John Spong starts his book on Eternal Life talking about funerals. In them, he notes, the services are not (or should not be) directed to members of the church. It is really for those who are gathered. And when it comes to weddings and funerals, the one thing you know is that most of the folks in attendance are not church members. They come from all walks of life, many are part of what Spong calls the “church alumni association.” To relate faith in this context means to relate to everybody.
There’s a value to this. It means, and wedding and funerals indicate this, that you have to relate to the human condition, to those shared experiences that make us human. It means you have to relate to the person, in their individuality as opposed to making them fit the rubrics of your religion. That does not mean you are not drawing from your religious tradition but it is in the service of the person and their situation.
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