subject: Christians And Their Funeral Service For Their Dead [print this page] People who belong to the Christian faith believe in Jesus Christ's coming again. Another belief of Christians is that the works that they have accomplished in their lifetime will be judged during their time of death. They believe that it is through their deeds that they will be worthy of staying in the kingdom of God. The lessons of Jesus are the guiding tenets that Christians strive to live by in their daily existence.
For a god-fearing Christian, a funeral service is a celebration of the deceased's journey into eternal life hereafter. Funeral services and ceremonies are uplifting, owing to the positive belief that the departed soul has finally found an eternal home in God's abode.
Christians view death as a happy exit from the world of grief and a passage into the world of everlasting bliss. It gives some solace to the grieving family members that the dead person is with the Lord Himself and is enjoying heavenly bliss. This greatly helps in alleviating the pain that death of the person causes. The Christian funeral service is performed by devout Christians keeping these beliefs in mind.
Generally, a pastor is the main officiator at a Christian funeral service. They are usually conducted at the church which the deceased used to visit when he or she was alive. Generally there is no casket in the service, but sometimes there are exceptions to this, especially when the service takes place inside a funeral home. A conventional Christian funeral ceremony does not include viewing of the dead body at the time of service.
The funeral ceremony is organized in the memory of the departed, and it starts with singing of devotional songs and readings from the Bible and Holy Scriptures. Then the pastor delivers a message and the attendees join in with a mass prayer.
Next comes the time of reflection and sharing grief by family and friends, when the people gathered voice their feelings about the deceased and tell how the deceased has touched their lives and has left a deep impression. Nowadays, people also put up a slideshow on the life of the deceased or play a pre-recorded video taken from his or her lifetime.
The final phase in the ceremony is that of a brief reception that is conducted in the church itself and some food is served. A service at grave is not very common, though some people do opt for that too.
