Our church office is open between 08h000 and 16h00 weekdays and enquiries can be made regarding procedures and expenses. The office ladies will put the family in touch with one of our ministers.
BMC Ministry to the Bereaved
For many years now we have found that our ministry to to folk going through the pain and trauma of bereavement brings people into the life of our church. The purpose of our ministry to grieving families is to bring Jesus into their midst. .The world tells us that time heals everything. This is a lie as time heals nothing,and we know of people who are still in grief 40 or 50 years after losing a loved one. It is Jesus,and Jesus alone,who knows and understands the depths of pain and grief,and who can and does bring healing when He is invited in.
If the sanctuary is not booked and we have a minister or local preacher available we will accommodate anyone wishing to have a funeral or memorial service in our church.
We calculate that only 5-10% of services we have done over the last years have been full funeral services with a service in the church and a grave-side committal ceremony.
By far the majority of services are memorial services followed by a private cremation.
Funeral Service
This can take the form of a service in our sanctuary or in the chapel at a funeral home and thereafter the grave side service at a cemetery.
Cremation Services
This can take place at the Crematorium. These crematoriums have small Chapels and services are often held in them. This is arranged by the Funeral parlour and you must liaise with them. Remember that not all have organs etc. and music is sometimes a problem at these services.
Memorial Services
This is by far the most common kind of service and usually takes place without a casket in the church but in this we follow the desires of the family. When the casket is present for the service it is taken out after the final prayers by pall bearers and placed in the hearse. It is then taken to the crematorium for a private cremation.
Where the casket is not in the church the family sometimes asks the minister or preacher officiating to do the memorial service and just before or just after the service to attend at the crematorium to do the committal prayers.
Please understand that there is no set formula and correct thing to do. We treat the earthly remains with respect but it really is immaterial whether we have a preacher present at the cremation or the body present in the church. The loved one is gone and we do everything we can to make the service meaningful to the bereaved and to bring them to the point of acceptance and peace. This will mean different things for different people. The committal can be done with or without the body in church and it is not necessary then to have a further committal at the crematorium. Many people ask funeral parlours just to proceed with the cremation without anyone present.
The Ashes
The family sometimes ask the church to look after the ashes and this is not always a good thing as we have loved ones stuck away in church cupboards while the family live in denial and refuse to make up their minds what to do with the remains. As part of the process toward acceptance we gently urge the families to make a decision regarding the scattering of the ashes. We have lovely memorial gardens with walls of remembrance at our church and a preacher can assist the family in scattering the ashes during a small service when relevant committal prayers are read.
Wall of Remembrance
We have 2 memorial sites at the church;the one in the small courtyard between foyer and chapel in the centre of the building complex. The other is in the rose garden on the southwest corner of the property facing van Buuren road.
Memorial plaques in the courtyard are of brass and dimension are on the order form. These cost R150 and are ordered through the church office.
In the rose garden the memorial plaques are of polished granite and have dimensions of 300 x 150 mm. These plagues must be uniform and plaques of different dimension and material cannot be placed on this wall. We will also not have reserved places on this wall and the plaques will be placed in a progressive pattern from the centre out. The costs of these granite are in the region of R400.00 and the order and purchase may be arranged through the church office.
