St Peter’s Bredhurst showing less empathy by the week. Further clampdowns planned for Remembrance Day and Christmas NO POPPIES, NO CANDLES, NO NATIVITY SCENES, no silk flowers, and nothing with inscriptions.

Remembrance Day is nearly upon us.  Many of you are donating funds and wearing your poppies with pride.

In February this year we had the results of the shameful sham of a consultation.  Since then, the leadership of St Peter’s Bredhurst has - far from learning any lessons as it promised - become increasingly zealous in its determination to cut deeper into open wounds of mourners.

Up until 2015/16 consecutive vicars at Bredhurst, spanning three decades, did what others in the Diocese of Rochester still do - show discretion in allowing things like artificial flowers and small mementoes on graves. But under the current leadership at St Peter’s, the outdated (over 40 year old) rules are imposed with fanatical enthusiasm. To the point where even poppies can’t sit in a grave of servicemen for a day. 

Within St Peter’s Bredhurst, there are those who were in the Services.  Fought at home and abroad, Navy, Army, and Air Force.  There are those who completed national service. There are those who worked at home in the factories during the war and those who were in the home guard, fire, and police service.  There is also a dedicated volunteer who stood in all weathers selling poppies. 

These people are remembered but at this time of year their sacrifice should be remembered also.  Within their lifetimes they remembered their fallen brothers and sisters and lived with the scars of what they had survived.  BUT their family must place a poppy away from the resting place of their loved ones.  NOT EVEN IN THE SAME GRAVEYARD.   Last year when poppies were placed on graves, even if they had  a personal message on them, they were removed from the graveyard and placed elsewhere.

Not content with imposing unnecessary and uncaring restrictions on Remembrance Day , it also has its sights, uniquely, set on causing distress for mourners at Christmas.  It’s latest restrictions are set out here:

Christmas Natural decorations other than wreaths (plants & flowers), provided they are natural, or made of natural materials, are allowed from 1 December to Candlemas – the family can remove before this date if they wish to keep them.

Taken from the churches handout https://u.pcloud.link/publink/show?code=HtGrtalK#returl=https%3A//u.pcloud.link/publink/show%3Fcode%3DHtGrtalK&page=login

Nothing is safe under the current St Peter’s leadership.

This signals that the usual Christmas decorations are not allowed at St Peter’s Bredhurst graveyard from this year. Even at this Church in recent years mourners - including those parents of babies and children - have placed the same items onto the grave each year. These include small toys, trees, cards, and candles.  They are always removed by the mourners after Christmas, and reused and recycled for the following year.

But now it appears parents will only be allowed to place either fresh flowers (which generally only last a day or two in winter); or entirely natural wreaths flat onto graves. This will cause considerable distress to many parents.

As the leader of the Parish of South Gillingham, Brian Senior bears personally responsibility for this complete abomination.

Indeed, he authorised the removal of items on graves - some of which had been there for over 30 years, only to be destroyed by the church. He has shown no compassion, no empathy and no understanding of the concerns of mourners. He also broke a promise that items would not be removed from graves of children and babies. Little wonder he was nowhere to be seen when the results of the ‘consultation’ were published.

The leadership at St Peter’s needs to take a close look at itself. It is actually doing the complete opposite of its stated mission: sadly, and unforgivably, it is

Wrecking community, inhibiting faith, and turning people off the Church