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Funeral Order of Service Examples

Six complete orders of service, written out exactly as they would be printed in the program: a traditional church funeral, a Catholic Mass, a homegoing service, a memorial service, a graveside service with military honors, and a celebration of life. All names are invented.
12 min readWritten by the Reposa team
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How to use these

Find the example closest to the service you are holding, copy it, and replace the details from top to bottom. Working that way, a first draft goes quickly. The short note under each example points out the one or two decisions in it that are worth copying as well.

If you are not sure what a given element is or how long it takes, funeral order of service explains each one in sequence.

1. Traditional church funeral

A Methodist church service for a woman in her eighties, with two hymns, two readings, and a eulogy given by her son. This is the most common shape of funeral in the United States, and it runs about 45 minutes.

Traditional church funeral: complete order

14 items · about 45 minutes

IN LOVING MEMORY OF

Ruth Ellen Marsden June 3, 1941 – March 9, 2026

Saturday, March 14, 2026 at 11:00 a.m. Trinity United Methodist Church Cedar Falls, Iowa

Officiating: Rev. Karen Halloway Organist: Diane Petrak

ORDER OF SERVICE

Prelude Selections on the organ

Processional *Please stand

Welcome and Invocation Rev. Karen Halloway

Opening Hymn Amazing Grace

Old Testament Reading Psalm 23 read by Ellie Marsden, granddaughter

New Testament Reading John 14:1-6 read by Simon Marsden, grandson

Musical Selection In the Garden sung by Nora Kettlewell

Reflections Joan Brightwell, neighbor and friend Ellie Marsden, granddaughter

Eulogy David Marsden, son

Message Rev. Karen Halloway

Closing Hymn It Is Well with My Soul

Benediction Rev. Karen Halloway

Recessional *Please stand

INTERMENT Fairview Cemetery Cedar Falls, Iowa

RECEPTION Trinity United Methodist Fellowship Hall Immediately following the interment

The family of Ruth thanks you for every card, every casserole and every kindness this week.

Two things worth copying. The readings are given to grandchildren, who are named with their relationship, which is both a courtesy and a way of giving younger family members a role. And the reflections are capped at two speakers, with the eulogy separate, so the middle of the service does not stretch.

2. Catholic funeral Mass

A Mass of Christian Burial with a full complement of readings and gift bearers. The order is set by the liturgy; the family chose the passages, the music, the readers and the one speaker for the words of remembrance.

Catholic funeral Mass: complete order

Mass of Christian Burial · about one hour

MASS OF CHRISTIAN BURIAL for Joseph Anthony Caruso “Joe” November 8, 1946 – January 22, 2026

Tuesday, January 27, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. St. Bartholomew Catholic Church Warwick, Rhode Island

Celebrant: Rev. Michael Doran Deacon: Paul Verrecchia Cantor: Angela Sirois Organist: Robert Pace

INTRODUCTORY RITES

Greeting and Sprinkling with Holy Water Placing of the Pall Marc Caruso and Theresa Caruso Dunn Entrance Hymn Be Not Afraid Opening Prayer

LITURGY OF THE WORD

First Reading Wisdom 3:1-9 read by Theresa Caruso Dunn, daughter Responsorial Psalm Psalm 23, The Lord Is My Shepherd Angela Sirois, cantor Second Reading Romans 8:31-39 read by Marc Caruso, son Gospel Acclamation Gospel John 11:17-27 Homily Rev. Michael Doran General Intercessions read by Nina Caruso, granddaughter

LITURGY OF THE EUCHARIST

Presentation of the Gifts Nina and Luca Caruso, grandchildren Offertory Hymn Here I Am, Lord Eucharistic Prayer The Lord’s Prayer Sign of Peace Communion On Eagle’s Wings Prayer after Communion

FINAL COMMENDATION AND FAREWELL

Words of Remembrance Theresa Caruso Dunn Song of Farewell Prayer of Commendation Recessional Hymn Holy God, We Praise Thy Name

RITE OF COMMITTAL St. Ann Cemetery Cranston, Rhode Island

A luncheon will follow in Fitzgerald Hall. All are warmly invited.

Joe’s family thanks Father Doran, the parish staff, and the nurses of the Cove Unit.

Note where the words of remembrance sit: after Communion, before the song of farewell, and given by one person. That is the usual placement, and one speaker is the usual limit. Parishes differ, so ask the parish office before you print it. If they prefer no eulogy at the Mass, it moves to the vigil the night before. Catholic funeral Mass program covers the rest of the booklet.

3. Homegoing service

A homegoing celebration for a church mother in her nineties. This one includes resolutions, an acknowledgement, the pallbearer list and the funeral home credit, which is why it needs both inside panels rather than one.

