The deaths of Pope John Paul II and former President Ronald Reagan brought the funeral rite to a new level of public scrutiny, with television commentators and print reporters explaining every ritual and custom. But while papal and state funerals have changed little through the years, private funerals in this country have, reflecting significant shifts in America’s culture and religion. Individually or collectively, these trends offer rich opportunities for storytelling. They also will become more prominent as funerals increase; the number of U.S. deaths per year is expected to nearly double between 2000 and 2055, to 4.7 million (see chart).
Angles
Celebrate: Funerals have shifted from focusing on a person’s death to celebrating his or her life, with an increasing emphasis on individual expression through informal eulogies, secular music and wide variety of other means. Experts say this makes the funeral more about the mourners and their grief than about the dead and his or her transition to the grave.
Do-it-yourself funerals: A small in-home funeral movement is taking root, with friends and family washing, dressing, showing and burying loved ones on their own.
Cremation: More Americans – 28 percent – are choosing cremation than ever before. This includes Roman Catholics, whose church only began allowing cremation in 1963. In one poll, 42 percent of Americans said they preferred cremation and 40 percent said they wanted a traditional burial.
Going green: Concern for the environment is extending to the grave, with people choosing eco-friendly caskets or promoting the use of “green cemeteries.”
Other faiths: The influx of immigrants of Muslim, Hindu and Buddhist religions has forced local funeral directors to educate themselves about these faith’s rites and adapt the services they offer.
Interfaith funerals: More and more, the faith tradition of the deceased is not shared by friends, family or even the spouse and children. How are families, funeral homes and clergy navigating issues related to the variety of faith traditions that may be present at a funeral?
Jewish burial societies: Among American Jews, there has been a growing interest in Chevra Kadishas, the extremely private Jewish burial societies that perform a range of burial rituals, from washing the body to maintaining watch over the dead.
Public mourning: Victims of war, terrorist attacks, space shuttle disasters, murder, and car accidents have all inspired public mourning in communities across the country. Experts can explain why these public rituals are becoming more common and how they help.
Seeking spirituality: Studies show an increasing number of Americans consider themselves “spiritual but not religious,” often choosing not to participate in institutional religion. How are they adapting traditional funeral practices?
Children: In years past, deaths of family or friends were likely to be children’s first association with death. Now kids are exposed to death through news media, films, television, video games and more. How is children’s participation in funerals changing?
Funeral boom: As baby boomers age and die, there will be more funerals, which are one of few occasions that bring some people to houses of worship. Have clergy changed their approach to funerals, knowing they are likely ministering to more people who do not regularly participate in institutional religion or share their faith tradition?
Pagan rites: As neo-pagans age, they are crafting their own original funeral ceremonies and rituals.
Why it Matters
The way Americans grieve and bury their dead reflects their deepest beliefs about the meaning of life and death.
Jump to national sources
Jump to background
On the web
Here are some web sites that offer information on the funeral customs and rituals of different religious traditions:
BUDDHISM
• Buddhanet describes funeral traditions of some branches of Buddhism, including the Chinese Buddhist tradition of 49-day funerals.
CATHOLICISM
• The Catholic Diocese of Edmundston, Canada, describes the Catholic funeral liturgy and the importance of the presence of the body in the service.
• About.com maintains a page of guidelines for Catholic funerals.
HINDUISM
• Hindunet.net maintains a page on Hindu death rituals, including sprinkling the body with gold dust.
ISLAM
• Understanding Islam discusses central rituals of an Islamic burial, including wrapping the corpse in a kafan, or plain cloth.
JUDAISM
• Jewish Family explains Jewish funeral practices, including the meaning of sitting shiva, a three- to seven-day mourning period.
• The Funeral Directory describes Jewish funeral practices, including the obervance of yarzheit, the anniversary of the person’s death.
• The nonprofit resource group Kavod v’Nichum and the Jewish Funeral Practices Committee of Greater Washington co-publish a web site devoted to Jewish funeral practices.
MORMONISM
• The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints briefly describes the Mormon attitude toward death and funerals, which are seen as more of a rite of passage than a commemoration of an end.
NEO-PAGAN
• The Witches’ League for Public Awareness describes a sample neo-pagan memorial service.
• San Francisco-based Reclaiming posts sources for mounting a neo-pagan funeral service.
