Conduct Gospel-Centered Funerals: Applying the gospel at the unique challenges of death

Far too many funerals present nothing but a eulogythat is, good words about the deceasedand nothing about Jesus Christ, who came to be the solution to the final problem of sin and death. The seasoned pastors who authored this book have given us a practical resource that shows how to make the gospel central on an occasion when people are desperately in need of the good news of what God has done for sinners through Jesus Christ. Everyone who provides leadership for funeral, memorial, or graveside services could profit from reading this helpful guide.

Phil Newton and Brian Croft have joined hands to provide a marvelously practical and theologically rich book on how to conduct funerals. The book is packed with wise and sane advice, ranging from how to relate to the funeral director to how to counsel a grieving family. Most importantly, the authors remind us that the gospel must be front and center at funerals. But they do not only instruct us to proclaim the gospel, they also illustrate it by including funeral sermons. This is a must-read for busy pastors, and I suspect most pastors will turn to it quite often.

Brian Croft and Phil Newton have written a most helpful work for all who have the high responsibility of conducting funerals and ministering to families during times of grief. This theologically grounded guide is commendable in many ways, most importantly for the way it leads readers to understand the central role that the gospel should have in funeral sermons, eulogies, and musical selections. As stated so well in the subtitle, Croft and Newton offer practical and pastoral insights for addressing the ultimate questions regarding life and death during the critical moments of the funeral service. This timely volume is worthy of careful and reflective reading by pastors, church leaders, and ministerial students.

Death is an inescapable reality, and any minister of the gospel who is committed to speaking for God must prepare to speak to those who are dealing with the trauma of losing a friend or a loved one. Funerals are one of the greatest opportunities for the gospel of Jesus Christ to be proclaimed because they are reminders to everyone that death is indeed the end of all men. When biblical understanding of how the gospel applies to death and grieving is joined with careful preparation to help others to see it, eternal good can also be done by ministers at funerals. Brian Croft and Phil Newton know the gospel well and share their seasoned, pastoral wisdom in how to minister its comfort and power to those who gather in a worship service that has been called by death. If the biblical, pastoral, and practical counsel that is provided in this book is followed by those whose task it is to conduct funeral services, much glory will come to God and much good will come to mourners.

As this book demonstrates, Brian Croft always writes about practical matters spiritually, and spiritual matters practically. Not everything in this book will fit every pastoral situation or cultural context, but all pastors will find much-needed guidance on what to say and do as they tread carefully and prayerfully through the minefield of bereavement, mourning, and funeral arrangements.

The brevity of this book betrays its value. Conduct Gospel-Centered Funerals is a superb treatment of this crucial aspect of pastoral ministry. It is both theologically faithful and practically useful. I will refer to it often when called upon to point others to the victory we have in Christ during the times of sorrow and grief that always accompany death.

I needed this book thirty-five years ago! Brian Croft and Phil Newton have done it againadding to Brian’s immensely useful book, Visit the Sick, this one on conducting gospel-centered funerals. In an age when funerals and weddings are likely to be the only occasions when the gospel is heard, the need to view the funeral service as an occasion for the evangel is paramount. Every gospel-centered minister needs to read this book.