Archive Entry #12: February 11, 1987

When I meet with families about the funerals I will write for them, I tell them that I use the service’s opening moments to dispel any stereotypes audience members might have as to the tone and content of such an event when conducted by a clergyperson. Specifically, in that opening I employ humor, sarcasm, whimsy, faux alarm, and other tactics to alert people that they’re in for anything but a traditional funeral experience. The result is usually a more relaxed and celebratory event. Today’s column makes it into the archive because it demonstrates that I pursued similar objectives in the opening years of my FCCEM ministry.

I was 29 years old. The new “minister” paint, sealed at my seminary graduation and ordination, had been in place only 18 months. And yet I was willing to write what you are about to read....Thank God, I still am.

One reader’s guide note: The “Inquiry” series referenced in the column consisted of six-session courses I created on a vast array of subjects over a ten or so year period beginning in 1986.

COMING NEXT: On the eve of my 57th birthday I post a column originally published on the on the eve of my 50th back in 2007. Find it HERE.