This is one of the cheapest ways to buy a casket. The deacons of a church can use it to save the family a lot of money and help provide a means of catharsis for the surviving family members…
Selling caskets is a lucrative business. The casket may be the largest component of the entire funeral budget. By reducing this cost as much as possible, a family can have a significant impact on the overall cost of the funeral. According to the US Federal Trade Commission:
A casket often is the single most expensive item you’ll buy if you plan a “traditional” full-service funeral. Caskets vary widely in style and price and are sold primarily for their visual appeal. Typically, they’re constructed of metal, wood, fiberboard, fiberglass or plastic. Although an average casket costs slightly more than $2,000, some mahogany, bronze or copper caskets sell for as much as $10,000.
There are much cheaper ways.
$500 Casket
The cheapest caskets are made out of pine wood. You can get them for under $300 at sites like this.
You can also get pine casket kits from a site like Casket Builder Supply for $500:
According to the site, it includes instructions and screws. It can be assembled in about an hour. The site includes photos of the assembly process. It doesn’t come with handles, but you can use a cheap rope to make a nice looking set of handles or buy metal handles for cheap.
Churches could stock one or two of these kits and offer them to families for free as a way to save them a lot of money. The kits won’t take up much storage space.
The deacons or friends and family can assemble the kits. This can be a cathartic process for those in grief. It can provide an opportunity for friends and family members to come together and share old stories and good memories.
By donating a $500 pine casket kit to a member family, the church could help the family save $2,000 or more on their funeral.
For more options, do a Google search for “pine casket kits“.
CONCLUSION
Getting a cheap casket is crucial to keeping down funeral costs. Stocking a few simple pine casket assembly kits is likely not a large expense for the church. There may be members willing to donate them. The family does not need to bury their loved one in an expensive casket.
“For dust you are, and to dust you will return” (Genesis 3:19).
If the diaconate thinks this is a good idea, you need to also come up with a plan to communicate the information to the congregation.
It would be a good idea to generate a sign-up list. This will also help get member families thinking ahead about their funeral plans.