Question about a Friend's Funeral

[BearFoot]

A friend of mine, (nice guy, classmate from high school, veteran of the 82nd Airborne Division, just retired from the National Park Service) passed away tragically with his wife in a car crash. They were both was 62.
I went to the funeral, which was held in a large church to accommodate the attendees (which turned out to be in the hundreds), not his home church.
It was a well-done service. Opened with a photo album showing his life and that of his wife. Typical funeral stuff, opening prayers, music, scripture reading, a sermon of words of comfort to the grievers, and finally something relatively recent in American culture, passing the microphone so attendees could share a favorite memory of the deceased.
At the one hour 25 minute mark, I thought they were wrapping up, but a different minister came to the podium and launched into a 45 minute fire-and-brimstone sermon, screaming, yelling. He must have screamed, "You're going to Hell!" half a dozen times. It was kind of a Billy Graham Revival sermon, but a lot angrier and a lot louder.
I was flabbergasted at how inappropriate that was at that time.
I thought a funeral should be about saying goodbye to the deceased, and assuaging the grief of his family and friends. It is one thing to say, calmly, "Our grief is mitigated somewhat by the knowledge that this man and this woman were sincere Christians and we believe they are going to a better place." Screaming at people for 45 minutes about going to the Infernal Regions just struck me as beyond the Pale.
I sat there until the end out of respect for the deceased, but other people were getting up and walking out throughout the sermon.
Am I off-base or is this not the right place for screaming about going to Hell?

There’s a reason that Jesus had great disdain for, and antagonized the religious hierarchy of his time. An humble, honest, personal interaction with another human being is much more powerful than a self-righteous and antagonistic one. People are so much more open minded when they feel they’re being led, than when they know they’re being shoved. I’m sorry you had to deal with this experience…but I‘ve read enough of your posts to know you’re intelligent enough to realize that the loud man was only interested in glorifying and praising his own ego.

 

[Jack Bourbon]

A friend of mine, (nice guy, classmate from high school, veteran of the 82nd Airborne Division, just retired from the National Park Service) passed away tragically with his wife in a car crash. They were both was 62.
I went to the funeral, which was held in a large church to accommodate the attendees (which turned out to be in the hundreds), not his home church.
It was a well-done service. Opened with a photo album showing his life and that of his wife. Typical funeral stuff, opening prayers, music, scripture reading, a sermon of words of comfort to the grievers, and finally something relatively recent in American culture, passing the microphone so attendees could share a favorite memory of the deceased.
At the one hour 25 minute mark, I thought they were wrapping up, but a different minister came to the podium and launched into a 45 minute fire-and-brimstone sermon, screaming, yelling. He must have screamed, "You're going to Hell!" half a dozen times. It was kind of a Billy Graham Revival sermon, but a lot angrier and a lot louder.
I was flabbergasted at how inappropriate that was at that time.
I thought a funeral should be about saying goodbye to the deceased, and assuaging the grief of his family and friends. It is one thing to say, calmly, "Our grief is mitigated somewhat by the knowledge that this man and this woman were sincere Christians and we believe they are going to a better place." Screaming at people for 45 minutes about going to the Infernal Regions just struck me as beyond the Pale.
I sat there until the end out of respect for the deceased, but other people were getting up and walking out throughout the sermon.
Am I off-base or is this not the right place for screaming about going to Hell?

Sounds bonkers. Theres enough at a funeral to keep ppls attention in my opinion.

Did they at least serve cocktails?

 

[Tidewater]

Sounds bonkers. Theres enough at a funeral to keep ppls attention in my opinion.

Did they at least serve cocktails?

Ha. They did not. Might not be the right crowd for that.

 

[Tidewater]

There’s a reason that Jesus had great disdain for, and antagonized the religious hierarchy of his time. An humble, honest, personal interaction with another human being is much more powerful than a self-righteous and antagonistic one. People are so much more open minded when they feel they’re being led, than when they know they’re being shoved. I’m sorry you had to deal with this experience…but I‘ve read enough of your posts to know you’re intelligent enough to realize that the loud man was only interested in glorifying and praising his own ego.

There’s a reason that Jesus had great disdain for, and antagonized the religious hierarchy of his time. An humble, honest, personal interaction with another human being is much more powerful than a self-righteous and antagonistic one. People are so much more open minded when they feel they’re being led, than when they know they’re being shoved. I’m sorry you had to deal with this experience…but I‘ve read enough of your posts to know you’re intelligent enough to realize that the loud man was only interested in glorifying and praising his own ego.

I do not want to speak for somebody's motives. As Toddrn said, maybe the family was aware of this minister's style and ask him to do it.
Around Hooterville, there is a large Presbyterian population (Scotch-Irish from the mid-1700s moved here in droves because there were no Church of England vicars this far west). Presbyterians tend to be very dour in church. This sermon just surprised me a bit.