Rituals To Say Goodbye: The Christian Funeral

Christians are firm believers in the second coming of the Almighty’s son Jesus Christ. Moreover, Christians think that at the time of their deaths, judgment will be passed on the deeds they have done while they were still alive. It is their faith that the good works that they have done will make them worthy of sitting next to God. Christians strive to live by the teachings of Jesus Christ in their day to day existence.

Christian funeral service for any god-fearing Christian means a celebration of the eternal journey of the soul to the life after death. Funeral services and rituals are alleviating, owing to the strong belief that the departed soul has at last found an eternal home in God’s place.

Christians consider death as a happy exit from the world of grief and a passage into the world of everlasting bliss. The severity of grief caused by the death of a loved one is lessened by the very thought that the dead person is enjoying a blissful afterlife in the Lord’s house with God Himself. The Christian funeral ceremonies are organized with the same spirit.

Christian funeral service is usually conducted by the pastor. The funeral service usually is conducted at the church of which the deceased was a regular visitor. Though the service does not have a casket usually, but when it is being held inside a funeral home, casket is normally present. Usually, Christian funeral ceremony does not have the practice of displaying the body of the deceased person.

The funeral service is almost like a memorial, in which the proceedings start with chanting of hymns, a soloist, and religious readings from the Holy Scriptures. After this comes a short message from the pastor and subsequently a mass prayer by all those who have gathered there.

Then the family and close friends share their grief with the gathering, and the attendees express their sentiments and respect for the dead person and share their thoughts on how the dead person touched their lives and left a lasting void. People nowadays do a slide show of pictures or play a recorded video of the deceased taken during his or her lifetime.

The service eventually ends with a short fellowship reception at the church, where food is served. People do not choose a graveside service usually, but there are some exceptional cases.

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