Identitáselemek temetési szertartásunkban
Identity Elements in Unitarian Funeral Practice

Summary/Abstract: The article provides an overview of a nine year research eff ort focusing on current English and Transylvanian Unitarian practices of funeral rituals. Paul Tillich’s (1886–1965) method of correlation, together with John Creswell's mixed methods approach, gives the methodological background for the study’s rationale. The research included interviews of lay people and ministers of different educational backgrounds talking about funerals which were important and meaningful to them. The article was derived from transcripts of the interviews as well as the author’s notes and observations about the participants’ reflections on funeral occasions. The participants have been given pseudonyms for ethical considerations and have provided their written consent. This article proposes that theological enquiry should be present in actual church practice. This aim is approached here within the contextual interpretation of elements of personal identity reflected in the funeral practice. The two main important elements of identity hybridity and images of God are interpreted in the funeral ritual as conceived in the language of the church. The article concludes that hybridity is an important element of the Unitarian identity. The concept of God is amorphous and evolving which adds weight to the hypothesis that funeral as ritual is losing its transitional character, and that gaps are emerging in the fabric of the ritual. These gaps, further complicated by individuals’ subjective interpretations of death, God, and identity, significantly diminish the effectiveness of funeral rituals as aids to personal transition.

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