Oh my, my mind draws a blank about my father's funeral. He remarried a Catholic widow but didn't go to mass. I only remember a couple things about his burial, guess I was in kind of shock.
Yes, I miss the more traditional liturgy, and there was a wonderful choir. Now I don't know what it is, more of a social outreach. A good friend has faithfully attended every Sunday after she lost her husband to leukemia many years ago.
Two of my closest friends (one a Presbyterian) one a Methodist. Shortly before the latter died, she worked in a big funeral home and was very good with people. Anyway, I asked her what about her faith we had as children? She was into reincarnation and don't know what else. her father was a Freemason as was my Presbyterian friend's.
I wouldn't have thought I could ever become religious, but I take it very seriously.
From some contacts I have with mainline Protestants, I understand there is a certain amount of home-brew theology and syncretism among some church members, not to mention the clergy. A friend of mine served as a UMC pastor in Connecticut for some years, and he said his people had little understanding of the Bible, weren’t much interested in learning about it, and had some unique ideas about things. But, as I said, there are still some good people there. My friend is conservative. My father’s last two pastors, both of them women, very positively impressed me, both for their faithfulness to traditional Christian theology and their pastoral manner. They serve in southern Illinois. Whether they could get away with traditional views in other places, such as Chicago, is highly questionable.