What Is the Program at a Funeral Called?

The piece of paper handed to you at the door of a funeral has no single name. The funeral home calls it one thing, the church another, the print shop a third, and the family usually calls it "the program". They are all right. Here are the names, what each one means, and what is actually inside.

The names, and who uses them

• Funeral program. The most common name in the United States. It is what most families, funeral homes and print shops say.
• Order of service. Strictly, the list of what happens and in what order, which is one panel of the program. In Britain, Ireland, Australia and many churches it is the name for the whole booklet.
• Memorial program or memorial service program. The same thing, for a service held without the body present, or some time after the death.
• Celebration of life program. The same thing again, for a service that is not a religious funeral.
• Service bulletin or church bulletin. What many Protestant churches call it, because it is printed the way the Sunday bulletin is.
• Mass booklet or funeral Mass program. For a Catholic funeral, where the booklet often holds the responses and hymns as well as the order.
• Homegoing program. In many Black churches, where the service is a homegoing celebration, the program carries the same name and is often the fullest of all: obituary, photographs, acknowledgments, pallbearers, and a page of reflections.
• Memorial folder, keepsake booklet, pamphlet, leaflet. Print-shop and stationer names, usually describing the shape rather than the purpose.

If you are ordering one, say funeral program and then the shape you want (below). Every printer will know what you mean.

What is inside, whatever it is called

1. The cover: their name, their dates, a photograph, and a line such as "In Loving Memory" or "Celebrating the Life of".
2. The order of service: what happens, in order, and who is doing each part.
3. The obituary: usually the one from the newspaper or the memorial page, sometimes shortened to fit a panel.
4. Survivors and pallbearers, when the family wants them listed.
5. A poem, a reading or a scripture.
6. The acknowledgment: the family's thank-you, on the back.

The full guide to what goes in a funeral program takes each of these in turn, and the wording guide gives the exact lines to copy for each panel.

The four shapes it comes in

• One page (8.5 × 11, printed both sides): cover and obituary on one side, order of service and acknowledgment on the other. For a graveside or a small service.
• Bi-fold (a letter sheet folded once, four panels): the usual funeral program. Cover, two inside panels, back.
• Tri-fold (folded twice, six panels): more room for photographs and the order of service, in the same single sheet.
• 8-page booklet (two sheets folded and nested): the keepsake, with room for a longer obituary, a photo gallery and the full liturgy. The usual choice for a Mass or a homegoing.

Which to choose is covered in bi-fold vs tri-fold; how many to print is usually one per guest plus a few to keep.

Three questions people ask next

Is the order of service the same as the program?

In the United States, no: the order of service is the list inside the program. In Britain and in many churches, yes: the whole booklet is called the order of service. If someone asks you for "the order of service", ask whether they mean the list or the booklet.

Do you need one at all?

No service requires one. Most families print one because it tells guests when to stand and what is being read, and because it is the one thing from the day that people keep.

Who makes it?

The funeral home, if it is in the package; a print shop from a file you give them; or you, from a template or a service like this one, where the obituary you write is set into the program for you and printed at home or sent to any print counter.