c. 2004 Religion News Service
WASHINGTON _ Former President Ronald Reagan’s state funeral on Friday (June 11) will combine a solemn Episcopal Church liturgy with personal touches chosen by Reagan’s family, officials at Washington National Cathedral said.
As Washington prepares to roll out the black carpet for the first presidential state funeral in three decades, cathedral musicians and liturgists are putting the finishing touches on a ceremony that is rich in pageantry and patriotism.
Episcopal Bishop John Chane, who also serves as dean of the cathedral, said the outline for the rites is taken from the Episcopalians’ Book of Common Prayer, although Reagan was a Presbyterian.
“It has the order and form of a burial rite that would be very much a part of our tradition, but would be pretty uniform in any other Christian funeral,” said Chane, who will pray over Reagan’s coffin when it arrives at the cathedral door.
The U.S. Coast Guard Band will play “Hail to the Chief” when Reagan’s body arrives by hearse at the cathedral just after 11:15 a.m. on Friday. The Marine Chamber Orchestra and the Armed Forces Chorus will also provide music for the service.
Hymns chosen by the family include “Sing With All the Saints in Glory,” set to Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” “O Love of God, How Strong and True,” and “Amazing Grace,” sung by Irish tenor Ronan Tynan.
Former Sen. John Danforth, an Episcopal priest and President Bush’s nominee as the next ambassador to the United Nations, will preside at the funeral.
Rabbi Harold Kushner, author of “When Bad Things Happen to Good People,” will read from Isaiah, and Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of Washington will read from one of the four Gospels from the New Testament. Archbishop Demetrios, head of the Greek Orthodox Church, will also be at the funeral.
Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, Reagan’s first nominee to the high court, is scheduled to read from Puritan John Winthrop’s famed 1630 sermon, “A Model of Christian Charity,” in which he set out his vision of the new land as a “city upon a hill.” Eulogies are planned by President Bush, former President George H.W. Bush, former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney.
The Cathedral Choir of Men, Boys and Girls will sing at the service. Choir Director Michael McCarthy said high-stakes performances in front of national audiences are de rigeur for the cathedral.
“At the end of the day, it’s a church service, and that’s the business we’re in,” McCarthy said. “That’s our task, that’s our job.”
Most of the ceremony is outlined by longstanding plans approved by the Reagan family and kept on file with the Military District of Washington. Little has been left to chance.
“Essentially this is a military-led church service,” McCarthy said.
The first _ and only _ time the National Cathedral hosted a state funeral for a president was in 1969, for Dwight Eisenhower. The last state presidential funeral in Washington was in 1973 for Lyndon Johnson; that service was held at National City Christian Church.
Diplomatic protocol will dictate seating beneath the cathedral’s soaring 10-story gothic arches _ the presidential party is followed by chiefs of state, seated alphabetically by the English spelling of their countries. Royalty are seated behind them, followed by heads of government.
Generals and other members of the military are seated in the cathedral’s north transept (the left arm of the cross-shaped cathedral) and family members sit in the south transept. The service will be closed to the public.
The cathedral’s funeral bell will ring once every minute from the time Reagan’s body leaves the U.S. Capitol at 10:45 a.m. until it arrives at 11:15. After the service, the Washington Ringing Society will send Reagan off with a full peal of bells that will run for more than three hours.
DEA/JL END ECKSTROM
