‘Gloomy’ hymns fall out of favour at funerals

TRADITIONAL hymns such as Abide with Me and The Lord Is My Shepherd are falling out of favour at funerals, as more people opt for cheerier secular songs instead.

A shift towards ceremonies which involve celebration as well as mourning has driven an increase in pop songs and poems.

Alison Crake, president of the National Association of Funeral Directors, said popular music was “certainly becoming more commonplace” at funerals. She said: “Funerals today are rapidly becoming as much a celebration of life as a farewell.”

Research found that 45 per cent of ceremonies now do not include a hymn, and more than half of funeral directors have reported a decrease in religious services.

Younger age groups are more likely to choose secular music, with just 12 per cent of those aged 50 to 54 choosing a hymn, compared with one in four over-65s.

Sandra Millar, head of life events at the Church of England, said: “Perhaps people have a memory of a hymn that feels sad because they have previously sung it at a sad event.”

The popularity of church funerals has declined because of the introduction of secular celebrants who can lead non-religious ceremonies.

Only around one in three funerals now takes place in the Church of England. Ms Millar suggested that this could be another reason behind the decline of hymns.

There is no compulsion to have hymns at a church funeral but she said it was relatively rare to have a church ceremony with no hymns at all.

Ceremonies which take place in crematoriums also tend to have limited time slots, reducing the time available to sing hymns.

But Ms Millar cautioned that mourners’ secular music choice was not always appropriate for church. “Sometimes when you listen to a song all the way through you realise that it has quite an odd message – you have to make sure it’s appropriate,” she said.

Research by the insurer Sunlife found that the Monty Python song Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life

was the most popular choice of secular funeral music – although given its appearance at the end of the Life of Brian it may not be the ideal choice for a church service.