Top Note Ceremonies at your service
with Steve Pritchard-Jones
A Civil Funeral Ceremony is a respectful and appropriate event to honor and celebrate the life of your loved one. It is a unique, personal tribute that reflects the wishes of both the family and the deceased.
Each funeral or celebration of life ceremony is tailored to be memorable and fitting. To achieve this, I dedicate time to understanding you and your family, gathering details about your loved one. I collaborate with you to select music, readings, poems, songs, and any props or regalia that will help tell their story on the day. The service can be entirely secular, but if you prefer to include hymns and prayers, they can be incorporated as well.
On the day of the funeral or celebration of life, I will be there to welcome you and guide you through this emotional occasion with empathy.
Together, we will create a compassionate service where everyone can freely express their emotions. I will feel honored to have been part of such a fitting and special tribute to your cherished loved one.
Masonic Funeral
The Masonic Funeral Service and the Graveside Address are beautiful pieces of literature. It’s simple and straight forward and will touch the hearts of everyone present, Masons and non-Masons.
A Masonic funeral is an option for Freemasons at any of the three levels in a Masonic Lodge - Entered Apprentice, Fellow Craft, and Master Mason.
What sets Masonic funerals apart are the rituals, the focus, and the emphasis on inclusion. Masonic practices don’t claim to be a religion or a faith tradition. Though much of their ritual is of a religious context, it’s not referred to as a faith. This allows members of a lodge to practice their own religion.
A masonic service will focus on what the deceased did with the time he was given on earth and prompts people to engage with death in a rational, thoughtful manner.
The rituals and wording set Masonic funerals apart in most people’s minds. If you weren’t a member of a lodge, or familiar with their customers, a masonic funeral may appear unusual to you.
Rituals are an important way to commemorate someone’s individuality. They also provide closure for mourners. In this case, it allows Freemasons to die as they lived, within a tradition of brotherhood love, relief and truth.
The words spoken at a Masonic funeral come from years of developing Masonic tradition. Of course, needs change as time passes by, and their traditions reflect that.
One of the most important funeral rites is the lambskin apron. It takes the place of a casket flag in Masonic funerals. It’s draped over the deceased’s casket and treated with the utmost respect as a sign of his Masonic membership.
One of the most important Masonic funeral customs is committal because it allows Freemasons to commit the deceased’s soul to God. But the words used also focus on committing the soul to their resting place. This graveside emphasis on eternal rest is comforting, especially to those left behind.
For further information - Click here to read my Blog about Masonic Funerals
Feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions.
The Last Post
I have over 35 years’ experience of playing the trumpet, cornet and bugle all over the UK and Europe. I have performed The Last Post at War Cemeteries in France and Belgium.
The bugle call, the “Last Post” is probably one of the most emotional moments you will experience and as a past member of the Territorial Army (Light Infantry), I totally understand its significance to both serving and retired Military personnel as well as retired members of the Emergency Services, and their families.
I perform with professionalism and dignity and if the Last Post is required as part of the celebrant offer, there is no additional charge.
There is a charge if I’m booked only play the Last Post, and I will liaise with the family, funeral director or another celebrant, to ensure that it all runs without a hitch.
If required, I'm able to perform "Sunset" for the Funeral Services of ex-Royal Marines and the Cavalry "Last Post" and "Reveille" for ex-Cavalry/Royal Artillery personnel.
