Write a will o Explains how you want to be

buried and what you want to do

with all of your material wealth

after you die

Sometimes people purchase & reserve a gravesite where they want to be buried

Family of the deceased will organize a visitation (also called a wake) for all of the deceaseds friends and family to visit the corpse

o A sermon and prayer will be said for the deceased at the wake

After the visitation, they hold a funeral o Typically there will be another sermon; if the

deceased is Catholic the pastor will absolve the

deceased of their sins

o Hymns are usually sung at the funeral o The casket will be carried from the car to the plot

where the funeral will be held

Burial is the traditional option but cremation is becoming more popular

Christians believe that if they follow the teachings from The Bible they will go to

Heaven where their souls will live with

God for the rest of eternity

Catholics believe there is a chance your soul could go to purgatory or limbo

Both Protestants and Catholics believe if you are bad and do not follow The Bible

you will go to Hell

Whether we are religious or not, most of us in America will follow the traditional Christian burial

We tend to feel anxiety about death in our culture

We may sort of fear death? If people in our culture identify as Christians or agnostics they are probably afraid of going to Hell. Death is a potentially scary thing for us

Christianitys death ritual seems very sad and burdensome to the family of the deceased