Homegoing service: complete order

16 items · about 90 minutes · two panels

CELEBRATING THE HOMEGOING OF

Mother Willie Mae Barnett “Mother Barnett”

Sunrise: August 2, 1934 Sunset: April 6, 2026

Saturday, April 18, 2026 at 11:00 a.m. Greater Zion Hill Baptist Church 1420 Ridgeway Avenue, Macon, Georgia

Rev. Dr. Elijah Prentiss, Pastor Rev. Curtis Amory, Officiating

ORDER OF SERVICE

Processional Clergy and Family

Hymn of Comfort Blessed Assurance

Prayer of Comfort Rev. Curtis Amory

Scripture Old Testament: Psalm 27 Deacon Howard Pinckney New Testament: Revelation 21:1-7 Sister Vernell Amory

Selection Precious Lord, Take My Hand Greater Zion Hill Mass Choir

Reading of the Obituary Read silently

Resolutions and Acknowledgements Deaconess Board, Greater Zion Hill Macon Chapter, Order of the Eastern Star read by Sister Loretta Fambrough

Reflections Two minutes, please Marcus Barnett, grandson Dr. Adelaide Speight, friend of 60 years

Selection Soon and Very Soon Bernard Tillery, soloist

Eulogy Rev. Dr. Elijah Prentiss

Recessional and Final Viewing

Benediction

INTERMENT Riverside Memorial Gardens Macon, Georgia

REPAST Greater Zion Hill Fellowship Hall Immediately following the interment

PALLBEARERS Marcus Barnett Terrence Barnett Andre Speight Julian Fambrough Curtis Barnett Jr. Wesley Pinckney

HONORARY PALLBEARERS The Deacon Board of Greater Zion Hill Baptist Church

FLOWER BEARERS Danielle Barnett Simone Hollis

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The family of the late Mother Willie Mae Barnett acknowledges with deep appreciation every act of kindness, every prayer, every call and every card shown to us during our time of bereavement. May God bless and keep each of you.

Professional Services Entrusted To Hattaway Brothers Funeral Home Macon, Georgia

The two-minute limit is printed, not just announced. That single line does more to keep a homegoing service on time than anything the officiant can say from the front. Resolutions are listed by the organization presenting them, with one reader named for all of them, which is a common way to keep three tributes from becoming three separate trips to the microphone. Full wording for resolutions and acknowledgements is on the homegoing service program page.

4. Memorial service, six weeks later

Cremation had already taken place and the family waited until people could travel. There is no casket, no clergy and no religious content, and the service runs about 40 minutes with a longer reception afterward.

Memorial service: complete order

10 items · about 40 minutes · no casket present

A SERVICE OF REMEMBRANCE for Susan Iris Pelletier 1963 – 2026

Saturday, June 6, 2026 at 2:00 p.m. Whatcom Grange Hall Bellingham, Washington

Gathering Music Records from Susan’s own shelves, chosen by her daughters

Welcome Peter Ashcombe, brother

Opening Reading Remember, by Christina Rossetti read by Hannah Pelletier, daughter

Life Sketch Maeve Pelletier, daughter

Reflections Doreen Halkyard, colleague Tom Ashcombe, brother Rosalind Vane, friend since 1981

Slideshow Photographs from 1963 to this spring

Eulogy Andrew Pelletier, husband

A Moment of Silence

Closing Words Peter Ashcombe

Closing Music The Water Is Wide

Please stay for food and a drink. The hall is ours until six o’clock.

In place of flowers, the family asks that you give to the Nooksack Ridge Trail Fund, or that you walk somewhere Susan would have liked.

A memorial service held weeks later can carry more speakers than a funeral, because the family is no longer in the first shock of the week. Three reflections plus a eulogy would be too much five days after a death; six weeks later it reads as generous.

One practical detail worth stealing: the hall hours are printed. Guests who have flown in want to know whether to book a dinner, and nobody wants to ask the widower.

5. Graveside service with military honors

A short service at the cemetery for an Air Force veteran, with no church portion at all. Everyone is standing, so it is deliberately brief. The program is a single flat card.

Graveside service with military honors: complete order

8 items · about 20 minutes · one flat card

GRAVESIDE SERVICE

Master Sergeant Raymond Earl Tolliver United States Air Force, 1959 – 1981 May 17, 1941 – February 14, 2026

Friday, February 20, 2026 at 11:00 a.m. Pinecrest Memorial Park Sumter, South Carolina

Officiating: Rev. Alton Beasley

Gathering at the Graveside

Opening Words Rev. Alton Beasley

Scripture Psalm 121

Remarks Dale Tolliver, son

Words of Committal Rev. Alton Beasley

The Lord’s Prayer All

Benediction

MILITARY HONORS Three-Volley Salute Sounding of Taps Folding and Presentation of the Flag

Placing of Flowers The family invites you to place a flower before you leave.