ORTHODOX
• The Eastern Orthodox Church in America has a page of questions and answers about its funeral traditions, including why cremation is not allowed.
• The Orthodox Church in America has a page describing its funeral practices.
National sources
• ACADEMICS
• Gary Laderman is associate professor of religion at Emory University in Atlanta and author of Rest in Peace: A Cultural History of Death and the Funeral Home in Twentieth-Century America (Oxford University Press, 2003). Contact 404-727-4641, gladerm@emory.edu.
• Stephen Prothero is author of Purified By Fire: A History of Cremation in America (University of California Press, 2001) and chairman of the religion department at Boston University. Contact 617-353-4426, prothero@bu.edu.
• Thomas G. Long, Bandy Professor of preaching at the Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta, frequently speaks and writes about Christian funeral practices and is at work on a book on the topic. Contact 404-727-5144, thomas.long@emory.edu.
FUNERAL SOURCES
• Fay Spano and Katie Monfre are in public relations for the National Funeral Directors Association, an organization of mostly independent funeral home operators, based in Brookfield, Wis. They can discuss the influence that the needs of different ethnic and religious groups have had on funeral directors and their services. Contact 262-789-1880.
• Charles Chafer is chief executive officer and co-founder of Space Services, a Houston-based company that offers “spaceflight memorials” – the launching of human cremains into orbit around the Earth. Contact 281-971-4019 ext. 411.
• Janet Protzy is communications director for the International Order of the Golden Rule, an association of 1,200 independently owned funeral homes. Contact 800-637-8030 ext.108, jprotzel@ogr.org.
• Lisa Carlson is executive director of the Funeral Consumers Alliance in Burlington, Vt., and author of Caring For the Dead: Your Final Act of Love (Upper Access, 1998), a consumer guide to making funeral arrangements. She can discuss the influence baby boomers have had on the funeral industry. Contact 800-765-0107, info@funerals.org.
• Bob Boetticher is vice president of the National Museum of Funeral History in Houston. Contact 281-876-3063, info@nmfh.org.
• Jon Austin is the director of the Museum of Funeral Customs in Springfield, Ill. He can discuss the history of funeral customs in the United States and can refer reporters to licensed funeral directors in their area. Contact 217-544-3480, funeralmuseum@ifda.org.
• Kimberley Campbell runs Memorial Ecosystems Inc., a company that promotes using memorial parks to restore and protect nature by allowing only biodegradable caskets. It is based in Westminster, S.C. Contact 864-647-7798.
• Jerri Lyons is director of Final Passages, a home-based funeral nonprofit organization in Sebastopol, Calif. She has said that personally caring for the body of a loved one – washing it, dressing it and displaying it in the home – can be healing for survivors. Contact 707-824-0268, info@finalpassages.org.
CLERGY AND OTHERS
• M. Macha NightMare is co-author of The Pagan Book of Living and Dying (HarperSanFrancisco, 1997) and is an expert on neo-pagan death and funerary practices. She lives in San Rafael, Calif. Contact herself@machanightmare.com.
• Maurice Lamm is an Orthodox rabbi and professor at Yeshiva University in New York, N.Y. He is author of The Jewish Way in Death and Mourning (Jonathan David Publishers, 2000). Contact via Jonathan David Publishers, 718-456-8611.
• Edward Searl is author of In Memoriam: A Guide to Modern Funeral and Memorial Services (Skinner House Books, 2000). He is a Unitarian Universalist minister in Hinsdale, Ill. Contact 630-323-2885.
• David Zinner is executive director of Kavod v’Nichum, a nonprofit resource group in the greater Washington, D.C., area that educates and advocates for Chevra Kadisha groups in North America. Contact 410-733-3700.
• Elizabeth Westrate wrote, produced and directed A Family Undertaking, a documentary about the home funeral movement. Contact 646-638-3219, beth@fivespotfilms.com.
Background
• Read an article in the Feb 6, 2005, issue of the Los Angeles Times magazine about the growth of the in-home funeral movement.
• Read an article by Ari Goldman that was published in the Sept. 7, 2003, New York Times about death and mourning rituals from different religious traditions.
• Read a July 10, 2003, Stateline.org story about highway memorials for accident victims and state laws.
