Our vicar Rev Carey Saleh is currently on Annual Leave.

During this time we hope that the following will be able to answer some of your enquiries.

Restrictions remain in place on how we can offer ministry especially in gathered worship in our church buildings. Please bear with us as we find our way forward in best supporting you and our Parishes.

Preparing for re-opening our buildings.

During the lock-down we have not been able to worship in our church buildings. We have been worshiping regularly via prepared video link.

These are available on our Facebook page.

We also pray for all in our Benefice and remember you and your loved ones as we light a prayer candle at the beginning of our services on Wednesday and Sunday.

Please know that you are held in our thoughts and prayers.

We’re currently looking at the risk assessments in detail as we move to re-open. At present we are looking to open St Michael's in September for times of private prayer and then move into joint services for the Benefice of Stourport and Wilden by worshiping together at St Michael's in the first instance within the required guidelines.

We have set up St Michael's according to the guidelines keeping us two meters apart and have assessed that this would enable 30 people, including couples to be present in the church for any occasion, including private prayer or gathered worship.

So it is a work in progress.

Churchyards:

We need to be mindful that anything placed in our churchyards is in keeping with the guidelines of the Church of England and permitted by the Chancellor of the Diocese. This is not to make things difficult but to ensure that we preserve an appropriate atmosphere in keeping with Christian faith and burial in consecrated ground; to keep as much access between the graves as possible – kerbs for example are no longer permitted; and to maintain the well-being of the eco systems and wild life in the churchyard.

Artificial flowers and artificial grass, windmills and balloons cause danger to the wild-life and are not permitted in a Churchyard.

Trees, benches or memorials of any kind (other than a permitted headstone where someone is buried) cannot be placed in either of our churchyards or the church garden. For headstones or plaques in the ashes area please send an application form which I will respond to on my return.

There is often confusion in Stourport about the ground beyond the green cabin next to St Michael's Churchyard.

The area of ground through the gate by the green cabin is not part of St Michael's Churchyard but is Stouport Council Cemetery.

We don’t keep any records of burial in Stourport Cemetery.

Please also be aware that the guidelines of what is permitted in the cemetery differs from what is permitted in the Churchyard.

Searches for graves within Churchyard can be quite a long and complicated process.

There is a fee set by the Church of England for any search for graves. In the past we have waived that fee but with the number of graves we have and the number of quite extensive searches we are asked to do we now need to charge that fee.

Until our church buildings are fully open please bear with us on searches for graves until we can access our records.

Funerals

At present we are not open for funerals in our church buildings so funerals over August and at least early September continue to be at the Crematorium or a graveside service of burial. Your funeral director will know how to contact our ministry team.

Memorial/Thanksgiving services

We are having enquiries about memorial/thanksgiving services and we will be planning these in the future. As memorial services are usually requested because during lock-down there not everyone was able to attend the funeral of a loved one who would have liked to, it is still not quite time to be booking memorial/thanksgiving services because there is still a restriction on numbers and the way we are able to worship. Singing of hymns for example is still not advised. So please bear with us.

Burial of Ashes

If someone lived or died in the Parish of All Saints, Wilden or St Michael and All Angels, Stourport then their ashes may be buried in our churchyards in the area set aside for the burial of ashes. There is a charge for the burial of ashes set by the Church of England and paid to the PCC. This charge is for permission for burial. It does not purchase the plot (the same as in the case of full burial)

If a member of the deceased’s family is already buried in the churchyard then their ashes may go in the existing plot rather than in the separate area for ashes even if they did not live in the parish at the time of their death. The same charges apply.

If would like to talk about burial of ashes of your loved one then please ask your funeral director to get in touch with Rev Carey Saleh once she is back from Annual Leave; or if you have the ashes yourself and are not coming via a funeral director then please email her at [email protected] She will reply on her return from annual leave.

Baptisms – You will understand that many baptism services that had been booked for the first half of 2020 had to be cancelled because of the lock-down. Restrictions remain in place and as we come out of lock-down we are contacting those families in the first instance to re-book their own services.

Before booking any baptism service we like to meet you and talk with you about what it means to have your child baptised and the promises of faith that you will be making. Usually this happened by pre-arranged appointment with our Vicar.

If you are interested in talking about your child’s baptism – or your own as an adult – then please email her at [email protected] and on her return from annual leave she will contact you to arrange this initial meeting. Please be aware however that social distancing and a restriction on numbers will remain in place for some time to come.

Weddings – We would be delighted to talk to you about getting married in the Benefice of Stourport and Wilden. Please be aware though that it isn’t simply a case of booking a venue over the phone. Our Vicar would like to meet you to talk about the legal, spiritual and practical aspects of planning and celebrating your marriage in the Church of England. She will be happy to talk to couples about getting married at either of our churches on her return from annual leave but cannot book dates (or even pencil them in) until that conversation has taken place. This is usually by appointment at our Parish office evening. If you would like to make an appointment and begin the conversation then please email our Vicar on [email protected] She will reply on her return from annual leave.

At present banns of marriage are not being read in churches so couples need to obtain a common licence to enable you to get married in Church. There are criteria for getting married in any particular church such as living in the parish or having a connection such as baptism or confirmation. Rev Carey Saleh will explain these with you in full.

If you have been married before and your previous marriage was dissolved then Carey will need a pastoral conversation with you about remarrying in Church following divorce.

Please understand that we cannot book a marriage service until your decree absolute is final.

Booking of St Michael's Parish Room

At present we are not open for bookings of our parish room. We will be reviewing this is September.