Funerals
'Human beings have sensed the mystery of death, and the pain of grief, since time immemorial. Every society has developed rites to mark the passage from life through death, and to commemorate the dead. We do this through the funeral service, and the rites by which we lay a person's body to rest.'
A Prayer Book for Australia, 1995
'The service in outline is as follows:
We gather in the presence of God,
and remember the person who has died.
We listen and respond to the word of God,
and proclaim the death and resurrection of Christ.
We give thanks for the life now ended,
and pray for those in need.
We leave the deceased in God's care,
and we continue life's journey.'
A Prayer Book for Australia, 1995.