CHOOSING a funeral celebrant is an important task. The next of kin must feel at ease and relate readily to the person chosen to conduct a funeral service.
Here’s what I can offer you at this stressful time:-
- To respond in a timely way
- Many ideas for both content and style that can be used in funeral services today.
- My personal experience.
- Respect for your choices for the service.
To prepare for the interview you might like to:-
- Make some jottings about the life of the deceased.
- Think about the music that celebrates the life of the deceased.
- Consider the nature of the service.
In discussion you will need to:-
- Decide on how we will honour the deceased’s beliefs and wishes.
- Prepare a method of retelling the story of the deceased’s life
- Decide on who will make tributes and if we will call on impromptu speakers
- Select pieces of verse, poems or quotes and suggestions of who might read these.
- Consider other organisations that might be involved, like the RSA, clubs, or service organisations.
- Consider including children and involving them in the service.
In preparation for the service, I will:-
- Write a draft which I will make available for your approval
- Source music which we will use on the day.
- Liaise with the funeral director and provide words and cues that he or she may need.
- Help others to write tributes when required.
A funeral service inevitably becomes a reunion of family and friends, where we gather to recall and celebrate the life of one we have loved with an appropriate ceremony.
In an act of practical love, we return the deceased’s body to the elements from which it came. Symbols, words and music are our companions as we use tribute and ritual to say our goodbyes.
Please read Comments from some of my previous clients.
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