Opening Statement and Prayer

W E HAVE COME here to this place this morning to mourn a relative, mother, wife, dear friend, to honour a departed friend, to show our sympathy and to give comfort to those who feel the loss most, and for ourselves to meditate on the brevity of life.

Hear the word of God.

As we come to this place, to remember and give thanks for the life of Hazel Church, let us also consider our own life and its meaning, as she has given meaning to our lives. Let us unite our hearts together in prayer.

(silence for personal meditation)

Let us pray.

E TERNAL FATHER, before Whose face the generations rise and pass away; and in Whom we live and move and have our being, by Your holy spirit, reassure us, so that in this brief life our eyes may see the light of Your eternal truth, beyond the shades of earth, and find abundant grace in this our time of need. Hear us, O God of our salvation, for the sake of Jesus Christ, our Lord, Amen.

— The Reverend Ivan Ransom