In my experience, it has been rare that anyone would even take a picture at a funeral. But technology has made great strides into our traditional ways. As far back as the funeral of John F. Kennedy, television cameras made the event “available” to the common person. It is practically expected in the case of a public figure today (remember some guy named Michael Jackson)? One writer even suggests a “Funeral Channel” on Cable. (Read it here.)

An extension of this concept is a live webcast of a funeral. Maximum PC posted an article about this a while back (read it here). Dan Cohen just published an article titled, “Technology Meets Tradition” describing his first experience with this new way of conducting a funeral. (Read the article here.) Dan’s experience was with a Jewish funeral home that offers both a live webcast and a telephone “call-in” functions to allow remote family members or friends to participate in the funeral.

What is your take on this? Is it ethical to do a webcast of a funeral service? Is it just another way to leverage technology in ministry? Or, has the technology over-stepped its bounds? Do you feel that this is an invasion of the privacy of the family? Is it disrespectful of the deceased? Or should this be made available to everyone? Leave a comment and tell us what you think….