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Funeral parlors were among some of the first black-owned businesses and the black funeral director was a trusted friend and neighbor in the community. Elegant Memorials has over 100 unique and colorful funeral program template designs and layouts to choose from. Select from a variety of funeral programs themes and colors to help capture the uniqueness of your loved one. Check out our funeral program sample gallery to get geat ideas to help you create the perfect program for your funeral, memorial, homegoing or celebration of life service or ceremony.
At Going Home Cremations, we know that other places may treat you like just another customer, but with the personalized attention we provide our clients, you leave knowing we care. We provide the same direct cremation services that funeral homes provide without the large overhead costs. We have been helping families with cremations for over 20 years. African American homegoing celebrations have been around since the 1600s. But in more recent years, the tradition has started to fade.
Homegoing Program Sample
The middle panel has a brief obituary, that gives personal information about the deceased. The far right hand panel has a beautiful funeral poem, overlayed on a watermark photo of your loved one. This program uses the trifold Classic Cross Funeral Program Template.
We are committed to providing cremation and funeral packages at reasonable costs for families. We offer a full range of gifts to help comfort and support those who need it the most delivered direct from your local florist. Most cleaners have an hourly rate in mind, lets say for example $27 per hour. From here they take their hourly rate minus the cost of an employee’s hourly rate say $20.00 and come to the conclusion that their profit is $7.00 per hour.
We have a variety of resources on this site to help you create the perfect program. Some or our information includes:
There are pall bearers and flowers and the service is typically held in a church. The Homegoing program sample inside page is also divided into 3 panels. The left hand panel has an order of service that lists the order of events for the homegoing service. You can find more information about homegoing services on this website.

Funeral homes owned by African American funeral directors have struggled to keep their doors open. And families have started opting for low-cost cremation in place of a traditional funeral and burial. For seven days before the funeral service, the homegoing celebration takes place in the household of the bereaved. During that week-long visitation period, family and friends bring gifts of food and flowers, and they offer their sincere condolences. The history of the homegoing service can be traced back to the arrival of African slaves in America.
What’s a Homegoing Celebration?
The funeral program cover has the title "Homegoing Service" and has a picture on the cover. Also on the cover is the full name, homegoing service information, and birth and death date. There is a decorative flourish on the front cover for an extra design element. If you have the opportunity to attend a traditional homegoing celebration, be prepared to experience one of America’s oldest funeral services.

Find out what to do and discover resources to help you cope. All orders placed by 12pm CST Monday-Friday will receive their proof same day. Samples of music that can be played as your loved one is taken from the hearse to go to their final resting place. Fresh flowers can be mixed throughout the grave dressing, this can be done on or with the Traditional Burial Method and Grave Lowering Device Method.
Although the embalming was mostly done by white funeral homes, the homegoing service took place in the black Christian church. The churches began forming burial societies to collect money for funerals. Black businessmen who opened funeral homes during the early-to-mid-twentieth century saw not only a business opportunity, but a way to help the community.
Myers, Bonita Springs, Naples, and Cape Coral and surrounding areas. It’s a funerary tradition with roots in the past, but one that’s changed over time and adjusted to current-day limitations and expectations. You’ll also want to check the funeral notice—your invitation or the post in a newspaper—for an “In Lieu of Flowers” notification. Families sometimes ask funeral attendees to make a charity donation instead of buying gifts.
If you’re planning to attend a homegoing celebration for the first time, it’s important to know the proper etiquette. After the burial, family members and friends return to the bereaved’s household or to the church for a meal. When the day of the funeral arrives, it’s customary to arrange a formal funeral procession from the family home to the church.
They fully embraced Christianity and death, for slaves, was viewed as freedom. Their death rituals were jubilant and it became one of the earliest forms of African American culture. From a distance the night he died, to explaining and assisting me with completing forms , to making arrangements my retrieval of ashes and death certificates.