How to Plan a Funeral According to Custom
Many modern funeral rituals have their roots in ancient traditions. Whatever beliefs your loved one held, and even if they are different from the rest of the family's, a dignified send-off provides comfort within a sense of tradition for the living while honoring the departed.
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Instructions
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Determine what kind of customer is appropriate for the deceased. We've come to associate burial traditions according to American customer rather than cultural or religion beliefs. But a protestant funeral can be different than a Catholic one, and even different still from Jewish rites.
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Plan the burial accordingly, given the timeframe dictated by the custom. Protestant funerals are supposed to be held within three days of the death (though many take place after that). Jewish tradition states, "Bury me before sundown on the day I die," which translates to "within 24 hours" in some orthodox circles. Hindu funeral rites are also intended to take place before sundown on the day of death, with the first-born son conducting the service. Buddhists, on the other hand, often prefer cremation.
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Understand the cost. If it's a military death, the the cost is usually covered by the government if the funeral takes place in any of the 120 national cemeteries. In addition to actual burial costs, some traditions call for other services and receptions. During the Jewish mourning, or shivah, family members receive visitors for seven days after the death. New Orleans Jazz customs include a jazz band, which leads a solemn procession from the funeral parlor to the cemetery. After leaving the cemetery, the band plays livelier music to celebrate the life of the deceased.
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Acknowledge the spiritual practices behind the custom and educate any who are unaware beforehand. Many times, the funeral rites are held according to customs different from your own. Out of respect, however, an understanding of religious or cultural concepts is necessary. For instance, non-Catholics typically stand at Catholic funerals, while confirmed Catholics remain seated. At Islamic funerals, attendees remove their shoes, and the men sit separately from the women of the congregation.
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Nov 22, 2005
In Black Pentecostal tradition, the funeral is an opportunity to: 1. Celebrate rather than mourn the life of the deceased and celebrate their "going home" to heaven. 2. Affirm Christian faith in the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting. Death does not have the last word 3. Proclaim the Word of God as a witness to both believer and unbeliever, and especially the gospel of Jesus Christ as the heart of the Word. 4. Engage in jubilant worship as a response to God's provision for salvation. Black Pentecostal funeral customs are usually similar to Black Protestant traditions found in the African-American community. However, Black Pentecostal funerals tend to: 1. Structure the worship service to reflect typical Pentecostal practice. Services will be personalized to some extent, to reflect the family wishes of the deceased. Both Old and New Testament texts are read during the funeral service. 2. Make greater use of choirs and choral music. Processionals/recessionals may be used, in addition to other musical elements; vocal or instrumental solos, instrumental ensemble numbers, throughout the worship service. Music is usually upbeat and syncopated and includes lively congregational praise choruses, although there may be slower or more majestic choral pieces performed. Both clergy and choirs will typically wear vestments. 3. Utilize instruments; electric bass, lead guitar, piano/organ/synthesizer, and full percussion battery, including both the trap drum set and Afro-Latin percussion (congas, bongos) to support both congregational and choral singing. In addition, worshipers typically bring small percussion instruments; tambourines, claves, maracas, shekeres, cymbals with them. The band will also support the call-and-response pattern of proclamation in the black Christian tradition. 4. Utilize both spontaneous and choreographed dance and body movement as integral to the worship experience. Exuberant shouting, dancing and singing is characteristic of black Pentecostal worship, and is integral to any funeral in the black Pentecostal tradition. "Shouting funerals" are preferred over staid, conservative or more sedate funerals. 5. Spontaneous singing may also occur at the interment ceremony. Interments are rarely, if ever, private. All worshipers and outsiders are welcome to the ceremony. Clergy may use traditional rubrics, but family members also have input and may read scripture, lay something personal on the casket of the deceased. 6. All worshipers, including visitors, are usually welcome to the afterglow; the full meal/repast at the church that is provided for the family. Although the wearing of black or dark colors is a standard, black Christian practice, black Pentecostals now tend to wear white, the color of Easter and Holy Communion to emphasize belief in the resurrection of the body. Brighter colors are acceptable in many Pentecostal churches as a sign of rejoicing.
