Death and the Service of Witness to the Resurrection

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From the Book of Order Presbyterian Church (U.S.A)
S-5.0500

The central doctrine of the Christian faith is the resurrection. Christians affirm their common faith in their attitude toward death and in their witness during the approach and experience of death. The reality of death, with all of its attendant sorrow and sense of loss, must
be anticipated for us all, and there must be created the kind of health of mind and spirit that allows Christians to live their faith in this critical area of human existence. Christians should seek to make the occasion of death a time in which they reaffirm with joy the hope of the gospel.

Resurrection and the Christian Community
Those who are bereaved are not called upon to face death in isolation from other Christians. They can and should be sustained and upheld by the Christian community. When a death has occurred the minister should be notified immediately, in order that the minister may help the bereaved in relating the reality of death to the sustaining reality of the Christian community and the hope to which it witnesses. If the minister is not available, then one or more of the elders should be called to serve until the minister arrives.

Arrangements
Christians recognize with all persons the inevitability of death. Because it is difficult under emotional stress to plan or act wisely, the Christian family should make calm appraisal of intents and desires concerning appropriate funeral arrangements before death is imminent.

Christian methods of disposition of the body are interment, cremation, or donation for medical purposes. In the case of interment, ostentation and undue expense are to be avoided in the choice of a casket, flowers, and other appointments.

The Service of Witness
The service of witness to the resurrection ordinarily should be held in the building set apart for the corporate worship of God. The minister and others who may be properly invited to participate shall be in sole charge of the service.

Because the proper object of the service is the worship of God and the consolation of the living, it follows that the body of the deceased is not necessary to the service. The casket, if it be present during the service, shall be closed at all times and should be covered with a
white pall in order that the attention of those assembled may be directed to the Author and Finisher of their salvation. The service may be held before or after the committal of the body. The Christian service of witness to the resurrection shall be considered complete in itself, and another hour and place should be appointed for any fraternal or civic rite.

Elements of the Service
The service, which should be conducted with dignity with simplicity, is a witness to God's love given to all people, a love which strengthens and supports even in the midst of grief. It is a witness to God's promises in Jesus Christ, as attested by Christ's resurrection from the
dead, and to the sure and certain hope that Christ has gone to prepare a place for the children of God. Emphasis should be placed upon the readings of Scripture for the declaration of the Christian hope, and any further readings or music should be carefully scrutinized to assure that they are consistent with the biblical affirmations of God's power over death. As an expression of their common faith, it is appropriate that those assembled join in the singing of hymns which declare belief in the life everlasting. A sermon may be preached which likewise bears testimony to the hope and promises set forth in Scripture.
Thanks may be offered for the God-given life of the one who has died and intercession for family members and other loved ones who grieve.

The Committal
The Christian service of committal should be conducted with dignity and brevity, in the immediate presence of the members and friends of the family of the deceased. Words of Scripture, prayer, and a blessing are sufficient.

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