covering the grave

[Valerie]

I have never been to an Anabaptist funeral but i have seen this done. I have also seen flowers, a stem of rose, or others thrown in- i thought both were gestures, not to help in the covering of the grave in actuality.

This caused me to research it as i had really never given it a lot of qiestioning- there's an abundance of information on all the relgions that do this as a gesture & symbolic belief- or ad some said an act of closure

[Ernie]

Where I grew up in Chambersburg, PA, basically all handling of the casket was done by the funeral home and all grave and dirt was taken care of by the excavator and others. Funeral directors in suits and ties would take the casket down the aisle to the front of the church and wheel it out at the end. They hauled the casket to the grave and lowered the casket at the grave, etc.

In more recent times, the church trustees started taking care of all matters at church and then one of the members began taking care of all arrangments other than embalming. Now the trustees cover the grave while the family watches. It is limited to the trustees so that things are done "decently and in order". You have to understand that culture to understand how important this is.

[Grace]

Many CA churches here in Lancaster County have a cemetery committee. Usually this committee consists of someone with excavating experience and with the proper equipment. Also someone who is familiar with the burial codes of the state and the local municipality. They also need to know the plotting layout and other factors. The whole aspect of digging graves is done behind the scenes and many people are unaware of all that it entails. The job of digging and excavating usually hinges a lot on the weather, yet when it comes to graves, they must be dug no matter how wet and muddy the area is around the grave site. I heard of a situation where the excavators dug the grave in extremely wet circumstances and on the morning of the funeral parts of the one side had caved in. The men did not want to come in again with their equipment to remedy the situation, so they got down in the grave hole and shoveled the caved in section out by hand. Probably not the safest situation.

[steve-in-kville]

Opening and closing graves is half art, half science. I have known people who sit on such committees (as Grace described) and they are very detailed in their craft.

[Neto]

A few years ago a local Beachy man completed training for being an undertaker, and I suspect that most plain congregations now use his services. (I don't know about our own congregation - I suspect that this is a family choice anyway.)

One thing about using an excavation service to open the grave is that it then becomes much harder to close it with only shovels, because of the size and consistency of the excavated earth.

I had heard of "symbolic" filling of the grave, as in throwing in a shovel or two of dirt, but here the job is completed during the grave-side service, but I suppose the trustees or some other men from the congregation come back and tidy up so to speak. Obviously, a new grave will require attention over a period of time, because of settling (because the dirt is not compacted in any way during the grave-side service).

[barnhart]

The family, mostly grandchildren, covered my grandfathers grave in Virginia and my other grandfather in Georgia. I just assumed this is normal. I laughed a little to myself doing it because I remembered him saying once in jest that he wanted his feet covered first so he could look out as long as possible. So I did.

[mike]

Where I grew up in Chambersburg, PA, basically all handling of the casket was done by the funeral home and all grave and dirt was taken care of by the excavator and others. Funeral directors in suits and ties would take the casket down the aisle to the front of the church and wheel it out at the end. They hauled the casket to the grave and lowered the casket at the grave, etc.

In more recent times, the church trustees started taking care of all matters at church and then one of the members began taking care of all arrangments other than embalming. Now the trustees cover the grave while the family watches. It is limited to the trustees so that things are done "decently and in order". You have to understand that culture to understand how important this is.

My wife is from the same area, although not the same Mennonite denomination you were in, but they had the same customs. I assumed all plain Anabaptists covered graves by hand until I met folks from that area.

[Josh]

You can pretty much identify Amish-Mennonites vs Mennonites by this custom.

[Heirbyadoption]

Our folks (Brethren, OGBB, Schwarzenau origins) have always filled graves historically, first by family, then by friends as remaining dirt and opportunity affords. Usually two or three shoveling, and one behind the dirt pile pushing dirt forward so those at the edge of the grave can reach it. Depending on the level of conservativeness in the family or group, flowers may or may not be laid on top of the filled grave.

Am also curious, how many of you are familiar with lining the grave with bricks (might just be a geographical thing due to soil issues..,?) or who have sod cut up before digging the grace, and then laid back down on top the grave after it has been filled and flattened...? Some of our folks do the sod thing, others just leave a mound of dirt that eventually settles (with or without the assistance of the cemetery maintenance folks).

[steve-in-kville]

I never was at a burial where the grave was close by hand. Everyone seemed to disperse and let the backhoe fill the grave.