Censored by the Church Times !

Today ( 26th June 2015) The Church Times published a letter that I sent to them. I got all excited ! Finally a voice from outside of the "club" is heard. Problem is they only published an extract from my letter which didn't contain my reason for writing. My letter was in response to an article last week where there was an inference that Civil Celebrants (and that "notion" of celebrants would include independent clergy), are in it for the money and do not offer pastoral support to the bereaved. I wrote to the author to correct him and had a lovely reply suggesting that I corrected his assumptions by way of a letter to the Church Times. I did just that. However, in what appears to be a colossal act of censorship by the Church Times my letter reads that as a Priest in an independent church who has seen the C of E taking back funerals I actually welcome their approach !!!!!!!!!! They have removed the points I was trying to make in its entirety.

So to publically set the record straight, below is the ACTUAL letter I sent them, along with a screen print of what they felt was suitable censorship ! "Dear Sir, I read with great interest Rev Dr Ian Meredith's article in the Church times - I am a Priest in an independent denomination and also a Funeral Director. As such, many of the services I conduct with my Ministry hat on are very similar to the Civil Celebrant approach except that there are families who welcome the comfort of a clerical collar as well. Of course the inflexibility of some Anglican Clergy has , in part, contributed to a rise in Civil Celebrancy, and although the Church of England's drive to be more "user friendly" in relation to funerals of late has had quite an impact on those of us who are effectively freelance Clergy, I for one, who has chosen to specialise in Ministry to the bereaved, do welcome a sea change as far as the C of E's approach is concerned. I have heard too many horror stories from families upset by the last vicar who took a funeral for their family. I do have to challenge Dr. Meredith's where he states that: "When the civil celebrant pockets the cheque at the close of the service and says goodbye, that is the last that the bereaved will see of him or her, except perhaps at the next funeral." Although it is very clear that there are some Celebrants who are making a very comfortable living from their work, and in order to do so have little time to offer any care after the service, there are equally those who, at their own cost, without the benefits of travel being covered by their parish, continue to offer care and support, in some instances for a very long time. There is also a mindset that I have come across locally that whether Civil Celebrants or "freelance" Clergy, those who work in this field are in some way profiting out of grief. One Priest even told me that I must be "in it for the money "! My own situation is that funeral fees (which are lower than the standard C of E fee) fund the Chaplaincy that I am a part of, pay for fuel, upkeep of car, phone etc etc in order that we can Minister in other areas. I also know of a Celebrant who uses a substantial amount of her "earnings" from fees to fund a variety of local bereavement initiatives. Christopher Morgan"

#ChurchofEngland #Funerals