Available September 2013!

The Good Funeral: Death, Grief, and the Community of Care
by Thomas G. Long and Thomas Lynch

“Two heavy-weights, Thomas Lynch and Thomas Long, write eloquently and passionately on behalf of a funeral with a body, a direction to move, and a community present. They offer controversial, powerful criticisms of the current American practices whose ideology rests upon denial and trivialization.”
—Lucy Bregman, Professor of Religion, Temple University, and author of Preaching Death

In The Good Funeral, two of the most authoritative voices on the funeral industry come together in one volume to discuss the current state of the funeral. Through their different lenses—one as a preacher and one as a funeral director—Thomas G. Long and Thomas Lynch alternately discuss several challenges facing the “good funeral,” including the commercial aspects that have led many to be suspicious of funeral directors, the sometimes tense relationship between pastors and funeral directors, the tendency of modern funerals to exclude the body from the service, and the rapid growth in cremation. The book features forewords from Patrick Lynch, President of the National Funeral Directors Association, and Barbara Brown Taylor, highly praised author and preacher. It is an essential resource for funeral directors, morticians, and pastors, and anyone else interested in current funeral practices.

Learn more about Thomas G. Long.

Learn more about Thomas Lynch.