This complete guide provides all the answers you need to express your condolences and show your respect in the appropriate way regardless of the religious tradition involved, addressing many common concerns about ceremonies and etiquette.
Edited by Stuart M. Matlins
Paperback
6 x 9, 240 pp | 978-1-893361-20-1
Based on the How to Be a Perfect Stranger: A Guide to Etiquette in Other People’s Religious Ceremonies.
The handbook for how to respond in an appropriate way when someone dies—no matter what their faith or denomination.
Few of us are ever prepared for the loss of a relative, friend or colleague. This stressful situation can be made worse if we are unfamiliar with the practices and rituals of the deceased person’s religious tradition.
This complete guide provides all the answers you need to express your condolences and show your respect in the appropriate way regardless of the religious tradition involved, addressing many common concerns, including:
Will there be a ceremony—what will it be like, and how long will it last? What should I wear? What should I avoid doing, wearing, saying? Are flowers appropriate? What is the appropriate behavior if viewing the body?
These are just a few of the basic, very practical questions answered in this unique etiquette guide covering all the major (and many minor) denominations and religions found in North America—from Hindu to Presbyterian, from Mennonite to Sikh—helping you to do the right thing in a difficult situation.
Covers all the major (and many minor) denominations and religions found in North America: African American Methodist Churches ·Assemblies of God Baha’i · Baptist · Buddhist ·Christian and Missionary Alliance · Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) · Christian Congregation · Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) · Church of the Brethren · Church of the Nazarene · Churches of Christ · Episcopalian and Anglican · Evangelical Free Church · Greek Orthodox · Hindu · International Church of the Foursquare Gospel · International Pentecostal Holiness Church · Islam · Jehovah’s Witnesses · Jewish · Lutheran · Mennonite/Amish · Methodist · Mormon (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) · Native American/First Nations · Orthodox Churches · Pentecostal Church of God · Presbyterian · Quaker (Religious Society of Friends) · Reformed Church in America/Canada · Roman Catholic · Seventh-day Adventist · Sikh · Unitarian Universalist · United Church of Canada · United Church of Christ · Wesleyan
“This book couldn’t have come at a better time.... A welcome Stranger.”
—Chicago Sun-Times
“A wealth of information….‘strangers’ to a religion will know exactly how to act, react, and console friends of differing religions.”
—Ron E. Wilder, President, Association for Death Education and Counseling
“No other book comes close to being as comprehensive and easy to read…. A treasure, long overdue. A wonderful reference and guide.”
—Helen Fitzgerald, C.D.E. (Certified Death Educator); author of The Mourning Handbook and The Grieving Teen
