LDS Funeral Planning Guide vs the General Handbook: Which Do You Actually Need?

If you're trying to decide between reading the Church's General Handbook and buying a dedicated LDS funeral planning guide, the short answer is this: you need both, but for different reasons. The General Handbook tells you what the rules are. A planning guide tells you how to execute those rules when you have seventy-two hours, a funeral director who has never handled temple clothing, and three siblings who can't agree on cremation.

The General Handbook is free, authoritative, and indispensable. No planning guide replaces it. But the Handbook was written for bishops — not for grieving spouses trying to figure out whether Grandma's favorite hymn qualifies as "reverent" enough for the chapel, or how to ask a bishop they've never met to unlock the building on a Tuesday afternoon.

Side-by-Side Comparison

When the General Handbook Is Enough

The Handbook is genuinely sufficient if every one of these conditions is true:

• The primary planner is an active, endowed member who has attended several LDS funerals
• The family lives in the same ward as the deceased and knows the bishop personally
• Everyone in the family agrees on burial, temple clothing, and the service format
• The funeral director has handled LDS services before and knows the temple clothing protocol
• No one in the family is non-member, less-active, or estranged from the Church

In that scenario, the bishop walks you through the process, the Relief Society steps in seamlessly, and the Handbook's policy language makes sense because you already speak the vocabulary.

When You Need More Than the Handbook

The Handbook starts falling short when any of these realities appear — and at least one appears in the majority of LDS funeral planning situations:

• You're not a member. The Handbook uses terms like "endowed," "Melchizedek priesthood," "fast-offering fund," and "Elders Quorum" without defining them. If you're a non-member executor or an interfaith spouse, you need a resource that translates Church vocabulary into plain language.

• You're coordinating remotely. If you live out of state and the deceased's ward is unfamiliar to you, you don't have the luxury of a casual relationship with the bishop. You need a script for that first phone call — what to ask, what to propose, and what decisions are yours vs. the bishop's.

• The family disagrees about cremation. The Church's position is that cremation is permitted but burial is preferred. That ambiguity fuels arguments. A planning guide walks through the actual logistics, costs, and temple clothing rules for both options so the decision happens from facts, not assumptions.

• The funeral director has never handled temple clothing. Outside of Utah, Idaho, and parts of Arizona, most funeral directors have limited or no experience with LDS dressing protocol. Handing them a step-by-step dressing guide — garment first, white clothing second, ceremonial overlay third, robe on the right shoulder, apron at the waist, cap bow over the left ear — prevents a situation no one wants to deal with at the viewing.

• You're planning under time pressure. LDS funerals typically happen within a week of passing. The Handbook doesn't give you a day-by-day sequence. A planning guide converts policy into a chronological workflow: Day 1 (call the bishop, contact the mortuary, notify the Relief Society), Day 2 (submit the program for approval, confirm music, coordinate pallbearers), Day 3 (temple clothing dressing, final venue walkthrough, luncheon setup).

Who This Is For

• Non-member executors handling a Latter-day Saint family member's funeral for the first time
• Adult children who grew up LDS but are no longer active and feel uncertain about the protocols
• Out-of-state families coordinating with an unfamiliar local ward
• Funeral directors who serve LDS families outside the Intermountain West
• Anyone planning under acute time pressure who needs a checklist, not a policy manual

Who This Is NOT For

• Active bishops or Relief Society presidents who already know the procedures from serving in those callings
• Families where every member is active, local, and in agreement about every element of the service
• Anyone looking for a theological explanation of LDS afterlife beliefs (the Handbook and Gospel Library serve that purpose well)

The Real Tradeoff

The General Handbook is the authoritative source, and you should read the relevant sections no matter what. But authority and usability are different things. The Handbook tells you what is allowed; a planning guide tells you how to get it done when you're grieving, time-pressured, and navigating family dynamics that the Handbook was never designed to address.

For $19, the Mormon / LDS Funeral Guide bridges that gap with a 72-hour timeline, bishop coordination scripts, a temple clothing dressing guide, cost breakdowns for both burial and cremation, and a printable non-member etiquette sheet — all grounded in the same General Handbook policies, translated into language that works for families, not administrators.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the General Handbook available to non-members?

Yes. The Church made the full General Handbook publicly available online in 2020. Anyone can read Chapters 38 (Church Policies and Guidelines), 29 (Meetings in the Church), and 18 (Performing Priesthood Ordinances, Including Blessings) at churchofjesuschrist.org. You do not need a Church account or membership to access it.

Does a funeral planning guide replace the bishop's role?

No. For a Church member's funeral held in an LDS chapel, the bishop presides — that is Church policy and no guide changes it. For a non-member's service, ask the bishop about the meetinghouse and officiant arrangements. A planning guide helps you prepare for that collaboration: what questions to bring, what decisions are yours to propose, and what the bishop will need from you before approving the service program.

Can I use both the Handbook and a planning guide together?

That is the recommended approach. Read the Handbook to understand the policies. Use the planning guide to execute them — the scripts, checklists, and worksheets translate Handbook policies into actions you can take on Day 1, Day 2, and Day 3.

What if my bishop is very hands-on and manages everything?

Some bishops coordinate every detail personally, which is wonderful. Even in that case, a planning guide helps you arrive at the coordination meeting prepared — with your speaker preferences, music selections, and questions organized — so you use the bishop's limited volunteer time efficiently rather than working through decisions for the first time in front of him.

Are funeral planning guides specific to one country?

The Mormon / LDS Funeral Guide is built on the General Handbook, which provides a common baseline for LDS funerals worldwide. Chapel rules, temple clothing protocols, and bishop authority structures may be affected by local customs and leadership decisions whether the funeral is in Provo, London, São Paulo, or Auckland. Country-specific legal requirements (death certificates, burial permits, cremation authorization) also vary.