Generally speaking, I try to stay away from lines as SOP during my funerals, especially when they are at my facility. I like to have it more casual with people being able to wander and talk to people as they please. But there are a few times lines help with things or are more necessary.
-It helps in making sure everyone signs the register and gets any of the handouts such as prayer cards, memorial folders, service pamphlets, etc.
-Once you have a certain number of people flowing through the door it helps keep things orderly and make sure everyone gets through and gets their time.
-At most churches you're a guest and at their mercy. And for many, they've done funerals the same way for 50-100 years, and everyone that goes there is used to the way it runs, good luck changing anything.
Honestly, most funerals are a pretty bad idea in general. If you're religious then you've already done your trip. You either made it or you didn't. Kind of seems like now you're just making other people share in your burden. If the dead's family/friends are religious, they should be praying on their own without it being made into a spectacle. I'm all in favor of a gathering to remember the good things about somebody, but wait a month or two and have a nice party where people can actually enjoy their remembrance. That's what most of my family goes in for. Treat it as a happy thing. That's certainly what I'd want.
Your comments seem to imply that funerals are only held for religious or ceremonial reasons, which is way off base. Though that is often the case, funerals can be done in a wide variety of ways to help a lot of people in a lot of different ways. Frankly some of my favorite funerals over the years are for those folks with little to no religious involvement but who want to find interesting ways to honor their loved ones and create a memorable experience.
AA funerals are amazing though...we gather and set up a podium, and take turns telling hysterical and embarrassing stories about the deceased, it's a true celebration of life, and everyone really remembers the joy said person brought to the rooms.
This is a good example of how some services are. It's not always a pastor coming up and talking for 30 minutes about how the only way you can honor the deceased is by accepting god and becoming an uber Christian (my least favorite kind of funeral service). I've had plenty of services where the bulk is family and friends sharing.
Seriously though, I can't tell you how many times someone has told me, without directly telling me, that I'm going straight to hell in the course of "honoring" someone who has died. It's fucking pathetic.