If you would like to arrange a wedding, service, funeral or baptism please contact Sharon Goble on 01608 682 282 or John Horton on 01789 459241 or email admin@stourdene.org.
Baptism (aka Christening) is open to all and free! Whether you are parents wanting a baptism for your child, or an adult thinking about baptism for yourself, we look forward to journeying with you in Christian faith and welcoming you into God’s family, the Church.
It makes most sense for families bringing their children for baptism to do so in the church where they will be easily able to continue to worship. At Stourdene we would welcome you with open arms!... and we work hard at making our pattern of worship as all age friendly as possible with our most user-friendly services for families being either called Family Worship or All Age Worship.
If you would like to find out more and make plans for the baptism of you and/or your child, contact us and we would be pleased to arrange to meet with you.
Please also see our links for confirmation and Christianity Explored.
Confirmation is a wonderful opportunity to own the Christian faith for yourself and express your belonging and calling to live a life of faith following Jesus’ way. Confirmation offers opportunity to really think through what it means to be a disciple of Jesus and you are invited to prepare for a special service when the Bishop lays hands on you and prays for you to be filled with the Holy Spirit, empowering you in your discipleship. If you have been considering confirmation or would like to begin to, we look forward to you contacting us.
One of the ways you might prepare for confirmation would be to attend our Christianity Explored course.
The clergy are most often contacted through the funeral directors who are working with families to make arrangements for funerals, thanksgivings and celebration of life. If you would like immediate support in your bereavement, or would like to talk through your funeral plan, then please do not hesitate to contact the clergy team.
Use this link for the Church of England for helpful advice and resources to help you plan a funeral or similar. The Church of England sets fees for services which are reviewed annually.
Burial of Ashes (aka Internment of Cremated Remains)
When you are ready to reach another point of closure, you might want to arrange for a burial of ashes in one of our churchyards. You can arrange this through the funeral directors, or by contacting the clergy team or churchwardens. There is a fee for this which is set annually by the Church of England.
Churchyard Regulations for Memorial Stones
Churchyards are shared public spaces and for this reason there are regulations which limits the choice of stone, colour, size and lettering of memorial stones. Families apply for memorial stones through the stonemasons to our administrator and the Rector signs agreement for all those applications which are within the guidelines. If the request is outside of those regulations then there are still possible avenues to apply for your preferences which are then looked at by the Diocesan Registrar.
It is always a very great privilege to be involved with people at the special moments of their lives