Funerals

A Christian funeral at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Joplin is a worship service. We grieve, and we also gather around the promise of the resurrection. This page explains how a funeral here comes together, and how you can make your own wishes known ahead of time.

On this page

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When a death happens

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The Christian funeral

The funeral service comes from the Lutheran Service Book, the red hymnal in our pews. It includes Scripture readings, hymns, prayers and a sermon. The sermon tells the story of what Jesus has done for your loved one and for all of us, and gives the grieving the comfort of His promises.

As the service begins, the Altar Guild lays a white cloth called a pall over the casket. It reminds everyone of Baptism, when Christ covered your loved one with His own righteousness. Rich or poor, every casket looks the same under it. We use the pall at every funeral here; if your family has questions about it, talk with Pastor.

For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.

Romans 6:5 (ESV)

Because the funeral is worship, hymns and sacred music fit it best. Families choose hymns that have carried them, and our organist leads them. Pastor will go over your music choices with you when you meet to plan the service. A family member or friend is also welcome to share a eulogy during the service. Each year on All Saints’ Day, we read aloud the names of the members God has called home.

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Why the funeral matters for those who grieve

More families today are tempted to skip the funeral, keep it very small, or put it off. We understand why, but we gently encourage you to gather. This is especially easy to put off when a family chooses cremation. With no burial date to set, the funeral can slip by weeks, then months, and since the pandemic we have seen families who never gathered at all. Please set the service soon, ideally within a week or two, while the people who love you can still gather around you. People who study grief have found that being able to say goodbye matters. Families who take part in a funeral, by helping plan it, saying goodbye together, and standing with others who loved the same person, often say it helped them. During the pandemic, when many families could not hold a funeral at all, counselors saw how much harder grief became without one.

A funeral makes the loss real in a way that is hard but healthy. It gives your tears a place to go, and it surrounds you with people who will keep checking on you in the weeks to come. No one has to grieve alone, and no one has to find the right words, because the church gives them to you in the readings, the hymns and the prayers.

From Baptism day to funeral day

For a Christian, the funeral is not the end of the story. It is the last chapter of a story God began at the font. Many of our members were brought to Baptism in this church as babies. Here they heard God’s Word, confessed their faith at confirmation, and received the Lord’s Supper again and again. On the day of the funeral, the same promises are spoken in the same place, and the white pall laid over the casket recalls the white garment of Baptism.

That is why hope fills a Christian funeral even when tears do too. Jesus has already gone through death and out the other side. Because He lives, everyone baptized into Him will rise with Him on the Last Day, and we will see our loved ones again.

But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.

1 Thessalonians 4:13–14 (ESV)

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Plan your funeral ahead

When Pastor sits down with a grieving family, he asks which readings and hymns their loved one would have wanted. About nine times out of ten, nobody knows. That is why we encourage every member to write their wishes down and tuck them inside the front cover of their Bible, the first place a family looks. Our pastor preached on this in an All Saints’ Day sermon and shared his own plans.

• Fill it out, and keep it in the front of the Bible you actually read.
• Give a copy to the church office. We will keep it on file, so Pastor has it when your family calls.
• Tell your family where it is.
• Look at it again every few years. Favorite hymns change.

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Why a Christian funeral looks the way it does

A Lutheran funeral is not mainly a celebration of a life, though we give thanks for every life. It is the church at worship, doing what it does every Sunday: hearing God’s Word, singing His praise, and holding on to His promises. The focus is on Jesus, who died and rose again, because His resurrection is the only real comfort we have when someone dies.

That is also why the body is treated with honor. God made it, Christ redeemed it, and He will raise it on the Last Day. Hymns come from the hymnal because they confess the faith the whole church shares, and the white pall points back to Baptism, where God first claimed your loved one as His own.

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Wills and planning ahead with your gifts

Planning a funeral often raises other questions: Is my will up to date? Who will care for my family? Is there a gift I’d like to leave to the work of the church? Christians plan ahead not out of fear but as stewards, caring for the people and the gifts God has given us. An attorney drafts your will, and our Stewardship page explains how to remember Immanuel and Martin Luther School and where to find free gift-planning help.

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Care after the funeral

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Frequently Asked Questions

Do we need to be members of Immanuel?

Funerals in our church are generally for members of Immanuel. If your loved one wasn’t a member, Pastor is willing to lead a Christian funeral service at the funeral home. Call the church office, and he will talk it through with you.

Can the funeral be held at the funeral home instead of the church?

We prefer to hold funerals here in the church. It is where so many of our members were baptized, heard God’s Word and received the Lord’s Supper, and it is where the whole congregation can gather around your family. If your family would rather hold the service at the funeral home, just ask. Pastor can lead it there.

Can a veteran have military honors?

Yes. The flag-draped casket comes into the church, where the flag is exchanged for the white pall during the service, and goes back on as your loved one leaves for the cemetery. Your funeral home can arrange military honors, such as the folding of the flag and Taps, at the graveside, often with help from local veterans’ groups like the American Legion and the VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars).

Is it all right for a Christian to be cremated?

Yes. Families at Immanuel choose both burial and cremation, and Pastor cares for every family the same way. The Bible does not forbid cremation, and it does not change anyone’s salvation. It does not limit God either. The same Lord who raised Jesus from the tomb will raise all His people on the Last Day, however their bodies were laid to rest.

Christians have traditionally buried the body, the way Jesus Himself was laid in a tomb, because burial pictures the resurrection so clearly. Many families still choose it for that reason. If your family chooses cremation, please hold the funeral soon, ideally within a week or two of the death, with the urn here in the church for the service. We also gently encourage you to lay the ashes to rest in a cemetery or columbarium. A marked resting place honors the body God made, and it gives your family and future generations a place to visit and remember.

Can the funeral be livestreamed?

Ask the church office when you plan the service, and we will let you know what is possible.

What does a funeral at Immanuel cost?

Please ask the church office. They will gladly go over any costs with your family.

Where should memorial gifts go?

Your family chooses. If you would like memorial gifts to support the ministry of Immanuel and Martin Luther School, the church office can help you set that up.

More at Immanuel Lutheran

• Sunday Services — 8:00 and 10:30, with Bible class at 9:15
• What We Believe — the Lutheran faith in plain words
• Altar Guild — the women who prepare the altar, including for funerals
• Weddings at Immanuel — planning a Christian wedding
• Sermons — including an All Saints’ Day sermon on planning a Christian funeral
• Church calendar — everything happening at Immanuel

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Immanuel Lutheran Church is a congregation of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, 2616 S Connecticut Ave, Joplin, MO 64804. Home of Martin Luther School.