Funeral reading
Amazing Grace
John Newton, 1779
“Amazing Grace” by John Newton, 1779 is a hymn read at a funeral or memorial service. It takes about 4 minutes read aloud, usually by everyone together. It is in the public domain, so the full text is printed on this page and goes straight into a ceremony script.
The full text
Amazing grace! (how sweet the sound!) That saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now am found,— Was blind, but now I see.
Public domain, so these words can be printed in a ceremony script or an order of service.
What it is about
The one a room full of people who never sing will still sing.
Read at a funeral or memorial service. Themes: the best-known hymn · everyone can sing it · bagpipes · a graveside · comfort.
Questions about reading it aloud
How long does “Amazing Grace” take to read aloud?
“Amazing Grace” takes about 4 minutes read aloud at a ceremony pace, which is slower than conversation — roughly 130 words a minute. That is the figure the run-sheet uses when it works out the timing for the whole service.
Who usually reads “Amazing Grace”?
Everyone together, rather than one reader. “Amazing Grace” runs about 4 minutes and needs the words in front of the room — in an order of service, on a screen, or led line by line by the officiant.
Can “Amazing Grace” be printed in a ceremony script?
Yes. It is in the public domain, so the full text is on this page and can be printed in a script or an order of service.
Where this text was checked
Checked word for word against a full-text edition that is itself the authority — a Project Gutenberg or Wikisource transcription, a publisher’s own edition, or the issuing body’s page.
Checked
A reading is two minutes of the hour.
The rest is the welcome, the life, the remembrances, the committal — and knowing what comes next. Answer some questions about them and get the whole service, written out, with this reading in its place.
Other readings that suit the same service
- Abide With Me4 minutesHenry Francis Lyte, 1847
- What a Friend We Have in Jesus4 minutesJoseph Scriven, 1855
- The Lord's My Shepherd (Crimond)4 minutesScottish Psalter, 1650
- How Great Thou Art5 minutesStuart K. Hine (English text, 1949)
- It Is Well With My Soul4 minutesHoratio Spafford, 1873
- In the Garden4 minutesC. Austin Miles, 1912