Janet Bloomfield - 10 October 1953 to 2 April 2007

Funeral Meeting for Worship for Janet Elizabeth Bloomfield

Thursday 19 April 2007 2.30pm

Silent reflection.

Welcome by an Elder of the Meeting.

The Meeting for Worship on the occasion of a funeral held after the manner of the Society of Friends has no set form. Gathering together in silence, all present are invited to enter into the communion of prayer, bearing in mind those who are bereaved.

The silence may be broken by vocal prayer, by the reading of a passage from the Bible or other helpful words, as well as spoken messages, some of which may testify to the qualities which the deceased by the Grace of God displayed in life. Anyone who feels moved may speak.

In this way, loving remembrance and thankfulness may rightly find expression, together with thoughts of comfort and sympathy for those left behind. Whether in silence or otherwise, all who are present may help by their thought and prayer, in the fellowship into which we are brought together by the Holy Spirit.

The Meeting will conclude with the Blessing of the Elements, followed by the bearing away of the coffin, accompanied by Petite Fleur by Sidney Bechet. The Elders will then shake hands to signify the end of the Meeting.

Departure for Brinkley Woodland Cemetary by family and close friends.

All are invited to the tea room across the foyer for a light buffet and tea.

Friends should come to a funeral with both heart and mind prepared. We want to experience a deep sense of communion with God and with one another, which we hope will comfort and strengthen those who mourn. There are at least two aims in our worship: to give thanks to God for the life that has been lived, and to help the mourners to feel a deep sense of God’s presence.
- Quaker Faith and Practice

Be patterns, be examples in all countries, places, islands, nations, wherever you come, that your carriage and life may preach among all sorts of people, and to them; then you will come to walk cheerfully over the world, answering that of God in every one.
- George Fox, 1656

The Blessing of the Elements

In April 1996, Janet led the Atomic Mirror Pilgrimage, a healing journey around the sacred and nuclear sites of England, Scotland, and Wales. On 18 April at the Pilgrims’ Meeting for Worship at Swarthmoor Hall in the Lake District, the following blessing came to her in the silence:

May your feet stand firmly on the ground
May the breath of life move through you.
May the waters of healing pour over you.
May the fire of love burn in your hearts..
- Janet Bloomfield, Swarthmoor Hall,
Atomic Mirror Pilgrimage, 1996