Homegoing service: order of service and traditions

What "homegoing" means

Homegoings are held in Black churches, Baptist and Methodist among them. The word carries the faith the service rests on, that death is a going home to God, and churches call the service a homegoing service or a homegoing celebration. Many programs carry the same words on the cover.

The day holds grief and celebration together. The PBS documentary Homegoings, filmed at a funeral home in Harlem, shows customs meant to carry mourners from sorrow toward the faith that their loved one has gone home. In her book To Serve the Living, Suzanne E. Smith traces how Black funeral directors have arranged homegoings with dignity and ceremony from the time of slavery to the present.

Parts often found in a homegoing program

Churches publish their own orders for a funeral, and they differ in what they include, in the order, and in what each part is called. The order below gathers parts that appear in the funeral orders several Baptist and AME churches publish for their members. Treat it as a way to prepare for your conversation with the pastor, not as the order your church will use.

1. Processional. The clergy lead the family into the church.
2. Hymn. A hymn for everyone to sing.
3. Prayer. Some churches call it the prayer of comfort.
4. Scripture. A reading from the Old Testament and one from the New.
5. Selection. A song by the choir.
6. Acknowledgments and resolutions. Cards, the family's acknowledgment and any resolutions are read or acknowledged.
7. Remarks. Short words from friends and others who knew the person.
8. Obituary. Read aloud in some churches. In others, guests read it silently from the program, and the line says so.
9. Solo. A song by a soloist.
10. Eulogy. Often given by the pastor or a minister the church approves, and it can be a sermon as well as a tribute.
11. Closing prayer. Sometimes with a hymn.
12. Recessional. The family leaves, and the guests follow.

Some orders begin with a musical prelude, and some add a tribute from a church leader. A program sets each part on its own line, with the details beside it: "Selection — [choir name]", "Scripture — Old Testament: [reference], read by [name]", "Eulogy — [pastor's name]".

The pastor sets the order

The pastor, or a minister the pastor names, plans the service with the family and has the final word on the printed order. Some churches ask to approve the speakers and any outside singers or musicians. Some ask for the order of service a couple of days before it is printed, and at some churches the church office prints the program for its members.

So before you write the order, ask the church:

• who will give the eulogy
• how many people may give remarks, and for how long
• whether the obituary will be read aloud or silently
• which songs the choir and the soloist will sing
• whether the church prints the program, and when it needs the draft
• where the repast will be, and who prepares it

Some churches limit remarks, for example to three speakers of two minutes each. Knowing the limit before you invite anyone saves an awkward conversation later.

The church resolution

A resolution is a formal tribute to the person from their church, or from another organization they belonged to. It is written in a formal style: statements that begin "Whereas", about their life, their faith and their service, followed by statements that begin "Be it resolved", which express the group's sympathy. It is signed on the group's behalf.

The resolution is read or acknowledged during the service, and a copy is given to the family. Some churches read each resolution aloud. Others acknowledge them and pass them to the funeral director to give to the family.

The family does not write the resolution. If you would like it in the program, ask the church office whether one is being prepared and when it will be ready. A short one can go on the back page. A long one can stay with the family, and the order of service simply lists "Acknowledgments and Resolutions".

The family's acknowledgment

The acknowledgment is the family's own note of thanks, to everyone who called, visited, cooked, prayed and sent cards. In some churches it is read aloud during the acknowledgments. It also belongs on the back page of the program, where guests can keep it.

Two to four sentences is enough, in the family's voice throughout, for example: "The family of [full name] thanks you for every prayer, card, call and visit, and for the love you have shown in these days." There are more examples, traditional and simple, in acknowledgment wording for a funeral program.

The repast

The repast is the meal after the service, or after the burial when there is one. Some churches hold it in their own building, with the food prepared by a church ministry. Some set the menu and how long the meal lasts, and some ask the family to cover the cost. Other families hold the repast at home or somewhere else.

Print the place and the time on the back page, and say who is invited, so that no one is left unsure: "The family invites you to a repast at [place] immediately following the interment." If the repast is at a home, share the address by word of mouth rather than in print. If it is for the family only, leave it off the program.

If you make the program here, the "Traditional service" starting order can be changed line by line into your church's order, and each line has a part and a detail, such as the choir or who is speaking. The homegoing service program page shows an example homegoing order, and a simple funeral order of service shows how a general order compares.