The good funeral
Subtitle: death, grief, and the community of care
By: Thomas G. Long, Thomas Lynch
Edition: First edition.
Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press
Published: 2013
Place of publication: Louisville, KY
Language: eng
Number of pages: 252
ISBN-13: 9780664238537
Copyright date: 2013
Subjects: Death; Bereavement; Mourning customs; Funeral rites and ceremonies
Description: "Two of the most authoritative voices on the funeral industry come together here in one volume to discuss the current state of the funeral. Through their different lenses -- one as a preacher and one as a funeral director -- Thomas G. Long and Thomas Lynch alternately discuss several challenges facing "the good funeral," including the commercial aspects that have led many to be suspicious of funeral directors, the sometimes tense relationship between pastors and funeral directors, the tendency of modern funerals to exclude the body from the service, and the rapid growth in cremation. The book features forewords from Patrick Lynch, President of the National Funeral Directors Association, and Barbara Brown Taylor, highly praised author and preacher. It is an essential resource for funeral directors, morticians, and pastors, and anyone else interested in current funeral practices."--
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 239-245) and index.
Table of contents: title: Why we do this.; title: How we come to be the ones we are  -- Thomas Lynch; title: Falling into ministry, learning about death  -- Thomas G. Long -- Caring for the dead.; title: Humanity 101  -- Thomas Lynch -- Habeas corpus ... not / -- Thomas G. Long -- Funeral directors and clergy.; title: Our own worst enemies  -- Thomas Lynch; title: Funeral directors : who needs them?  -- Thomas G. Long -- The funeral.; title: The theory and practice of cremation  -- Thomas Lynch; title: A sense of movement, a sense of meaning, a sense of hope : the good funeral  -- Thomas G. Long -- The grieving.; title: Grief and the search for meaning  -- Thomas G. Long; title: All saints, all souls : a coda -- Thomas Lynch.