A Ministry of Consolation: Involving Your Parish in the Order of Christian Funerals

The death of a member of the Church provides the entire Christian community the opportunity to express care and concern toward those who mourn. Outreach at the time of death brings comfort to those in mourning, evangelizes those who have been away from the Church, and renews and revitalizes parish life for those involved in the ministry.In A Ministry of Consolation, the Christian community is called to a new understanding of its role when one of its own dies. It explains why and how members of a parish ministry of consolation program should be involved before, during, and after each of the key liturgical moments in the Funeral Rites: the Vigil Service, the Funeral Mass, and the Rite of Committal. It also shows how the ministry of consolation program provides personal contact, warmth, and support to people at a time when it is both important and necessary.The expression ministry of consolation" is taken from the Order of Christian Funerals, but the concept of ministry the authors offer