The National Funeral Directors Association(NFDA) has recently been acting anti Funeral Consumer. A few years ago they released funeral information to the general public. In recent years they have been slowly leaking this information out to the press. They have been stepping up efforts in Helping Funeral Directors get more of Your Money.
Sky Has Fallen on Traditional Funerals According to the NFDA. Stats are from a web survey from a year ago!
The graphic is from 2008 information release to the press recently.
Funeral Industry|Funeral | Funeral News |Blog by Your Funeral Guy
If the Funeral Industry does not change it’s business model-the end will come.
What is the average cost of a funeral at church? What is the average cost of a funeral? In 2009 I have declared the average cost of a traditional funeral to be $8,500 USD. The average cost of a funeral at church can be much less. If you want a traditional funeral the cost will still be significant.The cost will be less for a memorial service at church.
If you opt for a memorial service after the funeral that cost will be less. If you choose a memorial service with a cremation the cost for the church part will only be $o-$250.00+ USD. Cost for cremation in the United States ranges from $425.00 USD to $2200.00 USD depending upon the funeral home and the community.
The key to the whole thing is the funeral homes general price list. Many Funeral Homes charge the same for a service at church as the funeral home. This is not where you should go. If you want funeral directors at church, or the minister insists they be there ask them to charge you an hourly fee.
If you want a traditional funeral at church, you can save money by having the visitation and funeral service at church. However if you want a traditional funeral at church you may have the funeral directors set up the casket and leave, have the minister dismiss the congregation after that let Funeral Directors in and precede to the cemetery. To pull this off funeral directors must be cooperative and also the minister.
So what is the average cost of a funeral at church?
For high church, Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Episcopal and some Lutheran generally the average is the same as a traditional funeral, $8,500.00 USD on average. If Funeral directors come and stay at church the average stays the same.
Some folks choose to have a memorial service after a direct burial. This can lower costs significantly, the average here comes down to $6, 500.00 USD.
The lower cost funeral at church is usually done with a cremation and a memorial service where you bring the cremains to church without a funeral director. You and the church do the setup, order of service, and the funeral service. All this can be setup with your church or a church ahead of time. It is not all that difficult. Now here the average cost of a funeral at church is $1,250.00 USD. This includes the cost of the cremation.
Some churches charge for rent for a memorial service. This can be overcome(many times) by paying the minister a higher honorarium of about $250.00 USD. The average honorarium for clergy is $150.00 USD.
All this is from the funeral industry experience of Your Funeral Guy.
Bill on 
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