GREETING
The Lord be With You
And Also With You 

 

Jesus said, I am the resurrection and I am life.

Those who believe in me, even though they die, yet shall they live,

    and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die.

I am Alpha and Omega, 

the beginning and the end, the first and the last.

I died, and behold I am alive for evermore,

   and I hold the keys of hell and death.

Because I live, you shall live also.

 

Friends, we have gathered here to praise God

   and to witness to our faith as we celebrate the life of
_____________

We come together in grief, acknowledging our human loss.

May God grant us grace, that in pain we may find comfort,

   in sorrow hope, in death resurrection.

 OPENING PRAYER

Let us Pray
Eternal God,

we praise you for the great company of all those

   who have finished their course in faith

   and now rest from their labor.

We praise you for those dear to us

   whom we name in our hearts before you.

Especially we praise you for __________________

   whom you have graciously received into your presence.

To all of these, grant your peace.

Let perpetual light shine upon them;

and help us so to believe where we have not seen,

   that your presence may lead us through our years,

   and bring us at last with them

      into the joy of your home

      not made with hands but eternal in the heavens;

through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

​

REFLECTIONS
 - Possible reading of scripture

- other readings, poems, etc
 - a eulogy, or naming of the persons life journey

 - option for opening up for persons to share

 

PRAYER

Let us Pray

 

“God of us all, your love never ends.

When all else fails, you still are God.

We pray to you for one another in our need,

   and for all, anywhere, who mourn with us this day.

To those who doubt, give light;

   to those who are weak, strength;

   to all who have sinned, mercy;

   to all who sorrow, your peace.

Keep true in us

   the love with which we hold one another.

In all our ways we trust you.

​

WORDS AT GRAVE SIDE (SERVICE OF COMMITTAL)

OPTION 1
Listen, I will tell you a mystery!

We will not all die, but we will all be changed.

For this perishable body must put on imperishability,

and this mortal body must put on immortality.

Then the saying that is written will be fulfilled:

"Death has been swallowed up in victory."

Thanks be to God,

who gives us the victory through our Risen Savior Jesus Christ.

​

OPTION 2
Jesus, in his teaching, asked us to look to nature to understand the mystery of life and death. He said, "Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.”

Friends it is by faith that we trust that life springs from death, that death does not have the final victory.

As we stand we commit this body to the ground, earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust - we also commit our hearts and those dear to us to the never-failing love of God.

​

PRAYER OF COMMENDING SPIRIT BACK TO GODS CARE

Let us pray.

O God, you have ordered this wonderful world

and know all things in earth and in heaven.

Give us such faith that by day and by night, at all times and in all places, we may without fear commit ourselves and those dear to us

to your never-failing love, in this life and in the life to come.

Into your hands,

   we commend your beloved    ____________

Receive him/her into the arms of your mercy.

Raise him/her up with all your people.

Receive us also, and raise us into a new life.

Help us so to love and serve you in this world

   that we may enter into your joy in the world to come.

This body we commit to the ground earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust.

As we pray together the prayer that your son taught us. Amen.

​

OPTION # 2 For CREMATION

RESPONSE FOR RELEASING ASHES AS "BURIAL"

​

Into the freedom of wind and sunshine

We let you go

Into the dance of the stars and the planets

We let you go

Into the wind’s breath and the hands of the star maker

We let you go

We love you, we miss you, we want you to be happy

Go safely, go dancing, go running home" (by Ruth Burgess)

 

BENEDICTION

The peace of God which passes all understanding

   keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God,

      and of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

And the blessing of God Almighty,

   the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,

   be among you and remain with you always.

Amen.