ABSTRACT
A Christian funeral is essentially understood today to be a service of worship, conducted on the occasion of a person's death, in which customarily praise and prayers are offered to God, the hope of resurrection inaugurated by Jesus Christ is proclaimed, words of comfort and consolation are offered to the mourners, and the life of the deceased is remembered. The basic Christian funeral rite is a drama with five sequential 'acts'. They are gathering, procession, service of prayer and word, Holy Communion, and sending usually conducted in three separate locations, the home, the church, and the cemetery. The committal consists of prayers and pronouncements made as the body of the deceased is entrusted to the place of disposition, the grave, the fire, the sea and so on. Some of the recent trends, such as the rise in cremation and the increased personalization of death rituals, seem to be firmly rooted now and almost surely will continue.
