Can you tell me what happens at a Protestant funeral?

Question

What psalms are sung?
What scripture is read?
What does the minister say?
What order is everything done in?

Lots of detail is best.
It's for a book I'm writing.
I've been to a couple of funerals, but I was younger, and not paying too much attention.

It's for NaNoWriMo, the contest, I need 50 000 words by November 30th. Nor can I drive. So no I can't go to a funeral randomly, or go talk to a minister. Just answer my question?

Answer 1

1. Psalms is a book of the bible. Song: Amazing Grace
2. Scripture 23rd Psalms The Lord is my Shepard, I shall not want, He make me to lie down in green pastures...
3. He preached to the living to get their lives right with God.
4. Any order that the family chooses.

Answer 2

Protestant Funeral Service

Answer 3

Be nice.

The last funeral that I went to they sang a song titled "How Great Thou Art" and another song "Amazing Grace."

The deceased was a Christian and the pastor said, "absent from the body, present with the Lord." That meant the deceased was in heaven at that very moment even though we saw his body in the casket. The minister said kind things about the deceased person because the minister knew the deceased. He read a paper that the family wanted read and he preached the gospel to those who weren't saved.

When you come into the church or funeral home the body is ready to view and people can come up and view the body. When the music starts playing everyone sits down. After the first song, the pastor speaks and then you leave with another song playing but before leaving you shake hands or speak to the family of the deceased. People file by one and a time and speak to the family. They get in their cars and follow the funeral hearse limo to the grave yard where the ground is prepared and a tent is put up with chairs for the immediate family to sit under. A lady with a beautiful voice sang a song at the graveside and the pastor said a prayer and it was over. After everyone left they lowered the body into the ground. At the graveside the casket was closed. Inside the funeral home the casket was open.

That is all I can remember.

Answer 4

There isn't really a Protestant funeral "ritual." The pastor will usually recite some verses that offer comfort and hope. Some pastors also offer words on how to come to salvation through the Lord.

Some people (family or friends) might offer some anecdotes or loving words about the person being buried that day. The songs sung can be one of the family's choosing or it might be a hymn that the deceased particularly liked. At one funeral I attended, the song sung was How Great Thou Art. At another, it was much more rousing and joyous and they sang I'll Fly Away.

Answer 5

Every funeral is different as to the requests of the family and the denomination of the church. Music is selected on personal preference. Some people even write in their wills what and how the funeral service is to be conducted. We have 3 ministers in our immediate family. The family members are very involved with the services. One minister will tell stories that the other family members have written to be read. One minister will select the music that is sung including music selections from the spouse and or parent/s. One minister will do the eulogy with the closing for others who have not given their lives to Christ to please do so as he prays for the ones who have come to give respect for the deceased.

Answer 6

It varies from denomination to denomination. It also varies from family to family. I've done funerals that have lasted 5 minutes to an hour.

In your area ask a couple of different pastors what they would do or say. This is a brief outline of what I've done in the past:

Scripture Rev 21:1-4
Prayer
Song "Old Rugged Cross"
Reading of the History (birth, parents, family,)
Family Reads (a poem, a short story, etc)
Song "How Great Thou Art"
Message: Centered around the resurrection and the life of the person
Closing Prayer

Graveside Part
Psalm 23
Song "Amazing Grace"
Prayer of Committal

Ask around though, you'll get different methods for different people

Answer 7

music is at the request of the bereaved.
scriptures at the request of the bereaved but usually psalms 23 is read.
the minister gives a brief biography of the deceased with anecdotes of the person's life as told by his family.
then another prayer and songs are sung
everyone stands as the coffin leaves the church.
the crowed follows the hearse to the cemetary and some more words of comfort are spoken and another prayer.
the family says any last words and the person is laid to rest.
everyone goes back to the church or someone's home for a meal.

Answer 8

Actually, there's no set form for a Protestant funeral as a rule. It's mostly done according to the deceased's wishes, presuming he/she expressed them before death. If not, then the family decides what it will be, and that can literally be almost anything. I've been to very elaborate funerals, and very simple ones, and all sorts of things in-between.

I know that's not much help, and I wish I could do more, but there's just no standard mold.

Answer 9

My dad was a Methodist, and when he died, the minister talked about him and made it obvious he didn't know anything about the man - just some canned speech he delivers over dead bodies for money. I walked out, and went to the local bookstore, bought a biography of Wilhelm Reich, and spent a pleasant day learning about someone else's life. I already knew what my dad was about, anyway...

Answer 10

Sorry , but if you're writing a book, you're going to have to do some primary research, i.e. go to a few funerals.

In a nutshell, hopeful words are spoken, the casket is lowered to the ground, the close relatives throw dirt on it, and everyone goes back to the church basement for ham sandwiches and potato salad.