When I graduated from seminary, I was fortunate to serve as associate pastor with someone who was a meticulous record keeper in addition to being gifted for ministry in other ways. During my first week on the job, he showed me his office copy of the Evangelical United Brethren (EUB) hymnal used by our formerly EUB congregation. (In 1968, the EUB Church and the Methodist Church joined together to become the United Methodist Church.) Each hymn was marked with the dates it had been used in worship and with suggestions for future use. By making these notations, my fellow pastor avoided selecting any hymn too often or too seldom. A quick glance at the page reminded him which music went over well with the congregation, which hymns were too difficult to sing, and which music had been scored for instrumentalist in the church. His work made that hymnal a more valuable resource than it had been the day it arrived from the publisher. I began marking my own hymnal in the same way. Doing so helped me make wiser choices when planning worship. My choices, however, were limited to what were in that book. Because there were only three hymns in the section on eternal life, I had to look further afield for music suitable for funerals and memorial services, and to guess what other selections in the hymnal might be appropriate. I wished for an easier way to put together a worship service.
I longed for some fresh ideas and materials for preparing funeral services too. My denomination has its own Book of Worship, but it is a resource rather than a requirement for worship. The basic preaching and worship courses I had taken in seminary did not cover funerals, but I had attended enough services that I knew not all ministers or churches did things the same way. At that time I was unaware of The Abingdon Preaching Annual, The Minister’s Manual, Lectionary Homiletics, and other print resources. I did not know my way around the service books of other denominations, or how to develop the seemingly extemporaneous liturgy of pastors in churches that do not use a book of worship. The internet, with its wealth of resources for pastors, did not yet exist. The senior pastor’s marked-up hymnal was a good starting point, but I needed more help for planning worship in times of crisis and sorrow.
Some pastors cope with the need for resources by collecting paper files of material suitable for funerals, baptisms, weddings, and so on. Even if you keep files on your computer, making hard copies is strongly advised; if your hard drive crashes and burns or the power is out, you don’t want to be without all the good material you have stored. Collecting your own resources is a good start, but it does not guarantee you will have multiple options for each part of the service. For instance, your funeral file might end up with twelve suitable Scripture readings, one committal, and no prayers. When called on to conduct a funeral, you want to be ready to witness to the hope and comfort available through Jesus Christ, and not be frustrated because the limited resources in your files are already overused.
Part three of this book comprises resources for various acts of worship you are likely to include when designing a funeral or crisis-related service, or in extending pastoral care in more private settings. Chapter 13, “Prayers,” presents different types of prayers that are regularly part of a funeral, memorial service, or crisis-related worship. All of these are likely to be led by the officiant. Chapter 14, “Scripture Readings and Poetry,” and Chapter 15, “Music,” provide additional resources commonly used in public worship. Resources suitable for funerals of children, miscarriages and stillbirths are included in both chapters 13 and 14.
When I graduated from seminary, I was fortunate to serve as associate pastor with someone who was a meticulous record keeper in addition to being gifted for ministry in other ways. During my first week on the job, he showed me his office copy of the Evangelical United Brethren (EUB) hymnal used by our formerly EUB congregation. (In 1968, the EUB Church and the Methodist Church joined together to become the United Methodist Church.) Each hymn was marked with the dates it had been used in worship and with suggestions for future use. By making these notations,...
