Activities

If you are visiting this section of our site because you would like to arrange a funeral for someone who has just died, or because you have otherwise been bereaved recently, please do accept our condolences for you and the rest of your family.

*Roadmap step 2, 12th April funerals update: Our buildings are currently avalable for funerals for up to 30 mourners. These numbers apply to the whole churchyard as well, so coffin burials or burials of ashes are subject to the same conditions. The total of 30 does not include anyone working at these services. We appreciate that for many families this number is extremely low and makes a very difficult situation even harder, but we hope you understand that we have to do what the government ask of us for everyone's benefit. From 17th May, we expect the limit on funerals to be lifted to allow venues to define their own capacity. For reasons of space with social distancing, we do not expect the capacity of any of our buildings to be much increased, but for funerals and burials of ashes more people will at least be able to gather safely in the churchyard.*

You will need to make contact with a funeral director, and explain to them that you would like a member of our ministry team to take a funeral for you. It is easiest for us if they contact us first to confirm our availability before you make definite plans with them for dates and times at the crematorium, for example.

To arrange a funeral of any kind with a minister from our team, please call the Vicarage on 01508 492305. Someone will reply within 24 hours if you need to leave a message, or you will be directed to an alternative number.

There are a number of options for a funeral service involving a minister. You may choose to have a service in church with burial or cremation before or afterwards, or you may opt for a service at the crematorium only. We often conduct funerals at Earlham, St Faith's, and Waveney crematoria. If the person who has died lived in one of the villages, or had a very long-standing connection with the village in the past, or was a regular member of one of the churches, we would offer a funeral service in the church as a matter of course. Please call us if you would like to inquire about a funeral in church in any other case. We would also gladly conduct a crematorium funeral for anyone who lived or died in one of the villages.

There is space in the churchyards both for coffin burials, and the interment of ashes. The Diocese of Norwich churchyard regulations allow for the burial of anyone who either lived in the village, or died in the village. We will normally allow for the burial in the churchyard of anyone with a longstanding personal or family connection with the village,  or who was a regular member of the churches. If someone has a relative buried in an existing grave, where there is space for a further burial, we would always be prepared for a burial to take place, whether the funeral takes place here or elsewhere. Please do get in touch if you have any concerns regarding burials.

We do our best to follow up everyone who lives in the village or fairly locally, whom we have helped with a family funeral recently. Once a year we conduct a bereavement service, where we particularly invite those who have lost loved ones in the last few years to join us, though anyone is welcome. To be included on the list of those invited, or to confirm that you still are, please email admin@venta-group.org. Please get in touch with us if you are local and would like someone from the church to visit: this applies whether or not we helped you with the funeral service.

We often receive applications for memorials in the churchyard for those who have died. We advise you to contact a funeral director or stonemason who can work within the Diocesan guidelines, which you can consult here. You are more than welcome to get in touch with us too.

Lastly, people sometimes get in touch with us because they are making a plan for their own funeral, or that of loved ones, often many years before they expect it to happen. If there are any questions we can help you answer, we would be really pleased to offer some advice, and suggest you email admin@venta-group.org.