FUNERAL
A Celebration of Life and Faith
Christians recognize with all people the inevitability of death, but Christians affirm that “neither death, nor life, … nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39) Yet trust in the love and power of God does not eliminate the grief that accompanies a loved one’s death.
If you would like the comfort of having a service for your loved one at First Presbyterian Church, we will be happy to work with you.
Scheduling and Planning a Funeral
Our Funeral Coordinator is Carrie Cross. She will be your guide and help throughout the entire planning process for any funeral held at the church.
Carrie will work with you with all logistics of the service, including coordinating with the funeral home, arranging for bulletins if needed, ushering, and seating arrangements.
Funerals are ordinarily officiated by the Lead Pastor of First Presbyterian Church, Rev. Dr. Sue Coller. You will meet with her so that she can get to know the deceased, and plan the service with you.
Please contact the funeral coordinator, Carrie Cross, at 402-477-6037 or email her at churchadmin@fpclinoln.org, to talk more about holding a funeral at First Presbyterian Church.
Service Locations
Sanctuary
Our traditional sanctuary seats about 450 people, which includes the main floor level, and three balconies, two in front and one in the back.
Courtyard
In nice weather, our courtyard can host small weddings and seats about 40 people.
Off Site Funerals
Our Lead Pastor would be honored to assist in leading a funeral service either at a funeral home or another location. Please contact her to discuss your wishes.
Music
What is your music style?
Some families want traditional religious music, others love hip-hop, Latin, jazz, or country. Whatever your style, we’ll work with you. We recognize that finding music that is meaningful to the family and the deceased is one way of honoring the one we love.
We have a world-class organ and organist who is available to play for your funeral. We have a beautiful grand piano as well.
If you desire any vocal or instrumental soloists or groups, you may arrange for them.
Families sometimes wonder if there are any limits on the kind of music that can be played. All we ask is that it be in good taste, after all, this is a worship service.
We want to work with you to make this funeral service not only a celebration of your loved one, but a celebration of God’s love for us in these most heart-felt times.
Photography & Videography
Some families really want to take photos and videos of a service, others do not. That is completely up to you.
At the same time, we recognize that a funeral is a worship service, and we want to honor that as well.
We honor the worship service by asking photo/videographers to refrain from flash photography or moving around the sanctuary once the service has begun, as flash and movement can destroy the spirit of the service.
We do have a multi-camera video recording setup in our sanctuary. If you would like the services of our videographer to record the funeral service, please talk to the Funeral Coordinator. This would depend on the availability of our videographer.
Receptions
If you would like to hold a reception at the church after the service, we have a hall that seats about 140 guests around round tables, or a capacity of 200 without tables for a standing reception.
We are happy to work with you with suggestions for vendors to provide anything from a coffee and cookie reception to full meals.