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In which denomination(s) are Christians allowed to bury or hold a Christian funeral for their deceased nonreligious or just non-Christian relative in a Christian cemetery near the church?

I am thinking about an instance where a non-Christian or nonreligious family member dies, and relatives just happen to be Christians. Do Christians ask their minister to perform a funeral for the deceased individual, or do they ask a humanist funeral officiant to do the job? Also, is there a general rule for allowing or disallowing non-Christians to be buried in a Christian cemetery, or is that more of a denominational sort of thing or is that up to the pastor to decide?

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  • The pastor will have a hard time preparing the message(what to say) in such a funeral
    – Mawia
    Sep 9, 2013 at 18:25
  • You're asking too many questions, and they're not questions that there'd be any reason for Christians to agree about.
    – curiousdannii
    Aug 29, 2014 at 23:59
  • This is also a polling question. Not a good fit for any SE site.
    – user3961
    Aug 30, 2014 at 5:49
  • 1
    This question appears to be off-topic because it is a polling question. We cannot know if any answer is complete.
    – user3961
    Aug 30, 2014 at 5:50

2 Answers 2

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Neither the Book of Common Prayer nor the United Methodist Book of Discipline have rules on funeral services and burial for non-Christians. Most other denominations follow similarly. The decision is left up to individual pastors, but part of being a Christian pastor is providing Christian services to anyone who asks. This includes providing a Christian funeral to a non-Christian at the request of a Christian family.

In the United States, most cemeteries are privately owned and will accept anyone of any faith.

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I haven't had to organize any funerals in this fashion, so this is going to be more of an opinion than anything.

I think that you should be able to perform a Christian Funeral for anyone, whether they be Christian or otherwise.

@Mawia, I don't think that a Christian Minister would have a hard time preparing a message.

I grew up LDS (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints {Mormon}) and when my Brother Passed away, my father asked me to speak. So I picked something that I thought was relevant, I talked about when Jesus was on the Cross, his conversation with the two thieves, and the one acknowledged who Jesus was pretty much with his last breath, and Jesus said that he would be standing next to him in Heaven. by doing this Jesus Said I don't care when you decide to believe in Me, I just want you to Believe in me. pretty much saying you don't necessarily have to be baptized, that he knew this man's life was lived in Sin, but that the man saw the error of his ways and accepted that Jesus would save him, and that was enough for God's Grace.

I think this message given at a Funeral might seem like a low blow, but when someone is at a funeral they need that hope that there is life after death, and need to know that God Cares, and that He is patiently waiting for you to Accept His Son, and give you Salvation.

I no longer claim to be LDS and at the time I didn't claim to be LDS either. I claim to have a relationship with Jesus, and any church that helps that relationship grow is a good one.

I think that most churches that claim to be Christian would have no problem performing a funeral service for someone that was not Christian. The real question comes down to what the family wants.

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  • There is hope for salvation after death?
    – Mawia
    Sep 10, 2013 at 4:58
  • there is hope for those that attend the funeral. the "Mormons" believe there is hope for salvation after death, through baptism for the dead. but there is a scripture in the new testament that explains that there is a great divide that is impassable between the living (saved) and the dead (hell) biblia.com/books/esv/Lk16.19
    – Malachi
    Sep 10, 2013 at 13:19

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