Funerals can be held on any day Monday to Saturday, providing the church is not otherwise booked. Although there may be less availability at some times of the religious calendar. The funeral director, or the family, can contact us to check availability of the church for the service, and to confirm the date and time.

We strongly recommend that a Funeral Director be engaged at an early stage, and that all logistical arrangements are made through the Funeral Director. This includes, but is not limited to, attending to legal requirements, booking the church, publishing Death Notices, printing orders of service, catering arrangements, and any audio-visual requirements etc. 

Our experience is that having one point of contact helps to avoid the confusion that sometimes occurs when there are different people involved in different parts of the funeral arrangements.

A funeral at St Matthew’s may be taken by a member of the Clergy, a funeral celebrant, or by a “lay” person of your choice. 

If St Matthew’s own Clergy are involved, they will meet with the family to work with you on a suitable Order of Service.

Our Clergy are also available for follow up pastoral care, if required. 

You may also choose a celebrant or other person to lead the service, in which case the Funeral Director or the family will make the arrangements directly with that person.

There is no set format for a funeral or memorial service. The type of services held at St Matthew’s range from formal religious services with communion, to more informal celebrations of the deceased’s life. The standard Anglican funeral service can be found here https://anglicanprayerbook.nz/826.html

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Funerals held in the church are recorded in a Register, which is kept with our archive records for future research.

The church can accommodate smaller and larger funerals. There is seating for up to 170 in the pews, and additional chairs available. The largest number the church can seat is 420 using the pews, free standing chairs and the gallery seating.

St Matthew-in-the-City has a magnificent pipe organ. We can arrange an Organist to accompany hymns and / or play at other times in the service if required.

We are able to livestream and record the service, via OneRoom streaming service. We provide a link, which can be shared with as many friends and family anywhere in the world as you wish. There is a single fixed camera facing the front of the church – people seated in the pews are not shown on the livestream.

Parking is available in the pay and display building and open area next door to St Matthew’s. A few yellow marked church parking spaces adjacent to the church may be available for immediate family.

We have a small serving kitchen at the church – it is not suitable for cooking on site. We strongly recommend that commercial caterers be arranged if possible. We can recommend preferred caterers who are familiar with the church and our setup. You may engage your own caterers, but it is important to note that they need to bring in all supplies and clean up and remove all rubbish after the service. 

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We have several fold up tables which are suitable for catering needs. The area in the south aisle of the church, near the kitchen, is used for serving refreshments.

Our team of volunteer bell ringers may be available to ring, or to toll a single bell prior to or following a funeral. Please enquire if you would like to organise bell ringers – note that this is subject to availability. There is a donation payable to the Bellringers Society for their services.

We have a sound system and microphones. Music can be played through our sound system from a CD or from any electronic device. We suggest any music to be played is also held on a backup device, in case of battery failure or system incompatibility. We do not have screens available – these need to be hired in if required. Your funeral director can assist with arranging this. 

One of our staff will be in attendance during the funeral to operate the sound system and to manage logistics. This service is included in the funeral cost.

Use of the church for a Funeral Service                                       $1,600 (for up to 4 hours),

                                                                                                            $330 (per any additional hour)

The charging commences from the time setup for the service begins until the church has been returned to its original state.

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Live Streaming                                                                                  $275

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Bells (donation to the Bellringers’ Society)                                  $280

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Organist Fee                                                                                      $345

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Catering                                                                                             As arranged with Caterer

We usually invoice costs to the Funeral Director to include with their other funeral charges.