We often hold funerals at The Vineyard Church. The following information is our funeral policy. If you have recently lost a loved one, please let us know about your loss as soon as possible by calling our on-call pastor at 217.840.7587. General questions about funerals can be directed to our pastoral care pastor at 217.384.3070.

The Vineyard Church Funeral Procedure

What to do first

When the walk of life takes a different turn, we at The Vineyard Church are available to help you make plans to remember your loved one. We hope that this information will help in making the days ahead as clear as they can be. We ask that God would give you His comfort and strength during this most difficult time. Please feel free to contact our Vineyard Care Pastor at 217.531.7513.

1. Let us know about your loss as soon as possible. You can do that by leaving a voicemail for our on-call pastor at 217.531.7513. One of our pastors will call you back within 30-60 minutes of your voicemail.
2. Select and make an appointment with a local funeral home.
3. One of our pastors will meet with you, pray for you and help arrange the funeral/memorial service with you. They will also serve as the liaison to get space at the Vineyard and our Cafe scheduled, as needed.

What the Vineyard Church offers at no cost to you

• Pastor: A Vineyard Church pastor will conduct the funeral or memorial service. While we do not charge for our pastoral services, if you would like to make an honorarium to the pastor, a recommended amount is $100.
• Sound Technician: While we do not charge for our sound services, if you would like to make an honorarium to the sound technician, a recommended amount is $100.
• Space at the Vineyard: Services can be scheduled Monday through Friday only.  We are unable to provide funeral services on Saturday or Sunday.  
• Use of the cafe or our C3 classroom for funeral/memorial receptions, capacity approximately 150 (based on availability)
• Our Vineyard Church facilities team and cafe team will take care of making coffee, set up and clean up. If given at least a 3-day notice, we can often provide finger foods for the funeral for a minimal fee. A list of what we offer and the cost is available upon request.
• Use of our Auditorium is available for a $500.00 fee. In addition, a fee of $150,00 is to be paid for the rental of the sound and technical equipment. (Capacity approximately 1000)

Visitation and Funeral/Memorial Service lengths

• Visitation: maximum of 3 hours
• Funeral/memorial service: maximum of 1 hour

Music, programs and slide shows

• We do have a sound system available, which will allow for live musicians during the funeral service. We do not contact or schedule any musicians for you, but we can provide you with names if needed.
• We also have projection screens on which a Powerpoint presentation can be played. Our Sound Tech can be available to play the presentation during the funeral service, but due to our limited resources, we are unable to make the Power Point presentation for you.
• We are also unable to print any funeral programs. Those can be printed through your funeral home or by going through a local printing shop. Please direct all questions concerning Funeral Planning to the Event Coordinator, Corrie Waters, at 217.384.3070. 

Decisions to make when planning a funeral

1. Time of service
2. Location of service (church or graveside)
3. Type of service: memorial, funeral, military
4. Use of the Vineyard facility
5. Care of the body
6. Music
7. Burial site
8. Newspaper obituary
9. Pallbearers
10. Guest book
11. Photos/keepsakes
12. Flowers
13. Poems/quotes
14. Opportunities for donations

Our suggested order of service (approximately 1 hour)

1. Greeting
2. Scripture
3. Prayer
4. Song/music
5. Sharing by friends, relatives and small group members
6. Message
7. Closing prayer
8. Graveside comments