Funeral reading
What a Friend We Have in Jesus
Joseph Scriven, 1855
“What a Friend We Have in Jesus” by Joseph Scriven, 1855 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 but too long to print in a ceremony script, so this page points at a full text rather than reproducing one.
Why the words are not printed here
Public domain. Easy to sing, which matters when half the room is not managing to.
Pieces still in copyright are listed by title and author only — we name them and tell you where to get them, but we do not reproduce the words. Public-domain text is printed in your script in full.
What it is about
Easy on a congregation that is struggling to get through the service.
Read at a funeral or memorial service. Themes: comfort · carrying trouble · traditional · singable.
Questions about reading it aloud
How long does “What a Friend We Have in Jesus” take to read aloud?
“What a Friend We Have in Jesus” 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 “What a Friend We Have in Jesus”?
Everyone together, rather than one reader. “What a Friend We Have in Jesus” 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 “What a Friend We Have in Jesus” be printed in a ceremony script?
Not in full here. Public domain. Easy to sing, which matters when half the room is not managing to.
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
- Amazing Grace4 minutesJohn Newton, 1779
- The Old Rugged Cross4 minutesGeorge Bennard, 1913
- Nearer, My God, to Thee4 minutesSarah Flower Adams, 1841
- The Lord's My Shepherd (Crimond)4 minutesScottish Psalter, 1650
- How Great Thou Art5 minutesStuart K. Hine (English text, 1949)