• Read “Greener Ways to the Great Beyond,” an article in the April/May 2003 issue of Mother Earth News about eco-friendly burials and cemeteries.
• Read an article from a 1999 series in the Sacramento Bee that examines changing funeral customs.
• Read transcripts from The End of Life: Exploring Death in America, a program aired on National Public Radio in 1998 that dealt in part with changing funeral customs.
• Read an article by Thomas G. Long posted on the University of Minnesota web site about changing American funeral practices.
• Read three articles about the rising interest in Chevra Kadisha: one from the Jewish Times, one from the Forward and one from The Jewish Week.
• Read an article from Catholic Update about the decision to allow cremains at Catholic funeral Masses.
• The PBS television series POV has an interactive timeline that traces the history of death and funeral customs in America.
POLLS AND STATISTICS
• Read the Nov. 18, 2004, results of a poll by the National Funeral Directors Association which showed that personalizing funerals was a priority for Americans, more of whom wish to be cremated.
• See a chart listing the number of deaths in the United States by year, along with the number of projected deaths by year through 2080. The chart is posted by the National Funeral Directors Association.
• A 2004 statistics report from the the U.S. Census Bureau Statistics projects the age of the U.S. population through 2050, when more than 20 percent of the population will be 65 or older.
Regional sources
STATE BY STATE
• The International Order of the Golden Rule maintains a state-by-state directory of independently owned funeral homes.
• The National Funeral Directors Association maintains a page that shows state cremation rates.
• Florence Pressman is executive director of the Jewish Funeral Directors of America in Lynn, Mass., and can discuss Jewish funerals and changing customs. Contact 781-477-9393.
• Mosha Epstein is a rabbi and author of The Tahara Manual of Practices (Chevra Kadisha Zichron Shabtai Leib of Greater Bridgeport, 1995). He is spiritual leader of Congregation Agudas Achim in Bridgeport, Conn. Contact 203-335-6353.
• Ray Neun directs the New Hampshire Funeral Directors Association and two New Hampshire funeral homes. He can discuss changing funeral trends and how the funeral industry has adapted to meet new consumer demands. Contact 603-934-4871.
IN THE EAST• Lucy Bregman is professor of religion, death and dying at Temple University in Philadelphia. Her books on religion and death include Death and Dying, Spirituality and Religions: A Study of the Death Awareness Movement (Peter Lang, 2003). Contact 215-204-1746, bregman@temple.edu.
• Beth Knox runs Crossings, a nonprofit organization that assists families with home funerals. She lives in Silver Spring, Md. Contact 301-593-5451.
• Charlton McIlwain is an assistant professor in the department of culture and communication at New York University in New York, N.Y. He is the author of Death in Black and White: Death, Ritual and Family Ecology (Hampton Press, 2003), which examines African-American funeral practices. Contact 212-992-9495, cdm1@nyu.edu.
• Regina Sandler-Phillips is a rabbi, chaplain and educator who works primarily through Ways of Peace Consulting and Educational Services. She is the founder of the Hevra Kadisha (sacred Jewish burial fellowship) at Park Slope Jewish Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. She has kept the vigil over Jewish dead in hospitals, private homes and funeral parlors, and is an acknowledged authority on Jewish funeral issues. She is completing the manuscript for her book, Sacred Undertaking: Jewish Acts of Kindness with the Living and the Dead. Contact waysofpeace@earthlink.net or hevra.kadisha@psjc.org.
• Justin Holcomb is a lecturer in the sociology and religion departments at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. He is author of the essay “Contemporary Funerals: Personalizing Tradition” in the forthcoming Death and Religion in a Changing World (M.E. Sharpe, 2005). Contact 434-989-7055, jh2ea@virginia.edu or justin.holcomb@juno.com.
• Karla Holloway is a professor of English at Duke University in Durham, N.C., and author of Passed On: African American Mourning Stories (Duke University Press, 2002), in which she examines African-American burial and embalming rituals, funeral services and the undertaking industry. Contact 919-684-8993, karla.holloway@duke.edu.
• Sarah York is author of Remembering Well: Rituals for Celebrating Life and Mourning Death (Jossey-Bass, 2000). She conducts workshops based on her book and is a Unitarian Universalist minister who lives near Asheville, N.C. Contact 919-401-0873 or 828-628-1735, sarah@sarahyork.com.
