One of the traditional seven Corporal Works of Mercy is to bury the dead. Unfortunately, this year we have been too involved in this ministry with having taken part in six burials in the first five months of 2018. While the loss of any life is painful, all but one of these deaths have had close attachments to our St. Timothy’s community. Four of our caskets have been used as we have lain those who have passed into the dust from which Adam and Eve arose. Several of those caskets were begun by our visiting mission trip groups with the linings being made by some of our local women.In most cases, these burials have taken place in family cemeteries where friends and relatives dig and close the graves by hand.

Many of those who have died have had little or no insurance, so the expense of a funeral totally through a funeral home can be a financial setback that might take years to overcome. For others, their parents and grandparents were buried in simple wooden caskets and they too wish to be sent off in the same way.
Many have asked how I got into making caskets. When I served St. John’s Church in Corbin, KY, one of the church members was diagnosed with terminal cancer. He had become involved with the St. Francis Burial Society when he lived outside Washington, DC working for NASA. He expressed the desire to have a simple wooden casket and, having a small woodshop in the garage behind the church, I volunteered. Once his was done, I began another, for myself. Over the nearly three decades, I have completed six of my own which ended up being used for others. While the sizes vary, each one takes about eight hours work, depending on how much sanding is done; two-hundred screws, a little over sixty-six lineal feet of wood, bracing, glue and foam, stuffing, and cloth for the lining. While we never charge for the caskets, we have been lucky to have families, friends, and the local lumber yard make some donations of materials that have helped us to cover the $130.00 average cost for each casket. Last year, the teenagers of one mission trip took up a collection among themselves to assist.
At the moment, we have one more ready and claimed, and another partially finished. One item we do not have is a typewriter. As strange as it sounds, I have had to serve as the “funeral director” twice and St. Timothy’s as the “Funeral Home.” The report which must be completed for the state requires that it be typed. Finding a working typewriter these days is no easy task. After days of searching, we have located one. This was certainly not a course offered in seminary.
It is such a privilege to be able to take part in these final events in the lives of these loved ones as families and friends gather to give their final respects. May the souls of the departed rest in peace, may they rise in glory and may the God who created us hold the families in God’s loving arms.