Funeral Order of Service

The standard order, in sequence

This is the order used in most non-denominational and Protestant funerals in the United States, and it is close enough to be useful for almost any service. The timings are what these parts really take when nobody rushes.

Add those up and the service itself lands between 35 and 55 minutes. If the number worries you, cut the reflections to two speakers and drop one of the readings. Nobody will notice, and the service will be better for it.

What each part actually is

Before it starts

The doors usually open 30 minutes ahead. There may be a viewing or a receiving line during this window, where the family stands near the casket and guests come through to speak to them. This is often the longest and hardest part of the day for the family, and it is entirely optional. Music plays throughout. If you have a slideshow, this is when it runs.

The family is generally gathered somewhere private and brought in together at the start. The funeral director will find you and tell you when to move.

The opening

The processional is short and formal. Everyone stands as the family enters. The officiant then welcomes the room in two or three sentences, says the person’s full name, and gives an opening prayer or asks for a moment of silence.

The first hymn goes here for a practical reason: it gives the room something to do together in the first five minutes, which settles everyone.

Readings and music in the middle

Most services have one or two readings. In a Christian service these are scripture, most often Psalm 23, John 14, or a passage from Ecclesiastes or Revelation. In a secular service they are poems or passages from a book the person loved. There is a full set of options in our lists of Bible verses for funeral programs and funeral poems.

Music is placed between the spoken parts on purpose. It gives people somewhere to put their feelings and gives the next speaker a moment to get to the front. Two or three musical pieces is normal. Any more and the service starts to feel long.

Reflections, the eulogy, and the message

These three get confused with each other constantly. Reflections are short, unscripted tributes from anyone who wants to speak. The eulogy is the one prepared tribute that tells the story of the life. The message or homily is the clergy’s address, which is about faith and consolation more than biography.

If you are giving the eulogy, five to eight minutes is plenty. How to write a eulogy walks through the structure, and there are complete eulogy examples you can adapt.

A word about open reflections: if you invite anyone to come forward, appoint someone to close it. Two prepared speakers plus one open invitation is manageable. An open microphone with no one steering it can add twenty minutes and change the mood of the room.

The ending

The closing prayer or benediction ends the service proper. If there is no graveside committal, words of committal are said here instead. The officiant then gives directions to the cemetery and the reception, which is the piece families most often forget to plan for.

The recessional reverses the processional. Casket first, then the family, then the congregation is released row by row from the front. Guests generally stay standing until the family has passed.

After the service

The procession to the cemetery is led by the funeral home. The committal itself is brief: a scripture or a short reading, a prayer, and sometimes each person placing a flower or a handful of earth. Military honors, if there are any, happen here.

The repast or reception follows, usually in a church hall, a restaurant, or someone’s home. There is no order of service for this part, and there does not need to be.

Orders for six kinds of service

These are the shapes each kind of service actually takes. Fill-in versions of all six are on the order of service template page, and completed ones with names and times are on the order of service examples page.

1. Traditional Protestant church funeral

1. Prelude
2. Processional
3. Welcome and opening prayer
4. Opening hymn
5. Old Testament reading
6. New Testament reading
7. Musical selection
8. Reflections from family and friends
9. Eulogy
10. Message
11. Closing hymn
12. Benediction
13. Recessional
14. Committal and repast

This is the order most funeral homes assume unless you tell them otherwise. Denominations vary in what they call things: an invocation instead of an opening prayer, a sermon instead of a message.

2. Catholic funeral Mass

A Mass of Christian Burial has a set liturgical structure. The family chooses the readings, the music and the gift bearers, but not the order.

1. Greeting at the door of the church, sprinkling with holy water, and the placing of the pall on the casket
2. Entrance procession with the entrance hymn
3. Opening prayer
4. First reading, usually from the Old Testament
5. Responsorial psalm, very often Psalm 23
6. Second reading, from the New Testament letters
7. Gospel acclamation and Gospel
8. Homily
9. General intercessions, also called the prayer of the faithful
10. Presentation of the gifts and the Liturgy of the Eucharist
11. The Lord’s Prayer, sign of peace, and Communion
12. Final commendation and farewell, with the song of farewell
13. Procession from the church
14. Rite of committal at the cemetery

Words of remembrance from a family member are permitted, usually limited to one speaker after Communion and expected to be brief. Practice differs from parish to parish, so ask the parish office rather than assuming. The Catholic funeral Mass program page covers the printed side in detail.

3. Homegoing service

The homegoing service in the Black church tradition has its own well-established order, and it is longer and more musical than a typical Protestant funeral.

