President George H. W. Bush funerals to be in Washington and Texas

President George H. W. Bush funerals to be in Washington and Texas

Former President George H.W. Bush, 94, died Friday, November 30, 2018. His state funeral will be Wednesday, December 5, at the Episcopal Washington National Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul, followed by a more private funeral at 10 am Central Time Thursday, December 6, at his home church of St. Martin’s Episcopal Church, Houston, where he and Barbara Bush worshiped for more than 50 years. Both funerals will be televised by all major networks.

Official White House portrait of President George H.W. Bush

The state funeral service will be at 10 am Central Time. It will be aired live on C-SPAN and all major television networks.  It will be based on the Burial Rite in the Episcopal Church’s Book of Common Prayer and will be led by the Most Rev. Michael Curry, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church; the Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, Episcopal Bishop of Washington; the Very Rev. Randy Hollerith, dean of Washington National Cathedral; and the Rev. Dr. Russell Levenson, Jr., rector of St. Martin’s Episcopal Church in Houston, Texas.

Read the Order of Service for the State Funeral.

Read more about Burial Rites in The Episcopal Church.

News reports say that at least four people will deliver eulogies at Bush’s Wednesday service. They are President George W. Bush, former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, former Sen. Alan Simpson, and presidential historian Jon Meacham. In Houston on Thursday, Bush’s grandson George P. Bush and former Secretary of State James Baker are expected to speak.

After the service at St. Martin’s he will be buried a family plot at the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library in College Station, Texas, alongside his wife, Barbara, and his daughter, Robin.

Here is the official schedule announcement of related activities in Texas – Note all times are Eastern Time:

  • Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. ET – Arrival ceremony at Ellington Field, Joint Reserve Base, Houston, Texas.
  • Wednesday at 6:45 p.m. ET – Arrival ceremony at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church, Houston, Texas.
  • Wednesday at 7:45 p.m. ET – Bush’s remains will lie in repose at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church until Thursday at 7 a.m. with a guard of honor in attendance.
  • Thursday, 11 a.m. ET – Funeral service at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church.
  • Thursday at 12:15 p.m. ET – Departure ceremony at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church.
  • Thursday at 1:30 p.m. ET – Bush’s remains will depart St. Martin’s Episcopal Church and be transported by motorcade to Union Pacific Railroad Westfield Auto Facility. From there, Bush’s remains will be transported by funeral car train to College Station, Texas.
  • Thursday at 4:45 p.m. ET – Arrival ceremony at Texas A&M University.
  • Thursday at 5:15 p.m. ET – Arrival and interment at George Bush Presidential Library & Museum, College Station, Texas. 

Prayer at the Burial of an Adult

O God of grace and glory, we remember before you this day
our brother (sister) N. We thank you for giving him to us, his
family and friends, to know and to love as a companion on
our earthly pilgrimage. In your boundless compassion,
console us who mourn. Give us faith to see in death the gate
of eternal life, so that in quiet confidence we may continue
our course on earth, until, by your call, we are reunited with
those who have gone before; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Book of Common Prayer, Page 493