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Ecclesiastical Case Reports
Re Christ Church, Timperley
(Chester Consistory Court: Turner Ch, January 2004)
Memorial – photograph
A faculty was sought to place a black granite vase tablet with a small, oval, ceramic photographic plaque attached to commemorate a young man killed in a road accident. The proposed photograph was described by the chancellor as a ‘holiday snapshot’. The DAC declined to recommend the petition and the PCC opposed it on four bases; the Diocesan Churchyard Regulations, the consistency of a photograph that, by definition, represented but a moment of a life lived with the Christian theology of death and resurrection, the durability of any photograph and concerns about setting a precedent. The petitioners argued that the photograph would help them grieve, that it was of good quality and that it would be a worthy focus of recollection, especially for younger relatives. The chancellor reviewed the case law identifying the fact that no reported case existed permitting a photographic plaque in a churchyard. The chancellor accepted that the petitioners would be afforded a real measure of comfort by the faculty being granted, that the plaque was of good quality and he was not persuaded that there were any fundamental theological reasons precluding a photographic image. He was not however convinced that a photograph would be useful to younger relatives. The chancellor concluded that this was not a case however, in which a clear departure from Diocesan Churchyard Regulations was justified. The Regulations serve to create fairness, equality and consistency of treatment for all. They exist to promote peace, dignity and good order in churchyards where it is necessary to balance concerns of the past, present and future. He refused the petition.
[JG]
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