St Mary Magdalene Stoke Bishop

A memorial table at St Mary Magdalene

St Mary Magdalene Stoke Bishop is, in many respects, a typical suburban Anglican church.  We take very seriously the call to connect with and serve the people of our parish, and one key part of this is our ministry to people who have been bereaved. 

As is the case for many parish churches, we don’t have to try very hard to meet people who have been bereaved – they tend to reach out to us – and often we are able to help families to plan the funeral for their loved one as well as offering support in other ways. 

We’re delighted to have been approved as a Bereavement Friendly Church, but we don’t see what we do as out of the ordinary!  Over many years we have been a church family who reaches out with compassion to people who have suffered loss.  We are able to offer our calm and peaceful building as an open space every day of the week for people to spend time in, on their own or with others.  Those visiting the church find plenty of information available, signposting them to bereavement support and encouraging them to get in touch with one of the St Mary’s ministers if they would value that. 

We have a long-established pattern of hosting a service to Remember Loved Ones, usually in November each year, to which we invite everyone who we have had contact with through our funeral ministry, and people within the church family who have been bereaved.  We’ve received some lovely feedback about these gentle, invitational services. 

We are part of a Mission Area partnership with four other local churches, and we promote activities for one another, such as the Longest Night event on 21 December that often appeals to those who are struggling at Christmas time following a bereavement.  We have run The Bereavement Journey® four times within our Mission Area, with the most recent one being held at St Mary’s.  25 participants attended, and we were able to run it in the church, with four small discussion groups led by an excellent team of facilitators and helpers.  

As a result of this course three people have started coming along to church regularly and are really becoming part of the family.  Others have also joined as a result of having initial contact with the church through the funeral of a loved one. 

It’s been really encouraging to see God at work through this area of ministry and we hope to continue seeing fruit from it in the future.