Committal

The committal is the moment in a funeral when the person is laid to rest. At a graveside the coffin is lowered into the grave; at a crematorium the curtains usually close or the coffin is moved from view. It can be part of a longer service or a short ceremony on its own.

At a crematorium

The committal comes at the end of the service in the crematorium chapel. The celebrant or minister says the committal words, and then one of three things happens, depending on the crematorium and on what the family asked for. Curtains close around the coffin, or the coffin is lowered out of sight on a catafalque, or it stays where it is while the family leaves. That last option exists at many crematoria, though families are not always told about it, so ask if the closing curtain is the part you dread. Music usually plays through the committal and as people leave, with the family going out first.

At a graveside

At a burial, the priest, minister or celebrant leads a short committal at the graveside, and the coffin is lowered into the grave. Family and friends sometimes help to fill it, as many Muslim families do. When a church service has come first, the committal may be all that takes place at the cemetery or the crematorium, and the slot booked there is shorter.

What happens next

After a committal at a crematorium, the coffin goes from the chapel to the committal room, and the crematorium’s staff carry out the cremation, usually that same day. No family member is present for that part, at any kind of cremation.

A direct cremation has no service and so no committal with mourners present. Families who choose one often hold a memorial service later instead, where words of their own can mark the moment, at a time and place that suits everyone who wants to be there.