Dimittis3
The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those
who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial
and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours
now and for ever.
Amen.
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those
who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever.
Amen.
Prayers of Offering and Farewell
Any or all of the following prayers may be said. Or the minister may use other prayers which enable those present to entrust themselves to God’s mercy and keeping.
Loving God, giver of life,
all that we are and hold
have been on trust from you.
What you have given to us
we return to you.
When you bring us to judgement,
bless all that has been good,
put right and forgive all that is wrong.
Receive N into your eternal presence
where you are the light and joy of all your saints.
Make death the gateway to life,
and raise us to the fullness of salvation.
Give us grace to let go of those things
to which we must no longer cling;
and teach us in releasing each other
to know ourselves held by you;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Go forth N (Christian soul) on your journey from this world,
in the love of God the Father who created you,
in the mercy of Jesus the Redeemer who suffered for you,
in the power of the Holy Spirit who keeps you in life eternal.
May you dwell this day in peace,
and rest in the presence of God.
Amen.
A New Zealand Prayer Book4
God of all ages,
of all that is – seen and unseen,
in our darkness let your light blaze
that in our loss we may yet be found.
Your Son promised
that he would lose nothing that you had given him.
You hold N, as you hold us,
in the love of our Saviour Jesus Christ
who draws us now to you
and in whose name we pray.
Amen.
Blessing
The Lord bless you and watch over you;
the Lord make his face to shine upon you,
and be gracious to you;
the Lord look kindly upon you, and give you peace.
Celebrating Common Prayer5
Reception of the Body into Church
Pastoral Note
In death the Christian comes home to the household of faith. The assembly gathers to greet one of their own in prayer and worship.
This service reminds us that we return to Christ into whose death we are baptized. It reminds us that we return to Christ who in bread and wine feeds us with his body and blood.
It may be appropriate to bring the body into church on the evening before the funeral. The coffin may stand either by the place of baptism or by the holy table. The first is a reminder of our birth by water and the Spirit; the second is a sign that those who received Christ there in bread and wine are now received by Christ into the eternal presence of God.
More Christian traditions are discovering the value of this practice. We commend the service as a means of reminding the congregation that the death of a Christian is the gateway to God’s eternal presence. In marking death in this way, we recall a member’s place in the congregation of God’s people in heaven and earth. At the same time we remind ourselves that Christian worship week by week is a sharing in the worship of ‘angels and archangels and all the company of heaven’.
This rite adapts the early Christian practice of a funeral procession. In this way the journey of faith is recalled and the goal of Christian pilgrimage reaffirmed.
Where there is a procession, the coffin may be taken to the place of baptism before it is brought to the Lord’s Table or other focal point.
Symbols
