Charles Hoffacker, A Matter of Life and Death: Preaching at Funerals. Cambridge: Cowley, 2002. 112 pages. $12.95

A review by William Hethcock

It's time for another good reference for clergy to use in preparing sermons for funerals. Up until now, Robert G Hughes' A Trumpet in Darkness: Preaching to Mourners (Fortress, 1985) has been about the only good discussion available to guide us in accomplishing effective preaching addressing this unique liturgical and pastoral occasion. Charles Hoffacker is reminding us of the importance of such preaching in this new book written with in mind both our own Book of Common Prayer and also The Book of Alternative Services of the Anglican Church of Canada.

Hoffacker tells us what bases to touch in crafting a funeral sermon calling on us to pay attention to "the congregation that will gather . . ., the scripture readings that will be proclaimed, sermon references to the deceased and his or her eternal destiny, the sermon's length, generic ingredients in funeral preaching," and the issue of additional speakers.

The "generic ingredients" are somewhat standard: reminding why the congregation has come together, legitimizing appropriate grief, sharing stories about the deceased, and calling for mutual support. Hoffacker does not discourage the practice introduced by the Rite II rubric saying that "a member of the family, or a friend" may be invited to speak, but he does urge that such "words do not replace the sermon, but instead recall in very personal terms the life and death in question, and what the deceased means to the mourners." He urges that such speaking should come just after the Gospel and before the sermon, which will "have the last word after other addresses and be positioned to shed resurrection light on what has gone before." Next follows the Creed.

The primary strategy of the preacher, Hoffacker asserts, is discerning the "key" that will relate the sermon to the special nature of this particular burial service and this specific deceased person. By "key" he means "an image, a phrase, a story, a personal characteristic, a vocation or avocation, or some other feature that is connected with, or at least can be connected with the life of the deceased."

In preparing to preach, he considers all the information available to him about this person to discern what will become the central idea of the sermon, the key, which will carry the other components, holding them together, and making the preaching unique. This key must be recognizable by the congregation as belonging "directly or indirectly to the world where the deceased once lived." It is something "tangible and even ordinary, something whose validity will draw assent from every mourner present."

The argument of the book is completed in only 39 pages. The remainder is a collection of eighteen funeral sermons Hoffacker has himself preached. These sermons spell out under special headings how a specific key guides each homily. For example, three sermons reflect in their keys "a feature of our common humanity." Four have as their keys "specific characteristics of the deceased," such as "a life enriched by music" or one filled with "memories and hope." Three sermons have a key which reminds how the deceased were responding to God in their lives.

The keys Hoffacker comes up with make the sermons listenable as they are preached and memorable for the family and friends as time goes along. They are clever in a positive way, more insightful than merely ingenious.

On the one hand, this is simply a helpful book for clergy to read. Further, however, it is a good book to own for those frequent times when a funeral sermon must be crafted on short notice and a sound "how to" model would be valuable.

The Revd William Hethcock is professor of homiletics, emeritus, School of Theology, University of the South

[COVENANT, Number 16, December 2003]