“Is the funeral service for the living or the dead?” This is not an uncommon question among church goers that I know and serve, and my answer is usually the following: “both and neither.” A proper funeral service acknowledges that the congregation has not gathered in response to death in the abstract; a particular and beloved person has died. Therefore it seems unfortunate and shortsighted when the bereaved seek a funeral service devoid of some remembrance of and thanksgiving for the deceased. 

 

On the other hand, funeral services should never be limited to mere eulogizing of the departed. A Christian funeral liturgy is an occasion for those of us yet living to have our Christian trust reinforced and our hope renewed. The most important thing that happens in a Christian funeral service is proclamation of the Good News. Thus, a proper church funeral liturgy is offered up to the glory of God who in Christ Jesus has assured us that nothing has power to separate the faithful from divine love, not even death itself (Romans 8). 

 

This brief rumination was inspired by an article I came across in an Australian news source. It wrestles with these questions in light of contemporary trends and attitudes about funeral services.