Funerals of the Unaffiliated

Over one-third of Americans do not claim membership in a religious congregation, but the vast majority of the “congregationally unaffiliated” continue to mark major life events, such as death, through communal rituals officiated by religious professionals. If bereaved families do not have a clergyperson or a religious tradition to guide them in planning a funeral, to whom and to what do they turn? This article presents findings from an ethnographic study that explored four dimensions of unaffiliated funerals: creativity versus standardization, the process of ritual creation, lay participation, and shared meaning. The findings suggest that despite their informal character and emphasis on spontaneous sharing, unaffiliated funerals utilize a highly standardized ritual structure. Furthermore, though unaffiliated services focus on the life of the deceased rather than a theological interpretation of death, they articulate shared meaning by emphasizing belief in God, personal immortality, and the importance of ethical living.