Christian and humanist funerals
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can explain Christian and humanist funeral practices and the meanings behind them.
Key learning points
- Funerals are ceremonies before a burial or cremation that honour the deceased and support those in mourning.
- Durkheim saw them as vital for social unity, offering structured grief and reinforcing shared beliefs.
- Christian funerals usually include prayers, readings, and a committal at the final resting place, with some variations.
- Catholics pray for the soul, Quakers opt for silence, and Pentecostals incorporate music and worship.
- Humanist funerals, being secular, celebrate the deceased's life and relationships with eulogies and meaningful readings.
Keywords
Afterlife - what follows the physical life on earth; belief in life after death
Ceremony - a formal event or ritual held to mark a significant occasion
Eulogy - a speech given to honour and remember someone
Funeral - a ceremony marking a person's death which takes place before burial or cremation; family and friends gather to honour the deceased and support one another
Readings - passages of text read aloud during an event to convey a message, offer reflection, or provide comfort
Common misconception
Funerals are always religious ceremonies.
Funerals are not always religious. Many, like humanist funerals, focus on remembering the deceased without religious rituals. They bring people together and provide a structure for grief.
Teacher tip
Include some retrieval tasks on Christian beliefs about life after death and on humanist beliefs in general.
Content guidance
Depiction or discussion of sensitive content
Supervision
Adult supervision recommended
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
5 Questions
Q1.Which of the following statements about non-religious individuals’ views on life after death is true?
Q2.Which of the following non-religious views involves the idea that consciousness continues through the transfer of energy after death?
Q3.Humanists reject the idea of life after and instead focus on making the most of the present life.
Q4.What do humanists emphasise in place of a belief in life after death?
Q5.Arguments against the existence of an afterlife often emphasise brain-dependent , contradictions in religious teachings, and the use of beliefs about an afterlife as a form of social control.
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.What is the primary purpose of funerals, regardless of whether they are religious or not?
Q2.Which of the following statements about non-religious funerals, such as humanist funerals, is true?
Q3.What is the main purpose of funerals according to Durkheim?
Q4.Which of the following statements about Catholic funeral practices is correct?
Q5.What is a common feature of Pentecostal funerals?
Q6.Funerals, including humanist ones, bring people together and provide a structure for .
To help you plan your 11 religious education lesson on: Christian and humanist funerals, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 11 religious education lesson on: Christian and humanist funerals, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 4 religious education lessons from the Issues of life and death unit, dive into the full secondary religious education curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.