The Suicide Funeral (or Memorial Service)
Honoring Their Memory, Comforting Their Survivors
Edited by Melinda Moore and Daniel A. Roberts
Foreword by Robert F. Morneau
Imprint: Resource Publications
To our knowledge nothing with The Suicide Funeral (or Memorial Service): Honoring Their Memory, Comforting Their Survivors' scope and depth has ever been published. This is an aid to anyone who will be called upon to do a funeral for the nearly 43,000 suicides in America each year. This book is designed to assist clergy, chaplains, and other faith leaders as they develop sermons and homilies for a funeral service. Its mandate is to help those searching for inspiration even though they may feel confused or uncertain undertaking such a daunting assignment. Those who plan and lead a funeral service may enable family and friends to understand and participate intentionally in their grief process. Clergy can have a significant impact on how people react to the suicide as well as provide comfort and assistance to those left behind on their journey through grief. Your leadership will influence how the suicide's bereaved are treated by others in the days, weeks, and months following the death. Because suicide does not discriminate by race, socio-economic status, or religion, a broad range of faiths and denominations are represented in this book's sermons, services, and perspectives.
Melinda Moore, is a licensed clinical psychologist and assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at Eastern Kentucky University. She has conducted suicide treatment, as well as suicide bereavement research.
Daniel A. Roberts, DD, DMin, FT, is rabbi emeritus of Temple Emanu El in Cleveland, Ohio. His book, Clergy Retirement: Every Ending a Beginning is recently published.
"After more than thirty years of serving the needs of those impacted by suicide I can finally refer clergy and those struggling with this challenging cause of death to a book that will help both the caregiver and those impacted by suicide. Approaching this death and offering compassion while overcoming the stigma that has been visited on those left behind is made possible though the gathered works contained in this manuscript. Thank you for this much needed contribution to our literature."
--Frank Campbell, past president of the American Association of Suicidology
"I am grateful for this much needed resource created [by Melinda Moore] with the assistance of Rabbi Daniel Roberts. This book will be invaluable to any priest, pastor, rabbi, or imam who might have to help families navigate the pain and anguish caused when a loved one dies by suicide."
--Marvin A. McMickle, President and Professor of Church Leadership, Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School
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