What is an LDS(Mormon) funeral service like?

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The title of this thread is my question. I am wondering if current and former Mormons on this forum could answer it. Thank you.šŸ™‚
 
It is pretty much like any other protestant standard funeral ( I have never been to a Catholic funeral). The only thing that might indicate it was LDS would be that the dead person would be wearing temple clothes instead of just a suit or whatever.
 
GoLatin said:
The title of this thread is my question. I am wondering if current and former Mormons on this forum could answer it. Thank you.šŸ™‚
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We recently attended DHā€™s grandmotherā€™s funeral. It was mainly talks by family members or ward members that knew her, with some hymns, followed by a reception. If they are an ā€œendowedā€ member they will be buried in their temple clothes.

This is what Boyd K. Packer has to say about what Mormon funerals should beā€¦

"Funerals could and should be the most spiritually impressive. They are becoming informal family reunions in front of ward members. Often the Spirit is repulsed by humorous experiences or jokes when the time could be devoted to teaching the things of the Spirit, even the sacred things.

When the family insists that several family members speak in a funeral, we hear about the deceased instead of about the Atonement, the Resurrection, and the comforting promises revealed in the scriptures. Now itā€™s all right to have a family member speak at a funeral, but if they do, their remarks should be in keeping with the spirit of the meeting.

I have told my Brethren in that day when my funeral is held, if any of them who speak talk about me, I will raise up and correct them. The gospel is to be preached. I know of no meeting where the congregation is in a better state of readiness to receive revelation and inspiration from a speaker than they are at a funeral. This privilege is being taken away from us because we donā€™t understand the order of thingsā€“the unwritten order of thingsā€“that relates to the administration of the Church and the reception of the Spirit. "

The whole talk is very interesting.
lds-mormon.com/unwrittn.shtml
 
When my father-in-law died, the ward Bishop and another man in the ward went to the funeral home, washed him, and clothed him. The service was very generic. A few reading, songs, and my husband talked about his father. Before the casket was closed, the Bishop put a green apron and a cap on the corpse. I donā€™t think I was supposed to see that, but I was curious as to what was happening so I inched my way closer for a ā€œpeekā€. At the cemetary, the grave was blessed, by my hubby was was non-practicing LDS at that time. A few songs were sung and a few words said by the Bishop. That was it. After the funeral, we all went to the meeting house for lunch prepared by the ward sisters.

Love and peace,
Mom of 5
 
GoLatin said:
The title of this thread is my question. I am wondering if current and former Mormons on this forum could answer it. Thank you.šŸ™‚
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Opening hymn, prayer, a couple of talks, closing hymn, prayer. Maybe someone throws in a musical number. We had a young woman murdered in our ward a few years ago. Many non-members went. Most of the ones that talked to me about it afterwards said they enjoyed attending the LDS funeral more than they did other funerals they had attended because it was so positive and hopeful. They were used to attending somber Catholic funerals where the priest was presiding and hardly knew the person who had died.
 
GoLatin said:
The title of this thread is my question. I am wondering if current and former Mormons on this forum could answer it. Thank you.šŸ™‚
Click to expand...
My ex-Mormon fianceā€™s mother died suddenly and unexpectedly last November, the day before Thanksgiving. Although they havenā€™t been to Mormon church in years, the father/husband, after some debate, decided to have a Mormon burial, and I was nearby throughout the process. In most respects it was like most funerals. Everything was handled by the family. There didnā€™t appear to be any structured ā€œserviceā€ but rather a gather of family and friends at the church, with the body on display. The gathering consisted of several testimonials by friends and family, a musical number by the young girls of the extended family, a flute solo by a native American long-time friend, and a piano solo by another family member. After this, the body was taken to the cemetery. The graveside service was short, seemingly unstructured as far as I could tell. Roses were placed on top of the casket, and it was buried. Overall I thought the entire affair was very tastefully done, and extremely reverent, with a tremendous amount of time spent by friends and family remember this wonderful lady. These are Mexican people, and all of them are still Catholics. Only my financeā€™s branch of the family converted Mormon some years ago. They all are very family oriented, and even though the Mormon conversion caused a lot of heartburn among the extended family, they all came running within hours from very long distances to attend the funeral and to grieve with her family.
 
christianley said:
Opening hymn, prayer, a couple of talks, closing hymn, prayer. Maybe someone throws in a musical number. We had a young woman murdered in our ward a few years ago. Many non-members went. Most of the ones that talked to me about it afterwards said they enjoyed attending the LDS funeral more than they did other funerals they had attended because it was so positive and hopeful. They were used to attending somber Catholic funerals where the priest was presiding and hardly knew the person who had died.
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You know what? I take umbrage with your last sentence. I donā€™t know why you think that a Priest ā€œhardly knowsā€ the person that dies. ALL the Catholic funerals I have been to have been absolutely wonderful. I would not say they were somberā€¦ I would say they were all very hopeful and beautiful. My MIL and FIL both died within 18 months of each other and their Parish Priest, who had been their Priest for 25+ years was able to tell us much about their spiritual lives inside the Parish. My FIL was a faithful daily Mass attender after my MIL died. Up until then, they both went to Mass each and every Sunday and once or twice during the week. They were involved in many aspects of Parish life and their funerals were standing room onlyā€¦ not just family, but the family of Jesus who worshipped with them throughout their marriage.

