Write a will

o Explains how you want to be

buried and what you want to do
with all of your material wealth
after you die
Sometimes people purchase & reserve a
gravesite where they want to be buried

Family of the deceased will organize a visitation (also

called a wake) for all of the deceaseds friends and
family to visit the corpse
o A sermon and prayer will be said for the
deceased at the wake
After the visitation, they hold a funeral
o Typically there will be another sermon; if the
deceased is Catholic the pastor will absolve the
deceased of their sins
o Hymns are usually sung at the funeral
o The casket will be carried from the car to the plot
where the funeral will be held
Burial is the traditional option but cremation is
becoming more popular

Christians believe that if they follow the

teachings from The Bible they will go to
Heaven where their souls will live with
God for the rest of eternity
Catholics believe there is a chance your
soul could go to purgatory or limbo
Both Protestants and Catholics believe if
you are bad and do not follow The Bible
you will go to Hell

Whether we are religious or not, most of us in America will follow the traditional Christian burial
We tend to feel anxiety about death in our culture
We may sort of fear death? If people in our culture identify as Christians or agnostics they are probably
afraid of going to Hell. Death is a potentially scary thing for us
Christianitys death ritual seems very sad and burdensome to the family of the deceased