Ecumenical council during the Middle Ages, such as the Third (1179) and the Fourth (1215) Council of the Lateran. Charging money to conduct burials, bless a marriage or to celebrate any of the sacraments was considered as a crime of Simony. Nevertheless, since the beginning of the Western Christianity, but especially after the 11th century, a considerable part of the doctrine, as well as the Canon Law itself, accepted a rightful compensation for the work of the minister. This compensation had to be based on local "laudable customs" or on a voluntary payment, but many parishes turned these fees into a standard scale of charges. This attitude resulted above all from the desire to strengthen parish incomes, often very small especially in rural areas. Although many critics attacked these exactions, in all Christian countries burial fees were regularly perceived by the clergy. Moreover, in contexts where parishes hosted a vestry (such as in England and France), the parishioners had to pay a certain amount to the wardens for the use of the churchyard or the church itself, when the burial took place inside it. This contribution was often called the right "for breaking the ground". After the Reformation, in both catholic and reformed areas, burial payments were standardized in tables of fees that had to be displayed at the entrance of the church or inside the sacristy. These tables registered also payments due for marriages, christenings, and, in some countries such as England, for the churching of women. The promulgation of tables of fees continues today in most of the Christian countries where there is an organized church. Protestant burials Protestant burial services and rituals vary enormously between denominations. Methodist funeral The United Methodist Church and the Methodist Church of Great Britain have funeral liturgies based on the Sarum Rite that emphasize "the paschal character of Christian death and connected the last rite with baptism". The Order for the Burial of the Dead in the Methodist Book of Worship for Church and Home (1965) specifies that "Funeral Services of church members should be held in the sanctuary. The casket should be placed before the altar". The casket or coffin is traditionally covered with a white pall symbolizing the resurrection of Christ. The official name for the liturgy in the United Methodist Church is "A Service of Death and Resurrection"; it includes the elements found in a standard liturgy celebrated on