The Suicide Funeral (or Memorial Service)

Book excerpt: To our knowledge nothing with The Suicide Funeral (or Memorial Service): Honoring Their Memory, Comforting Their Survivors' scope and depth has ever been published. This is an aid to anyone who will be called upon to do a funeral for the nearly 43,000 suicides in America each year. This book is designed to assist clergy, chaplains, and other faith leaders as they develop sermons and homilies for a funeral service. Its mandate is to help those searching for inspiration even though they may feel confused or uncertain undertaking such a daunting assignment. Those who plan and lead a funeral service may enable family and friends to understand and participate intentionally in their grief process. Clergy can have a significant impact on how people react to the suicide as well as provide comfort and assistance to those left behind on their journey through grief. Your leadership will influence how the suicide's bereaved are treated by others in the days, weeks, and months following the death. Because suicide does not discriminate by race, socio-economic status, or religion, a broad range of faiths and denominations are represented in this book's sermons, services, and perspectives.