1. Processional
2. Hymn of comfort
3. Prayer of comfort, or invocation
4. Scripture: Old Testament and New Testament
5. Selection by the choir or a soloist
6. Reading of the obituary, often read silently
7. Resolutions and acknowledgement of condolences
8. Reflections, limited to two minutes per speaker
9. Selection
10. Eulogy, given by the pastor
11. Recessional and final viewing
12. Benediction
13. Committal at the cemetery, then the repast

Resolutions are formal tributes read on behalf of church boards, auxiliaries, clubs or employers. See homegoing service program for the printed wording.

4. Memorial service, with no casket present

Held after cremation or after burial has already taken place, often weeks later. Nothing changes structurally, but the tone is calmer and there is more room for people to speak.

1. Gathering music
2. Welcome
3. Opening reading or prayer
4. Life sketch or obituary read aloud
5. Reflections, three or four speakers
6. Musical selection or slideshow
7. Eulogy
8. Closing words
9. Invitation to the reception

5. Graveside service only

A short service at the cemetery with no church or chapel portion. Guests stand, so keep it under twenty-five minutes and think about the weather.

1. Gathering at the graveside
2. Opening words
3. Scripture or a short reading
4. Brief remarks or a eulogy
5. Words of committal
6. Prayer and benediction
7. Placing of flowers or earth

If military honors are included, they come after the committal: the rifle volleys if there is a rifle party, then Taps, then the flag folding and the presentation to the next of kin. The military funeral program page covers the wording for that sequence.

6. Celebration of life

Less formal, usually not in a church, and often not led by clergy at all. There is still an order, and it still helps to have one written down.

1. Guests arrive; music and photo boards
2. Host welcomes everyone
3. Opening reading or a favorite poem
4. Slideshow
5. Two or three prepared tributes
6. Open invitation for anyone to share a memory
7. A song everyone associates with them
8. Closing words and a toast
9. Food and time together

More on that format, including where to hold one, is on the celebration of life program page. Other traditions have their own orders: a Jewish funeral is notably shorter and is followed by shiva, and an LDS funeral follows a set pattern set by the ward.

The shape of the whole day

Families plan the service and then get caught out by everything around it. This is how a typical day runs when the burial follows the service.

1. 1

   Family arrives, 60 to 90 minutes before

   You will be asked to come early to see the person privately, approve the flowers, and be shown where to sit. Bring water and tissues. Eat something first, even if you do not want to.

2. 2

   Visitation or viewing, 30 to 60 minutes before

   Guests arrive and greet the family. This is optional and it is tiring. If you would rather not stand in a receiving line, tell the funeral director and they will simply seat people instead.

3. 3

   The service, 30 to 60 minutes

   Longer for a Mass or a homegoing service. The officiant keeps time, so if a speaker runs over, that is their problem to manage, not yours.

4. 4

   Procession to the cemetery, 15 to 40 minutes

   Cars line up behind the hearse with the family first. The funeral home hands out flags or magnets for the windshields. Guests who cannot make the cemetery leave here.

5. 5

   Committal, 10 to 20 minutes

   Short and outdoors. Chairs are set out for immediate family. You do not have to stay until the casket is lowered, and many families do not.

6. 6

   Repast or reception, one to two hours

   Give someone else the job of hosting this. Announce the location twice during the service and print it on the back of the program, because people will not remember it.

Who leads which part

One person should hold the master copy of the order on the day, and it should not be the closest family member. Give it to a cousin, a neighbor, or the person in your family who is good at logistics.

How the order appears in the program

In a printed program the order of service takes the inside-right panel of a folded sheet, or the top of page two in a booklet. It is a list, not a script. Each line names the part, and where it matters, who is doing it.

Do not print the full text of prayers or readings unless the congregation says them aloud together. It doubles the page count and nobody reads it. Funeral program format covers which panel takes what, and what to include in a funeral program covers everything that sits around the order.

If you would rather not lay it out yourself, Reposa asks you which kind of service you are having, fills in the standard order for it, and puts the finished list into a print-ready program alongside the obituary and matching prayer cards.

Cutting the service down

You are allowed to do less than you think. A funeral does not become more respectful by being longer, and a short service that people can sit through with their attention intact is kinder than a long one they endure.

Things families cut, in the order they usually cut them:

1. The open invitation for anyone to speak. Keep two prepared speakers instead.
2. The second reading. One good passage carries more weight than two.
3. Reading the obituary aloud. Print it in the program and let people read it while music plays.
4. The viewing before the service. Many families find this the part they most regret agreeing to.
5. The graveside portion for guests. Keep it to immediate family and say so in the program.

Things worth keeping even in the shortest service: one piece of music that means something, someone saying the person’s name out loud, and a clear ending so the room knows when to stand. Everything else is negotiable.

If you are still at the stage of deciding what kind of service to hold, the funeral planning checklist works through the decisions in the order they actually come up.