AN ALMIGHTY MISUNDERSTANDING?
GOVERNMENT URGES COMMON SENSE AFTER FAMILY TOLD SAYING LORD’S PRAYER AT FUNERAL WAS ‘CHANTING’ AND ‘BANNED UNDER CORONAVIRUS RULES’:
GRIEVING families at funerals are banned from saying the Lord’s Prayer by a “jobsworth” council official at a crematorium.
Mourners at one funeral were finishing saying “... the power and the glory, forever. Amen” when the crematorium official stepped up to the lectern to rule the prayer was breaking safety rules.
Shocked celebrant Alison Davies was “flabbergasted” when the overzealous council official told her the family praying together broke Government Covid rules which outlaws chanting.
The family of the 94-year-old grandmother requested the Lord’s Prayer at the end of the funeral service – and were “upset” at the celebrant being told off over their prayer.
The 15-strong family were at the safety-restricted funeral being held at council-run Coychurch Crematorium in Bridgend.
Mrs Davies, 53, had reached the last words of the prayer when she was approached by an official who told her, in front of mourners, she was breaking government guidelines.
“To be honest, I was quite flabbergasted,” she said.
“There was no way we were chanting or shouting, the congregation were mumbling the Lord’s Prayer really. They were socially distanced and wearing masks.
“So I was quite upset to find that I’d done something wrong because I’ve been trying to follow the rules.”
Mrs Davies said grieving families had already been deprived of “so much” and the Lord’s Prayer ban was “the final straw”.
Her husband Gwyn said: “It was a real jobsworth official who came up to her as she was standing on the lectern with the family standing there in front of her.
“He waved his blue-gloved finger and told her it was breaking the rules. Why couldn’t he just wait and tell her later. It is ridiculous and a complete misinterpretation of the rules.
“What is the world coming to when a family cannot quietly say the Lord’s Prayers at a funeral service if that is their wish.”
Bridgend Council apologised for any upset caused but said it was following Government rules which allow only one person to speak at a time at a funeral service.
A Bridgend Council spokesman said it “believed prayer to constitute chanting” under the Welsh Government’s coronavirus legislation.
“We appreciate the Lord’s Prayer is of great comfort to many of those attending services and we are sorry if our actions caused any upset,” he said.
“We ensured at no point was the service interrupted, only gently informing the member of clergy as they left the chapel that next time, the Lord’s Prayer can only be read out by one individual.”
The Welsh Government said praying in a “low tone” does not breach the rules and it called on venues to “use common sense” when applying the law.
“While chanting is restricted in funerals, speaking in a low tone to pray would not be considered against the guidance,” a Government spokeswoman said.