For devout Christians, a funeral service marks the beginning of the soul’s journey to the eternal life after death. It is for this precise reason that such services are so spirited, as they strongly assert the belief that the deceased has found a permanent abode in the House of God.
Christianity perceives death as an entry into new life, wherein people are freed from the world of suffering to the world of eternal bliss. It provides some comfort to the grieving family members that the dead person is with the Lord Himself and is enjoying the bliss of heaven. This immensely helps in lessening the pain that death of the person causes. The Christian funeral ceremony is organized accordingly with the same belief.
Generally, a pastor is the prime official at a Christian funeral service. The funeral service usually is conducted at the church which the deceased visited regularly. Though a casket is not used in the service usually, but when it is being held inside a funeral home, casket is generally present. Public viewing of the corpse is not something that you will find in a conventional Christian funeral ceremony.
The funeral ceremony is conducted in the memory of the departed, and it starts with singing of religious hymns and recitals from the Bible and Holy Scriptures. This is then followed by a short message from the pastor and then a mass prayer by people who have gathered there.
Then the attendees partake in the grief of family members as well as close friends and talk about their own experiences as to how the deceased has influenced them and created an everlasting impression on their minds. Nowadays, people do a visual display of photographs or play a recorded video of the dead person taken when he was alive.
The service eventually ends with a short fellowship reception at the church, where refreshments are served. A graveside service is not very common, though some Christian communities opt for that as well.
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