In a brief essay posted last week I noted some of the reasons why Washington’s Episcopal cathedral had become the accustomed place for presidential funerals, even for those, like Jimmy Carter who are not Episcopalians and belonged to another D.C. congregation. I see that Washington National Cathedral has now posted on its site its answer to “Why is the State Funeral being held at the Cathedral?

The Cathedral’s founders envisioned this Cathedral as a “great church for national purposes,” and one of the Cathedral’s core missions is to open its doors to the nation at times of joy, mourning and national significance. President Carter, in consultation with the Carter family and the U.S. military, chose the Cathedral as the site of his State Funeral service.

While the key point is that it was the president’s own choice, the reference to the U.S. military is significant since the Military District of Washington is responsibly for overseeeing the funeral. Its detailed schedule of events is on its website here. The past three presidential funerals have followed essentially the same schedule of events in Washington and included the cathedral. Given the many security, logistical, and media requirements for the funeral it is no doubt easier to follow a set routine and location. The cathedral has long been equipped with the necessary infrastructure for broadcasting the service. While the overall event is referred to as “The State Funeral,” the event at the cathedral is refered to in the schedule as “The National Funeral.” In some cases in the past, care has been taken to refer to only the events focused at the Capitol as the state funeral itself. The service in churches could be argued are not state events, but it is here that the sitting president will deliver his eulogy, thus that makes it the key event.

Before the details of the schedule were released, I had wondered if and how First Baptist Church would be involved in the official funeral. President and Mrs. Carter joined First Baptist on his first Sunday in office, their daughter was baptized there. He attended worship there more than 70 times during his four years in office and taught Sunday School there at least 16 times.

The answer is that First Baptist is not part of the official funeral involving the president’s remains, but this Sunday evening, January 5, the Service of Prayer and Reflection at 5 p.m. and will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday to Thursday, the days the funeral is taking place in D.C. While Lyndon Johnson’s D.C. funeral was held at National City Christian Church, a building of roughly the same size as First Baptist, the cathedral provides greater size and, arguably, dignity. At this point, it would seem odd for a Protestant president’s funeral not to be at the cathedral.

On Thursday after the funeral in Washington there will be another, private, funeral service at Marantha Baptist Church in Plains. It will be followed by a private burial. When I watched President Reagan’s funeral in 2004, I remember being surprised that his burial which was listed as “private” was televised. The service at the Carter Center in Atlanta that I am watching as I write this is also listed as “private,” yet all the world can see it. I’ll be interested to see how Carter’s funeral unfolds.