ARE JW SISTERS ALLOWED TO CARRY COFFINS?

by steve2 41 Replies latest jw friends

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  Sassy

  Not all JW are cremated, but I think they don't have the fear some NON dubs do about cremation hurting the body, since they think Jehovah will remember them and resurrect them. So many may cremate just as one of their 'living life simpler and more budget minded' ideal...

  they to like to call the service a Memorial Service, not a funeral..

  and while I have usually seen (if there is a body) the visitation at a funeral home where as the talk itself is at the hall.. therefore no need for pallbearers,as the funeral home would coordinate things if the body is to be buried.
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  hillbilly

  If you look at old , un-remodeled Victorian era houses you may see a extra -wide door from the porch to the public parlor.

  Those were known as "coffin doors"...why? Back in the day when wakes were at home the casket would be delivered to the parlor...

  Funerals and how we deal with the dead is a grand industry...always has been... Some states regulate the hell out of your burial-disposal other's dont.

  ~Hill
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  Jeffro

  the fear some NON dubs do about cremation hurting the body

  Do the people that fear 'hurting the body' realise what all of those nasty worms and bacteria do once the coffin is in the ground???
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  Poztate

  "No one else will be allowed to take the stage(relative or not) to say a few words or eulogize the person." (Poztate) Actually, my grandmother's nephew, not a witness, was afforded an opportunity to provide a eulogy which was comforting to us grandchildren

  The stage I was referring to was the KH stage. A funeral at a KH is a congregation event and I have NEVER heard of anyone allowed to comment or eulogise from the stage. It is a tightly controlled event conducted by an elder with no deviation allowed from the script. Having a service at a funeral home is not a congregation event and therefore I can see that others might be allowed to participate as long as they could keep the elder from getting upset (interfaith)

  I would be interested to hear if anyone has ever been"eulogised" at the KH. Europe perhaps ??? Not in Canada that I know of.

  PMOUSE...welcome by the way
• 

  Oroborus21

  Greetings:

  There is a lot of misinformation on this thread so let me set the record straight.

  First, whether open or closed casket (coffins) are permitted in the Hall is a local decision of the elder body. There is NO OFFICIAL policy prohibiting such and in fact I have personally attended some funerals where the coffin was in the Hall.

  Second, the choice of funeral arrangements is a matter of the deceased family's perogative alone.

  Many Witnesses make their own private arrangements. Others prefer to ask a "brother" to give a talk (whether the service is to be held in or out of the Hall) and others ask to use the Kingdom Hall whether or not they desire to have a certain brother give the funeral talk. If use of the Kingdom Hall is requested by the family then the local Elders will certainly condition such use on an (approved) speaker, certainly a Jehovah's Witness Elder (or maybe MS), giving the talk. Because JW Funerals, when held in the Kingdom Hall, will be considered a congregational "teaching situation", the speaker will not be permitted to be a woman in harmony with the JW view that the scriptures do not permit a woman to be a "teacher" to the congregation. (Sadly, the standard-JW funerals that use a brother and the Kingdom Hall are a miserable affair, and instead of a wonderful or beautiful memorial and tribute to the person that has died, the occasion is used to reiterate the Resurrection Hope along with other doctrine.)

  With regards to the issue of women serving as a pall-bearer. There is no scriptural reason prohibitng such. The role of pall-bearer is neither a religious one, nor a duty reserved to congregational servants like Elders/Ministerial Servants. (I have been a pall-bearer on two occassions for a JW funeral and I was not anything but a regular publisher at the time.) Since it has nothing to do with serving the congregation (like "counting" or "carrying microphones"), again there is nothing scripturally preventing a sister from being a pall-bearer.

  However, in the U.S. from a cultural standpoint the role of pall-bearer is traditionally assigned to males. It has nothing to do with being a Witness. I have attended several funerals both of Witnesses and of non-Witnesses and I have never seen a woman pall-bearer.

  Thus, while it is true that it is unlikely that a Jehovah's Witness sister would serve as a pall-bearer this is apparently a reflection of the norm of society and not the product of any theological prohibition.

  -Eduardo
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  William Penwell

  I recall about 30 years ago going to a Jdub funeral at the kingdum hall and they had an open coffin. Maybe the policy have changed over the years. I know Jdub feel their message to convert non believers is more important. The deceased individual and family is secondary.

  Will
• 

  FlyingHighNow

  And if some elder told a sister that she could not be a pall bearer because of her frail and weaker gender....if he told her that she would fairly-faint-dead-away being a feminine creature of emotion, she could break into song with:

  He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother

  (Or She Ain't Heavy, She's My Sister) Written By Bob Russel and Bobby Scott

  The road is long with many awaiting turns
  That lead us to who knows where, who knows where
  But I'm strong, strong enough to carry him
  He ain't heavy, he's my brother

  So long we go
  His welfare is my concern
  No burden is he to bear, we'll get there
  For I know
  he would not encumber me
  He ain't heavy, he's my brother

  If I’m laden at all,
  I am laden with sadness that
  everyone's heart isn't filled with the gladness
  Of love for one and other

  It's a long long road
  From there is no return
  while we're on the way to live why not share
  And the load doesn't weigh me down at all

  He ain't heavy , he's my brother
  He's my brother
  He ain't heavy
  He's my brother
  He's my brother
  He ain't heavy
  He's my brother
• 

  hillbilly

  FHN....next time I help my cousins hump a box full of one of my "plus-sized" Aunts, 30 yards up a hill you have my full permision to break out in any tune you care for.

  Once I helped with a rather small person..who's family bought a Solid Oak Deluxe Casket... he weighed 150 pounds alive.........that casket musta weighed 700 pounds empty..... 6 of us 200 pound guys (all of us "work" for a living too) were grunting pretty hard to move that.

  ~Hill (hopes all his freinds and relations discover "Atkins" before they die class)
• 

  FlyingHighNow

  Hillbilly, everyone has permission to use one of those thingies that roll for me. Not saying how much I weigh.
• 

  hillbilly

  FHN...I hope that when you die (god forbid) we are both so old I wont be able to help carry you to rest.

  You are one of my favorite folks around here now days.

  ~Hill