INDUSTRY INSIGHT
R
FUNERAL SERVICES
SPONSORED CONTENT
What do you want on your Tombstone?
emember that commercial from a number of years ago
promoting a frozen pizza brand? The question was simply
asking what toppings you would like on your Tombstone brand
pizza. It grabbed your attention immediately. Today, I would like
to focus on a shift that is occurring in funeral services. What type
of funeral service do you want? In the last year or so a number of
research articles have been published stating that a growing number
of Americans do not consider themselves religious or associate with
a particular church. The research shows that approximately 23%
of Americans have no religious beliefs. Similar studies have been
completed in other industrial countries with similar results. So the
question needs to be asked then: What would a funeral be like for a
person with non-religious beliefs?
Our family has been in funeral service for 92 years and we have
seen a number of shifts: increases in cremation, fewer days
of viewing, and more services
in the funeral home than
churches. The one constant
over the years has always
been using the religiously
ordained to conduct funeral
services. I personally help
conduct funerals for Catholics,
Hindus, Buddhists, Jews,
Protestants, Muslims, Orthodox,
and many more. I enjoy
watching and learning about
different traditions and rituals.
Occasionally, a family has
come through the door and said,
“Dad didn’t believe in church, but our uncle’s
minister says he will do a service.” Having
a religious service was important to the
survivors. Research shows it helps promote
the grieving process and move survivors
from mourning to grief. However, if close to
a quarter of the population has no affiliation,
and the number keeps growing, then we
have to come up with a solution to serve all populations. So what are
we doing?
Over the years we have adapted, and are very good at serving
people without religious associations. We are glad to help officiate
and create a meaningful goodbye to someone you love. You will see
people using terms now like “Celebration of Life” or “Remembrance
Service.” This is only the beginning. We need to educate people that
a funeral, or saying goodbye, is important and that a meaningful
service can still occur if you do not have a religious affiliation. This
need prompted our family years ago to start officiating funeral
services for people without any affiliation.
I have been involved in the family business since 1986 and have
seen thousands of funerals. This experience helped me learn what
makes up a good service. The foundation of a service simply starts
by listening and learning. Everyone has a story, and
letting people share that story is the core concept
of helping them to remember the meaning of the
deceased’s life. We used to officiate one or two
services a year but now we officiate for about
a quarter of the families we serve. This roughly
matches the increase from the research.
The number of non-affiliated or non-religious
people is increasing and we are answering the call
to help them have a proper and fitting goodbye
service. We also continue to serve the majority of
families who do have a religious affiliation. Be it
a service at church, in the funeral home or at
another location, our calling will continue
to be helping families in their time of
need.
If you have questions about us or our
services please feel free to call or email
us. You can also learn more about our
family and services by visiting
www.sperlingfuneral.com
Sperling Funeral Home, Inc.
700 Blazier Dr. • Wexford, PA 15090
Jarett D. Sperling, Supervisor
724.933.9200
North Allegheny | Spring 2016 | icmags.com 13