Sunday, I went to a memorial service for a friend that died last week. They don't know exactly when he died but he was last seen last sunday and was found dead in his home on thursday.
Anyway, most of the service involved having the people there take turns remembering Dan and what he meant to them. His family came down from the Mid-west, so it was interesting to meet them.
The thing I found odd was the first speaker - she was some sort of evangelist. Didn't say a thing about Dan, only how we needed to find Jesus. That was odd. At a Jewish service we mostly talk about the deceased and there's a little bit of prayer - almost none, really. The most important part (as I understand it) is the Mourner's Kaddish. It was odd to be preached at (an unusual situation for me anyway, but doubly so at a funeral).
Anyway, that was interesting and not at all what I expected.