All are welcome afterward at Bethel Chapel Hall 309 Marchbanks Street, Sumter

Ray asked for no fuss. We have done our best.

Military honors come after the committal, never in the middle of the service: the rifle volleys, then Taps, then the folding and presentation of the flag. Ask the officiant whether the benediction comes before the honors or after them. Eligible veterans receive them at no cost, arranged through the funeral home; you do not have to organize anything yourself. Military funeral program covers how to note branch, rank and years of service correctly.

The last line of that card is the kind of thing families hesitate over and then are glad they kept. A single sentence in the person’s own voice does more than another paragraph of formal wording.

6. Celebration of life

An afternoon gathering in a park pavilion, hosted by the brother of a man who died at 54. There is still an order, and having it written down is what keeps an informal event from drifting.

Celebration of life: complete order

9 items · about 50 minutes, then food

A CELEBRATION OF THE LIFE OF

Peter Ellis Kwan 1972 – 2026

Sunday, July 12, 2026 Gathering from 3:30, beginning at 4:00 p.m. Marion Park Pavilion Ann Arbor, Michigan

Hosted by Alan Kwan

Arrival Music, photographs, and time to say hello

Welcome Alan Kwan, brother

A Reading Requiem, by Robert Louis Stevenson read by Grace Kwan, daughter

Slideshow Twenty-five years of terrible camping trips

Tributes Yolanda Prieto, business partner Ben Iwamoto, friend since ninth grade

Open Sharing Anyone who would like to say something about Pete is warmly invited to. Alan will start, and Alan will finish.

A Song for Pete Sung by anyone who knows the words

Closing Words and a Toast Alan Kwan

Food and Fellowship Pete would have wanted you to eat too much.

Pete asked for this to be outdoors, loud, and short on speeches. Two out of three is fine.

Please wear whatever you would have worn to his house.

The open sharing item names who starts it and who ends it, in print. That single sentence is the difference between a warm ten minutes and an unmanaged thirty. More gatherings like this one are on the celebration of life program examples page.

What all six have in common

The six services above range from twenty minutes to ninety, from a liturgy to a park pavilion. Underneath, they do the same handful of things, in the same order.

The frame every one of these uses

  • Someone says why we are here · the welcome, the invocation, or the greeting at the door
  • Something is read · scripture, a psalm, or a poem
  • Something is sung or played · at least once, usually twice
  • Someone tells the story of the life · the eulogy, the life sketch, or the words of remembrance
  • Others add a little to it · reflections, tributes, or open sharing, kept short
  • There is a clear ending · a benediction, a toast, or a closing line, so the room knows when it is over
  • People are told where to go next · the cemetery, the hall, the address in print

If you are building your own order and something feels wrong about it, check it against that list first. Nine times out of ten the missing piece is the clear ending or the instruction about where to go afterward.

You can hold a shorter service than any of these

The graveside example above has seven items and it is a complete funeral. Nobody counts. If this week has been what it has been, a welcome, a reading, a song and a prayer at the graveside is enough, and it will not be the thing you regret.

Turning the order into a printed program

Once the wording is settled, the order still has to be typeset onto the right panel, at a size older guests can read, with the folds in the right place.

Reposa can do the layout part for you. You pick the kind of service, the order fills in from your answers, and it comes back as a print-ready program with the obituary, matching prayer cards and a slideshow already in the same design.

Common questions

Can I copy one of these examples?
Yes. Every name, church, town and funeral home below is invented for this page, so nothing here belongs to a real family. Copy the one closest to your service, swap in your own details line by line, and delete anything you are not using. That is exactly what these are for.
How many items should an order of service have?
Between eight and fourteen for a church funeral, and as few as six for a graveside or memorial service. The examples here range from seven items to sixteen. More items is not better; it just means a longer service and a fuller panel. If yours is running past fourteen, look for two things to combine.
Do I list the hymn titles and the people performing them?
List the titles, always. Listing the performers is a courtesy that most families extend, printed on a second line in smaller type. If space is tight, the performer names are the first thing to cut, because guests can see who is singing but cannot always tell which hymn is which.
Where do the pallbearers go?
Usually on the back panel of the program rather than inside the order of service, along with honorary pallbearers, flower bearers and the acknowledgement. The homegoing example below is the common exception, where the pallbearer list traditionally sits at the foot of the order itself.
Should the obituary be read out loud during the service?
It is your choice. Many services print it in the program and have the officiant note that it is read silently while music plays, which saves several minutes. In the homegoing tradition, the reading of the obituary is a named item in the order even when it is read silently.
How far ahead do I need to finalize the order?
Whenever the program goes to print, which is usually the day before the service. Confirm the service time, the officiant’s name and the reception address on that day rather than relying on what you were told earlier in the week. Times and venues move more often than families expect.

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