I recently was honored to play in the Bell Choir at my Parish for the funeral of Bishop Paul Dudley. Bishop Paul knew every name of every person in the Parish. Worldwide, he was instrumental for many many souls being converted to Catholicism. A few years back, Bishop Paul celebrated his 50th anniversary of ordination. All the gifts given at the celebration were used to purchase our Bells. His family was very musical and his niece and nephews sang beautifully and offered the Eulogy. Bishop Paul was buried in a plain pine box, which he had built a few years ago. It was beautiful and hopeful and truly joyous as 25+ Priests from around the Diocese attended this funeral. He was also given a funeral at the Cathedral the following day. Mass was celebrated and we all received the Eucharist with the knowledge that we are ONE Body in Christ and that we will see Bishop Paul again. He truly was a Saint. I look forward to seeing him canonized one day.

In contrast, I remember many many LDS funerals when I was a Mormon and they were all very somber and sullen. My Fatherā€™s funeral was especially horrible, not simply because it was my Father, but he was not a church go-er, and so indeed the few men who never in his life approached him gave these talks about him and they knew NOTHING of my Fatherā€™s life. They dressed him in brand new temple clothes. He didnā€™t own his own and probably hadnā€™t been in the temple since he married my Mom in 1956. There was no celebration of his life, unlike in the case of Bishop Dudleyā€¦ it was all about the church this and the church that.

probably rambling here, but I have seen my fair share of both kinds of funerals as well as protestant ones that have been more a beautiful celebration not only of the personā€™s life, but their life in Christ.

Steph
 
tundramom said:
You know what? I take umbrage with your last sentence. I donā€™t know why you think that a Priest ā€œhardly knowsā€ the person that dies. ALL the Catholic funerals I have been to have been absolutely wonderful. I would not say they were somberā€¦ I would say they were all very hopeful and beautiful. My MIL and FIL both died within 18 months of each other and their Parish Priest, who had been their Priest for 25+ years was able to tell us much about their spiritual lives inside the Parish. My FIL was a faithful daily Mass attender after my MIL died. Up until then, they both went to Mass each and every Sunday and once or twice during the week. They were involved in many aspects of Parish life and their funerals were standing room onlyā€¦ not just family, but the family of Jesus who worshipped with them throughout their marriage.

I recently was honored to play in the Bell Choir at my Parish for the funeral of Bishop Paul Dudley. Bishop Paul knew every name of every person in the Parish. Worldwide, he was instrumental for many many souls being converted to Catholicism. A few years back, Bishop Paul celebrated his 50th anniversary of ordination. All the gifts given at the celebration were used to purchase our Bells. His family was very musical and his niece and nephews sang beautifully and offered the Eulogy. Bishop Paul was buried in a plain pine box, which he had built a few years ago. It was beautiful and hopeful and truly joyous as 25+ Priests from around the Diocese attended this funeral. He was also given a funeral at the Cathedral the following day. Mass was celebrated and we all received the Eucharist with the knowledge that we are ONE Body in Christ and that we will see Bishop Paul again. He truly was a Saint. I look forward to seeing him canonized one day.

In contrast, I remember many many LDS funerals when I was a Mormon and they were all very somber and sullen. My Fatherā€™s funeral was especially horrible, not simply because it was my Father, but he was not a church go-er, and so indeed the few men who never in his life approached him gave these talks about him and they knew NOTHING of my Fatherā€™s life. They dressed him in brand new temple clothes. He didnā€™t own his own and probably hadnā€™t been in the temple since he married my Mom in 1956. There was no celebration of his life, unlike in the case of Bishop Dudleyā€¦ it was all about the church this and the church that.

probably rambling here, but I have seen my fair share of both kinds of funerals as well as protestant ones that have been more a beautiful celebration not only of the personā€™s life, but their life in Christ.

Steph
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Thatā€™s fine. Iā€™m just telling you what the people told me. I have been to a few Catholic funerals as well as Mormon funerals. I havenā€™t seen much difference. I would guess our parish priest doesnā€™t know most of his parish of 8500 very well even though he tries.
 
Catholic funerals SHOULD be somber. We are supposed to pray for the soul of the dead person, and not assume that they are already in Heaven.
 
Iā€™ve been to one. It was for a very dear friend.
A couple songs were sung that I did not know.
3 or 4 people (men) got up and gave their ā€œtestimonyā€.
His grandchildren all sang a song and cried the whole way through it. (that was very sad)
Then, it was over.
I did not feel any comfort from this service.
 
Of course, even though Catholic funerals should be somber, we should hope and pray for the dead person getting into Heaven.
 
zerinus said:
We have a recycling plant in Salt Lake City and we recycle their body parts.

zerinus
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Why do I believe this?

But nevermind that now. Another question along the lines of funerals. Do Mormons have any objection to cremation? Or have they ever?

Seems like Iā€™ve heard that the Catholic Church up until some years ago prohibited cremation, but I donā€™t know if that is true, or if it is, why it was true.

Anybody know anything about this?
 
Mormons accept creamation for the corpse. Hubbyā€™s uncle was creamated a year ago. First there was a service with the body in an open casket. Uncle was not active, service was short. An opening prayer, a reading, a song, a few words from the ward Bishop and a final blessing. We all went to a family dinner afterwards. No burial of the ashes to our knowledge.

There was a time when LDS did not allow creamation, however, like Catholics, they came to understand that burial plots are not only very expensive, but becomings will be scarce.

Love and peace,
Mom of 5
 
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