SHOREHAM CHURCHYARD

NEWS ON THE CHURCHYARD 

Following another Churchyard Tidy Up session at the weekend, a number of ceramic objects, stones and other memorial objects have been removed from a few of the graves.Additional objects of this sort are not permitted under Churchyard Regulations.They can also be dangerous (and time consuming to move), for the different people who maintain the churchyard. The objects that have been removed have been left on the platform to one side of the Lych Gate, if you wish to retrieve them. Thank you for your understanding and support in helping to look after the Churchyard, to keep it a safe, fair and beautiful place for everyone to visit.

In response to some of the comments on my earlier post regarding the churchyard, I am very sorry if we have angered or offended people. The church’s role is to support those in need and to help us live together in love and in peace, but unfortunately where there is scope for interpretation, there will also be room for disagreement. Nevertheless, if what we have done or the way we have done it has come across as unsympathetic or unnecessarily officious, I can only apologise. Some graves are beautifully maintained, but where that is less the case, the volunteers involved are doing their best to exercise our duty of responsibility and to keep things in order for now and for the future. We do try to be sensitive and exercise some flexibility where appropriate, particularly at the time of death and around anniversaries or other relevant festivals, but I accept we won’t always get it right. In the meantime, if there is an appetite for the rules to be reviewed and suggestions for updating them, we can gladly ask the PCC to have that discussion.