Respecting other people's cultures is crucial, especially during a bereavement period. Any signs of disrespect during a cultural funeral are easy to spot and indicate a lack of empathy. On the other hand, observing etiquette during cultural funerals can help ease the agony of a bereaved family. That said, funeral homes play an important role in ensuring funeral attendees maintain decorum during cultural send-offs. This article highlights ways a funeral home can promote etiquette in cultural funerals.
Communicate Funeral Customs
The world has become a global village with people from different cultures interacting easily. Thus, it is pretty common for people in a community to attend the funeral of a person from a different culture. While some people can ask family and friends what to wear, others might not know who to ask. A funeral director can help by posting the customs of a particular culture holding a funeral in their facility. Such posts can be shared online or in print for easy access by potential attendees. Deliberate communication ensures that anyone interested in attending a cultural funeral understands what they should wear to the service.
Only Avail Necessary Symbols
Cultures use unique symbols in their funeral services, which is crucial when arranging a cultural funeral. For instance, flowers are an integral part of Asian funerals, and they have different meanings. For example, white chrysanthemums in Chinese and Japanese funerals symbolise lamentation and grief. Thus, you can present the flowers on sale at a funeral home so that attendees can buy and hold them during a Japanese or Chinese funeral. However, offering flowers in Jewish funerals is considered inappropriate; hence, funeral homes should keep flowers far away to prevent etiquette mistakes by funeral attendees.
Hire Ushers from Different Cultures
Ushers help direct people in a funeral home during service. Notably, hiring ushers with different cultural backgrounds goes a long way in helping a funeral home promote etiquette during send-offs. For instance, an usher with an aboriginal background will help expand your knowledge about the culture's funeral practices. Ushers also direct random attendees accordingly, especially people who do not understand a specific culture. The last thing anyone wants is to ask an attendee to move from a seat designated to a close family member once a funeral service is underway. A good rule of thumb is to incorporate a few cultures in a funeral home so that ushers can cope when called upon.
Share4 January 2022
It's incredibly hard to plan a funeral for teenagers. They should have their whole life ahead of them, and even if they have had a terminal diagnosis, often their parents cannot believe that they could actually be gone. When my niece passed away, I worked with her friends to make sure that the funeral worked for them and gave them a chance to grieve as well. It was great to see how much impact my niece had made on the world in such a short time, with her friends and family coming together to pay tribute to the beautiful young woman she had been. This blog has tips for other people planning funerals for teens.