Hope in the face of death

Many (well some) of you have asked for a summary of my recent thesis. He is a very short abstract that may give just the hint of its flavour. Full versions are filed in the Unversity of Wales library and the National Library of Wales (and in my office). Happy reading!

Meaning to Life in Death: A theological reflection on changing rites of passage at death in a late modern context whilst exploring the possibility of bringing hope and meaning in the face of death through Christian faith.

Spring 2010

Abstract:

With the introduction of civil funerals through the Registry Office in England, together with the rise in popularity of individualistic ‘life centred’ funerals, significant questions are being asked of the Church’s traditional role in helping people assimilate their experience of death into their worldview. Without the Church’s representatives communicating the Christian view of death with its hope of life beyond the grave, how do people keep the terrors of death at bay? What do people think happens at death? How do they face their own mortality?

Over recent years the so called taboo on speaking openly about death has diminished and yet it is still frequently sequestered into the private realm of life; funerals are much more likely to be private affairs than community events. There are significant exceptions to this trend and they tell us great deal about where people seek comfort at the time of such disruption to their everyday lives. Yet it is at the vast majority of funerals that people think about the meaning of life within the context of death.

Historically the Church has had something of a chequered history in its performance of this rite of passage, at times providing a very brief, utilitarian and impersonal service. Whether this was for sound theological reasons or simply poor practice, it had the effect of alienating the bereaved and at times denied dignity to the deceased. And yet the majority of funerals undertaken in the England today are still conducted by Christian ministers.

With the falling numbers of people attending Church either frequently or with any regularity, this is perhaps the greatest opportunity to communicate Christian hope to them, bringing to them meaning to life in the face of death. These themes are explored in a local and wider context.