Funeral Planning and Liturgies

The people of the Church of St. Matthew give their deepest condolences and offer their sincere prayers for family and friends who have lost a loved one through death.  We are here to assist you in providing a funeral liturgy which is sensitive to your needs and expressive of our Christian faith in the resurrection and eternal life promised by Jesus Christ.  To do this we must collaborate with a charter school and a free meal program who use our facilities. We are a volunteer parish who relies on the availability and talent of volunteers to assist in this ministry.

FUNERAL PLANNING

Because we work with funeral directors to provide funeral and religious services for families who have lost a loved one, you should first contact the funeral home of your choice to begin the funeral planning. The funeral home will serve as the liaison between the family and the parish by contacting the parish to find out when the church, priest, musician, cantor, and volunteer ministers are available.  After the day and time is finalized with the church by the funeral home, a pastoral minister will contact the family spokesperson to arrange for a planning meeting.

If a funeral home is not involved, volunteer ministers will carry out the services normally done by a funeral director necessitating limited and reasonable requests by the family. One family spokesperson should contact the church at 651-224-9793 from 9 am to 1 pm Monday through Friday. When you call, please provide the name of the deceased, whether a traditional funeral or cremation, the name of the family member who is serving as spokesperson, and his or her phone number and e-mail address. The church can also be contacted by e-mail at . A pastoral minister will contact the family spokesperson to arrange for a planning meeting.

Individuals and families are encouraged to begin planning by downloading and completing the Funeral Planning Sheet.  Funeral planning is not complete until you meet with a pastoral minister.   

FUNERAL LITURGIES

Funeral liturgies are celebrated on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. The church is open at 9 am for flower deliveries. Flowers cannot be received the day before a funeral liturgy.     

The church will provide one guest book stand and two 24" x 48" tables for memorabilia. Media equipment is available for digital displays with computer/thumb drive provided by the family. The church is not equipped to handle refreshments before or after a funeral liturgy in the worship space, sacristy, and alcove areas. Guests are asked to refrain from bringing liquids into the church and smoking outside the church.  Because the worship space is used by others, you are asked to remove all family items immediately following the funeral liturgy.  Flowers may be left in the church or chapel as a temporary memorial for the deceased.

Funeral Ministry Volunteers are available to set-up and help serve a post-funeral reception from 1:30 to 3:00 pm in the Church of St. Matthew Social Hall. If a post-funeral reception is desired, the family contact person will be called by a volunteer to discuss the details.

Funeral Fees are determined at the planning meeting from the following schedule: 

• $200.00 stipend for priest and church with one (1) hour viewing before funeral liturgy  
• $50.00 per each additional hour for viewing
• $50.00 per hour for use of media equipment (computer/thumb drive supplied by family)
• $125.00 stipend for the vocalist
• $125.00 stipend for the musician
• $100.00 stipend for post-funeral reception

Fees are to be paid with one check made out to The Church of St. Matthew and given to the pastoral minister with whom the funeral is planned.

Parking is sometimes difficult to find the day of a funeral service. Signs are placed along the curb to reserve parking for funeral cars. Family and friends of the deceased should park along the curb on Hall Avenue, Robie and Winifred Streets or in the Casa Guadalupana parking lot across from the church