Civil or Religious Funeral Services

As you look through your different funeral options on the Gold Coast, you may be wondering which services will be the most appropriate for your loved one. Deciding between whether or not you want civil, or religious funeral services doesn’t have to be as complicated as you think. While each type of service offers its own approaches, you can look at the different options to see which one works best for the type of service you want to hold.

Civil Funeral Services

If your loved one didn’t have any real relationship with a religion, you may want to consider choosing a civil funeral service instead of a religious one. Civil funerals are unique in the fact that while they may not be centered on a religion, you can add as many or as few religious elements as your loved one would want for their funeral. These types of funeral services can be held wherever the family wants to have the ceremony. With a civil funeral service, the family will come together to create a special service that truly honours their loved one. You can custom create a format that is as unique as your loved one is.

Religious Services

Religious services are more traditional services that follow the guidelines of the specific religion your loved one was a part of. These can be comforting services as they rely on traditions and rituals that loved ones may find solace in during this period of mourning. If your loved one was active in their religion prior to their passing, you should contact the place of worship that they regularly attended to have them perform the services for your loved one. If they didn’t have a place of worship, but would like a religious service, a funeral director can help you find the right place for the funeral service.

How to Choose Which One is Better for Your Loved One

Which option is the right one for your loved one? The answer really comes down to what your loved one’s final wishes were. The decision can be incredibly easy if a loved one clearly stated their last wishes in a will or was a devout follower (or not) of a religion. However, if it isn’t clear, then you need to figure out which option will best represent them. If they aren’t part of a religious community, you may need to find a place of worship that will perform the services anyways. If the loved one didn’t have any affiliation with religion or clearly state that they don’t want a religious funeral service, anyone can perform this type of funeral, including yourself.

Conclusion

At Integrity Funerals, we want people to fully understand their options when planning a funeral service. You want to be able to create a funeral service that will truly represent the unique individual that your loved one was in life. You can choose between having a civil or religious service, or you could create a unique service that has both secular and religious elements.