A reverend has told how vicars are seeing ‘immeasurable heartache’ among grieving families who cannot have proper funeral services due to the coronavirus.
Kim Mannings, 30, the curate at Prescot Parish Church in Merseyside, said relatives are suffering through having to limit the number of family members at funerals.
The services can only be held at crematoriums or gravesides – not churches – and only immediate family members can attend while abiding by social distancing.
Reverend Kim Mannings, pictured with Reverend John Taylor, the Prescot Parish Church vicar
Reverend Kim Mannings is the curate at Prescot Parish Church in Merseyside (file picture)
And Reverend Mannings told Sky News: ‘Normally when you go to visit a family who are bereaved, you go to their home, you shake their hands, you sit down in their living rooms, you listen as stories are told of the person who they loved so much.
‘You pray for them in person and you make the promise that you’ll make the service as fitting a goodbye as possible. As perfect as possible.
‘And actually I can’t make that promise right now, I can’t make the promise that the service will be as perfect as possible because it won’t.
‘You’re having to tell grieving families that they can’t have flowers. That they can’t have more than ten people at the service. They can’t have the service in a church. That some relatives perhaps shouldn’t be present because they’re high-risk.
Reverend Kim Mannings, 30, told Sky News how relatives are suffering through having to limit the number of family members at funerals, which is causing ‘immeasurable heartache’
Mourners spaced out for social distancing at a funeral at a burial ground in Chislehurst, South East London, for Ismail Abdulwahab, 13, who died after testing positive for coronavirus
‘When you look around and there’s key people missing there at the graveside. We’re just witnessing families fall apart. We’re just witnessing immeasurable heartache.
‘And whilst I might believe with all of my heart that death is not the end, that Jesus walked among the mess and the death of this world and conquered death forever, we know that it really hurts now, that people are really hurting now.
‘And it’s those families who I will really, really be praying for this night.’
Mrs Mannings, who is married to pianist Stephen, 36, is a former secondary school religious education teacher who was ordained a priest in Liverpool last year.
The Bishop of Gloucester, the Right Reverend Rachel Treweek, has told how funerals are ‘going to be different for the foreseeable future’
While weddings were banned when the lockdown was brought in on March 23 and all churches were ordered to close, funerals are still allowed to take place.
However they are subject to strict limits on numbers present and social distancing rules, with only the partner, parents and children of the deceased allowed to attend.
No wake or gathering should be now held following any funeral, and this should be scheduled for a later date – along with any larger memorial service in the future.
The Church of England has also issued recommendations on using technology to capture the event for those who are unable to be there in person.
Speaking about funerals last month, the Bishop of Gloucester, the Right Reverend Rachel Treweek, said: ‘When someone we love dies, it is a time of great sadness.
‘Funerals are significant events to mark the end of a person’s life here on earth, and family and friends come together to express grief, give thanks for the life lived and commend the person into God’s keeping.
‘As we adapt to the threat of Covid-19 in our society the nature of funerals is having to change because we all need to be keeping people safe in line with government guidelines.
‘However, while funerals are going to be different for the foreseeable future we remain committed to offering pastoral and spiritual support as we share the love and hope of Jesus Christ.’