Anglo-Caribbean Obsequies

I took a funeral service this morning of a woman who died suddenly in mid-life at 'the Res' Parish Church in Ely, for a family originating from the Caribbean Island of St Kitts. Making the arrangements was a little more complex than usual. The woman's mother, who'd sent her children to 'the Res' to Sunday School more than thirty years ago, was herself a Seventh Day Adventist, and she wanted both the former and present Pastors of the Cardiff church to be involved in the service.

The funeral arranger rang last week to say that the names of the Pastors given were 'not on the list' and could I provide contact details. None had been given to me, and I was somewhat bemused by this lack of local information as the funeral directors in question were located 250 yards away from the Adventist Church, just around the corner. Anyway, once this fact had been drawn to their attention it wasn't long before I had a call from Pastor Jeremy Trameer, and we were emailing each other to agree details of an order of service that would bring three of us together to share in this celebration.

Last week's funeral notice in the Echo on first publication erroneously declared that mourners might wear something colourful. This was corrected on second publication, and only a handful found themselves caught out - not that it mattered. West Indian mourning custom prescribes black garb, but says nothing about what kind of garb, so the sad event becomes a life affirming display of style and variety of dress for both woman and men - hugely dignified. People arrived from London and the Midlands as well as from overseas, and all parts of Cardiff and South Wales. The church was packed, and dozens were standing outside. They were about 500 there altogether, around three quarters of them West Indians, with a range of Caribbean and Anglo Caribbean accents between them. It must be 35 years since I last did a West Indian funeral, and it brought back positive memories of my years of ministry in St Paul's Bristol.
 

I enjoyed meeting with Pastor Trameer and his predecessor Pastor Moore, and watching them meeting and greeting members of their community with admirable warmth. Pastor Trameer is British, slightly built, with the kind of 'european' face you might see in a renaissance lithograph. Pastor Moore is a tall black man with braided hair and an accent more West Midlands than West Indian. Together the three of us were a fair representation of the diversity of people in Christian ministry. I hope the mourners saw it that way.

The funeral concluded with cremation at Thornhill, and after farewells, and thank-yous I was taken back home for lunch, before going into the office for a few hours, still pondering on my time as a parish priest, and all that I had received from being a pastor in a anglo-caribbean community, as rich in kindness as it was poor in environment and material goods.