Military honors at church funeral

I contacted our synod’s national civilian chaplain and liaison to the military. He provided the following information.

The policy of the U.S. Armed Forces is to acknowledge that the control of the funeral and graveside services for a fallen active duty warrior lies with the officiant chosen by the family. In most cases, this means the pastor. The pastor may accept or decline whatever the Armed Forces offers. His decision will not be challenged.

Allowing some military presence is not necessarily mixing the roles of Church and State. As with having an American flag in the church, some presence of the American Military merely reflects the fact that government has been established by the Lord of the Church and is given as his blessing.

The amount of military presence should be determined by the pastor’s judgment of what would be God-pleasing under the circumstances.

The branch of the Armed Forces that the person was a member of will offer a number of military honors. They may include an honor guard, the presentation of the American flag to a family member “On behalf of a grateful nation,” firing a gun salute, a missing-man flyover and the playing of Taps. The honor guard may be available to carry or escort the casket from the funeral home to the church and then to the cemetery. All of this, or only pieces of this, may be offered by the military.

Some of this can take place outside of the religious setting, perhaps at the funeral home.

The pastor can choose to accept, or not accept, the offer of remarks by a military representative in the church following the funeral service.

The family will probably indicate a preference for what the military offers, but the officiant has the final say on what happens at the funeral and graveside service. The family may choose what will happen at the funeral home (as long as it is not during the funeral service held there). For a high-ranking officer, or the recipient of a medal of valor, the honor guard might be offered to stand near the casket during visitation.

If the pastor does not agree to a gun salute in connection with his graveside service, the family may request it to take place after the pastor finishes his service. That request will most likely be granted.

The bottom line is that the pastor is in control of the funeral and graveside service. The military will offer, but not demand, some degree of presence to show the appreciation by the nation. Whatever takes place before or after the funeral and graveside service is beyond the pastor’s control. That is determined by the family.