Besides family funerals, today was the first funeral that I have taken part in where I have actually met the deceased beforehand. The funerals I have been involved in have been parish funerals, where the family may have had limited contact with the church, and while the deceased may have visited the church at some point, they haven't been there during my tenure.
Simon was different. It was actually during my first supervision session at the manse that there was a knock at the door. Simon's had just moved into the care home down the street, and she wondered if we could meet with her to help prepare Simon's funeral.
And so later that day I met Simon. We talked about the Six Nations matches with the optimism that only two Scotsmen can use when talking about sport. He wanted to have the chance to see the local team, but that was weather permitting.
When it actually came to write his funeral tribute, it was easier having a face and a personality to link to the stories that are you hear third party. I knew he had a full life, and it was easier that other tributes I had written.
The funeral was conducted with my supervisor doing the preliminaries, and me doing the rest, but it was only afterwards that I realised that I hadn't introduced myself or been introduced. After the service, a man approached me and asked how long I had known Simon. I had to tell him that I had only met him a couple of times. HE told me that the tribute came across as if I had known him well, although I confessed that was mainly due to the incredible set of notes I had been given.
Tonight, it's a session meeting. Parish life continues.
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