Songs of faith bring comfort and strength to the family. Bible readings point to our Lord. In lieu of flowers, some families may choose to invite donations to be made to a Christian charity in memory of their departed loved one. The graveside service underlines the fact that we are people of hope. The grave is not the last word. Together with those who left us we look forward to the heavenly city, the New Jerusalem, whose builder is God Rev.
The ministry to the grieving must continue after the funeral. A recognized authority on death and dying, notes five stages a grieving person experiences:. It is healthy to grieve when a loved one is lost through death. People need to be encouraged to grieve. It is all right for a person to weep because of the loss of a spouse, child or someone else held dear. One-third of the Psalms have been classified as laments, as for example, Psalms 13 and Reading the Psalms can help us in 1 squarely facing our loss and even complaining to God, 2 offering prayer, 3 recalling divine assurances, and 4 eventually reaching for praise.
After hearing of the death of his son Absalom, King David showed his grief in loud cries of deep sorrow. He went up to the room over the gateway and wept. My son, my son Absalom! If I had only died instead you. O Absalom, my son, my son! Although grieving often takes longer than we expect, the ultimate hope of one day being in the presence of Christ, who told us that he is preparing a place for us, should make us homesick for the future when God shall wipe away all tears.
But all the leaves of the New Testament are rustling with the rumor that it will not always be so. Memorial services after a burial or cremation are common.
Donald Kraybill's guide on the Amish, a people known for their simplicity, and commitment to peaceful living. Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap.
For it will come upon all those who live on the face of the whole earth. Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. A funeral director may help with basic arrangements such as embalming, if it is used, or reserving the church and the hearse. A Mennonite funeral is extremely simple and requires no elaborate purchases or events scheduled at a funeral parlor.
The funeral service is conducted by bishops, elders, ministers or deacons of the community, usually in the church. The service could last up to two hours, and may include spoken or sung hymns, sermons to comfort and uplift the survivors, admonitions about living according to the Bible and the tenets of the Mennonite faith, and modest expressions of respect for the departed. A Mennonite funeral will not feature a eulogy or flowers. Praise, even of the deceased, is considered vanity and flowers are thought to be too ornamental and distracting.
If the body has not been embalmed, the service will be conducted with a closed casket. Afterwards, the casket is carried by pallbearers, or in the hearse, to the cemetery. Dress conservatively to show respect at a traditional Mennonite funeral -- a knee-length or longer dress with sleeves for women and a plain dark suit for men. The Mennonites are Christians who share a belief system very similar to that of other Protestants, with some exceptions: they are widely known for their pacifism, their commitment to the separation of church and state, and their refusal to take an oath of any kind.
They emphasize service to the community and living a simple life based on the teachings of Jesus Christ, particularly the Sermon on the Mount. Unlike the Amish, they are part of their surrounding community rather than insulated from it.
Mennonite practices vary widely, depending on the particular church—from the extremely conservative Old Order, which is somewhat similar to the lifestyle of the Amish, to the Moderate Mennonites who are practically indistinguishable from most other Protestant denominations.
Do the Mennonites wear beards or shave? Use musical instruments or sing a capella? Drive cars or horse-drawn buggies?
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