Royal Danish Academy of Art (Det Kongelige Danske Kunstakademi) under Wilhelm Marstrand . Bloch's parents wanted their son to enter a respectable profession - an officer in the Navy. This, however, was not what Carl wanted. His only interest was drawing and painting, and he was consumed by the idea of becoming an artist. He went to Italy to study art, passing through the Netherlands, where he became acquainted with the work of Rembrandt, which became a major influence on him.
UNDERSTANDING LOSS & GRIEF
Loss is a part of life. It comes in many forms and everyone reacts differently. Living with loss can be hard, especially in the beginning. Any meaningful loss requires us to cope and imagine a new, changed future. Even when the change is positive, like moving away to start college, it can be hard at first to leave the familiar behind and embrace a new start. Canadian Mental Health Association
Where I am you may be also
Funeral Liturgy
Where sorrow and pain are no more
In death the body ceases to function. Nevertheless the Christian faith asserts that life goes beyond what we observe. We do not consider death as an end because of our belief that Jesus Christ overcame death to live again. We are promised in the Bible that through the resurrection of Jesus we may anticipate life after death for ourselves and others. Society avoids talk of dying and death and we are often ill prepared for the ultimate stage in living. However our Christian experience teaches us the power of faith, hope and love. After death, life continues for both the deceased and the survivors — although in a separate and different way for each.
At St. John’s we strongly believe in serving and supporting the community. As a result, in addition to weekly worship, a major part of our Christian ministry includes volunteerism and outreach activities. In the past we have supported causes in London and around the world touching on issues including poverty, social justice, children’s issues and community health.
© 2020 stjohnslondon.ca
At St. John’s we strongly believe in serving and supporting the community. As a result, in addition to weekly worship, a major part of our Christian ministry includes volunteerism and outreach activities. In the past we have supported causes in London and around the world touching on issues including poverty, social justice, children’s issues and community health.
© 2020 stjohnslondon.ca
The Communion of the Apostles (La communion des apôtres): James Tissot, French, 1836-1902, From the portfolio/series, The Life of Our Lord Jesus Christ (La Vie de Notre-Seigneur Jésus-Christ) Opaque watercolour over graphite on gray wove paper. Painted in France 1886-1894/ Image: 9 7/16 x 13 1/2 in. (24 x 34.3 cm) Sheet: 9 7/16 x 13 1/2 in. (24 x 34.3 cm) Rom the European Art Collections. ACCESSION NUMBER 00.159.223
Establishing the sacrament of Communion—in which the bread and wine of the Passover feast come to symbolize the body and blood of Christ—Jesus himself distributes the bread to each disciple, suggesting the intimacy each of them shared with him at this solemn moment. For the artist, this event marked not only the apostles’ liturgical initiation but also the beginning of Christ’s church on earth and the establishment of its most important tenets and rituals.
