Ashes to Ashes - Beliefs, Trends, and Practices in Dying, Death, and the Afterlife

It is certainly true, as the report finds, that many people are turning to new and more secular ways of celebrating the memory of those they loved, but most religious traditions can call on the experience of centuries of responding to the reality of death, and they have much to offer in a debate of the kind Ashes to Ashes seeks to encourage. [...] And the role of churches and faith communities? 69 Conclusion 84 Recommendations 88 12 Executive summary 13 Ashes to Ashes Theos, in partnership with the Susanna Wesley Foundation, investigated current trends on, and attitudes towards, dying, death, and the afterlife in the UK, and explored the role of churches and faith communities. [...] Emerging from this ambiguous backdrop, our research asks the following questions: What are the current trends on, and attitudes towards, dying, death, and the afterlife in the UK? And what role do churches and faith communities play? To what extent do churches and faith communities care for pastorally, and accompany theologically, the dying and the bereaved? Purpose of the study Our research was a. [...] A Muslim faith leader described that in Islam a “good ending” referred to a person who lives his life in obedience to God, is “adhering to the do’s and don’ts of what Islam teaches them.” A Hindu academic spoke of an understanding in Hinduism of the need to break the cycle of reincarnation and obtain moksha or liberation and be with God, in peace forever. [...] The authors of a 2016 study argue that funerals help the bereaved to confront death, by celebrating the life of the deceased individual through the spoken eulogy, and by bringing mourners together to physically embody that person’s diverse relationships.10 In the UK, the face of memorialisation is changing.