7/27/2023 0 Comments Lds scriptures for funeral program![]() ![]() But as the various examples I shared above illustrate, Mormon funerals are often problematic. ![]() It seems wrong to me that a funeral should be more about teaching the gospel than about paying tribute to the deceased. In my mind, a funeral should be primarily about commemorating the life of the person who has died, celebrating who that person was and the relationships she had with others. However, such tributes should not dominate a funeral service.” This seems backwards to me. ![]() They also provide an opportunity to pay tribute to the deceased. The CHI instructs: “Funerals provide an important opportunity to teach the gospel and testify of the plan of salvation. According to the CHI, the family can’t use a digital presentation to commemorate the deceased during a funeral in a church building or which a bishop conducts. The event is meant to be reverent and dignified. The CHI specifies that any funeral conducted by a bishop should be considered a “Church meeting and a religious service.” As such, the bishop considers the family’s input but has ultimate say over what can be included. This is understandable, but given the overlap of religious and cultural customs, it could also mean denying comforting rituals to mourners, especially in a part-member family or at the funeral of a convert.Īny funeral held in a Mormon church building must be conducted by the bishop or Stake President. It specifies that the rituals and customs of other religions should not be incorporated into the meeting. The CHI also establishes that the meeting should open and close with prayer and a hymn, just like a Sacrament Meeting. Teaching and testifying about the plan of salvation, particularly the Savior’s Atonement and Resurrection, is an essential purpose of the services associated with a Church member’s death.” As a result, most Mormon funerals include some talk about the Plan of Salvation–often that talk runs longer than any other element of the funeral. The CHI states that “each person must experience death in order to receive a perfected, resurrected body. The church has no formal rituals associated with death, but there is a certain pattern to Mormon funerals. There’s the bishop who, at the funeral of a woman murdered by her husband, said he just knew the murdered woman had forgiven her murderer and so should everyone in attendance forgiveness is a beautiful and important principle, but this comment was not very considerate of the raw emotions caused by this kind of domestic violence leading to the death of a loved one. There’s the exclusion of inactive or un-endowed or excommunicated or non-member family members from helping prepare the body of a loved one for burial. There’s the well-meaning church member repeating the notion that someone died because God needed her more than her family did again, not exactly comforting to mourners. There’s the church leader using a man’s death from lung cancer caused by his smoking habit as an example of why people shouldn’t smoke–true, but not exactly helpful for mourners. There’s the Stake President delivering a long sermon on the Plan of Salvation at the funeral of a young mother without thought about her small children’s need to mourn in a way suitable to them, or about how hard it was for them to sit for so long. ![]() This is not the only Mormon funeral I know of that hasn’t been very considerate of the mourners. J’s siblings went along with the bishop with no real resistance, and J was left feeling sad that they could not honor their father with this song he had loved. Simple hymns and other songs with gospel messages are most appropriate for these occasions.” While this passage doesn’t explicitly forbid secular music, D’s bishop interpreted it in that fashion and refused to approve using “Home on the Range” during D’s funeral. The bishop referred to the Church Handbook of Instructions (CHI), which says: “Music for funerals might include prelude music, an opening hymn, special musical selections, a closing hymn, and postlude music. When J and her siblings met with D’s bishop to discuss funeral arrangements, they indicated that they’d like to have someone sing “Home on the Range” in D’s honor. D had grown up in rural Idaho and had always loved the old 50s cowboy shows “Home on the Range” was one of his favorite songs. He was a very sweet man and his children wanted to honor his memory at the funeral. A few years ago, my dear friend J’s father, D, died. ![]()
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