A Pastor's Practical Guide to Funerals: Offering Help, Assurance, and Hope

This straight-forward book integrates the pragmatic "how to" of the funeral process--especially in dealing with "difficult" funerals--with the art of being a caring and healing presence before, during, and after the funeral. While conducting a funeral is one the great privileges of ministry, pastors must be skilled and ready to guide grieving family and friends through the process of saying goodbye and burying a loved one. With sample services, prayers, sermon themes, and Bible readings, this book will help pastors hear, name, and integrate relevant illustration into a respectful story of the deceased's life--a story that is appropriate to the particular circumstances of each situation. Contents include: Preparing for Death; Caring through Anticipated Death; Caring through Sudden Death; Meeting with Family before the Funeral Service; Creating the Funeral Service; Creating the Funeral Sermon; and Following up with Grievers


About the Author
Franklin, Lee: - Lee Franklin is an ordained minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and a board certified chaplain (Association for Professional Chaplains). She currently serves as a hospice chaplain in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. A frequent contributor to Daily Bible Studies, she is also the author of A Pastor s Practical Guide to Funerals (Abingdon Press, 2013). She writes for publications, including Circuit Rider for United Methodist clergy, and PlainViews, a chaplaincy journal. Lee also leads workshops for laity and clergy on pastoral care, grief, death, and dying.