• Barry Pitegoff is chairman of the cemetery/Chevra Kadisha committee at Temple Israel, a Reform congregation in Tallahassee, Fla. He recently conducted a class on the Jewish approach to end-of-life rituals at the temple that attracted a large interest from the congregation. Contact 850-877-3517.
• Christopher Leevy Johnson is both a funeral director and an African-American studies professor at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, S.C. He is researching the role of African-American funeral directors in the black church, politics and community affairs. Contact 803-777-7248, Chris@leevy.com.
• Bashir Chughtai is cemetery committee chairperson at the Islamic Center of Virginia in Richmond, Va. The center has contracted with a local funeral home for the use of its facilities to wash and dress bodies according to Islamic law. Contact 804-379-9662.
• Clifton Bryant is a sociologist at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and editor of the two-volume Handbook of Death and Dying (Sage Publications, 2003). He has described death rituals as “rites of intensification.” Contact 540-231-8962, cbryant@vt.edu.
• Gayden Metcalfe is co-author, with Charlotte Hays, of Being Dead Is No Excuse: The Official Southern Ladies Guide to Hosting the Perfect Funeral (Miramax Books, 2005). She lives in Greenville, Miss. Contact via Claire McKinney of Miramax publicity, 212-941-3875 or 917-606-5503, claire.mckinney@miramax.com.
• Oliver Leaman is philosophy professor at the University of Kentucky and co-editor of Encyclopedia of Death and Dying (Routledge, 2001), which describes a history of American funeral practices. Contact oleaman@uky.edu.
• Brendan Freeman is a Cistercian monk and abbot of New Melleray Abbey, a community of about 30 monks in Peosta, Iowa. The monks hand-make wooden caskets and urns that they bill as a “soulful alternative” to more elaborate caskets. Contact 563-588-2319.
• Masih Siddiqi is a member of the Islamic Center of Naperville, Ill., where he is part of a group that coordinates Muslim burial services. The center has contracted with two local funeral homes to use their facilities to wash (khusl) and dress (kafan) the bodies. Contact 630-302-6274.
• Jonathan C. Smith is an assistant professor of American studies at St. Louis University and is researching African-American funerary customs. Contact 314-977-7122, smithj2@slu.edu.
• Rochelle Millen is a religion professor at Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio, and author of Women, Birth, and Death in Jewish Law and Practice (University Press of New England, 2004), which examines the role of women in Jewish funerals. Contact 937-327-7400, rmillen@wittenberg.edu.
• Corky Ra is the founder of Summum, a nonprofit organization in Salt Lake City that offers mummification services. The group bills itself as “the source of all spiritual progression.” The mummification process involves soaking the body in embalming fluid, wrapping it in gauze and covering it with polyurethane before installing it in a bronze casing that is then filled with resin. Contact 801-355-0137.
• Qadeer Qazi is a Muslim and a funeral director at Rahma Funeral Home in Dallas. He recently wrote an article about Muslim burial practices that appeared in two funeral industry magazines. Contact 972-386-0383.
• Michael Kearl is chairman of the department of sociology and anthropology at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, and an expert on death and dying in America and around the world. He maintains an extensive web site on the sociology of death and dying that includes a good deal about funerals and burials. Contact mkearl@trinity.edu.
• Dave Burrell is an historian for Historical Insights who has studied American funeral practices and written four papers on the subject. He says one of the major shifts in American funerals and attitudes toward death are that the body is now seen as “symbolically empty.” He lives in the Denver area. Contact 303-818-3263, info@historicalinsights.com.
IN THE WEST/NORTHWEST• Ronald Barrett is a psychology professor at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. He is an expert on African-American contemporary funeral practices. Contact 310-338-2995, rbarrett@lmu.edu.
• Kat Alessi operates Thresholds Home Funerals. Founded in 2003, Thresholds is a non-embalming funeral establishment in San Diego, Calif. It offers classes on “reclaiming death as a sacred event.” Contact 619-358-9254 or homefunerals@cox.net.
• Tom Bruce is a psychologist, thanatologist and author who teaches a class in death and dying at Sacramento City College in California. Contact 916-558-2294, brucete@yahoo.com.
• The Muslim Shroud is a Portland, Ore.-based online business and service for Muslims seeking information about and products for Muslim burials. Contact 503-244-6561.
