Celebrant Pam Vetter


	Celebrating Life Everyone Has A Story...

Funeral Celebrant Los Angeles

NEWS ARTICLE

Funeral News: The Funeral Celebrant: Family First

by Pam Vetter

www.funeralwire.com

The Funeral Celebrant: Family First
PRESS RELEASE March 7, 2006

Alternatives. Options. Choices. Funeral Celebrants are empowering the family when it comes to organizing a funeral service for their loved ones.

The Funeral Celebrant movement is sweeping across the nation as families are turning to Celebrants to personalize, organize, and conduct funeral services. Many families do not attend church, some are unable to attend while others may not believe in organized religion or may have an alternative belief system. Some may be spiritual but not religious. Some may have secular beliefs. Filling this need are Funeral Celebrants who are available to serve every family who wants a personalized funeral service that reflects someone’s life story and personality.

Funeral Celebrants serve as an advocate for the family’s needs first by organizing a personal meeting. The family meetings, where family members share personal stories from their loved one’s life with the Celebrant, are a powerful tool in the healing process. The family being heard is the most important element in a Celebrant funeral service. Celebrants invite all beliefs and traditions as part of the service by offering ceremonies, favorite music, readings, and poetry. Religious, spiritual, or secular services are welcome. Instead of the focus being on the cause or time of death, the Celebrant focuses on the stories that reflect the deceased’s whole story and life message.

The feedback from families is incredible. Thank you notes arrive unexpectedly from families who share their gratitude with the Celebrant for making them part of the process and honoring their loved ones life, by focusing in on his or her life stories.

In today’s world, many families face clergy who dictate the funeral service for a loved one. They may determine for the family that only hymns can be played, the number of flowers to be shown, the stories to be told, and insist on sharing a generic sermon which doesn’t tell you anything about a person’s life.

The alternative option: A Celebrant replacing a generic sermon with a person’s life story. A Celebrant agrees to your requests. You want flowers filling the funeral home church - they are welcome. You want to play the deceased’s favorite music on CD - it is invited. You want to share the funniest story from your loved one’s life - it is encouraged. You want a ceremonial candle lighting - the answer is yes. You want scripture and prayers - it’s welcome. You don’t want scripture and prayers - a Celebrant offers choices of readings. Whatever makes it a full Celebration of someone’s life story, Celebrants will help the family deliver an event that will honor and remember who their loved one was on Earth. Everyone makes a difference in the world and every life deserves to be recognized and celebrated. A Celebrant facilitates requests from the family while also offering choices and options on alternative approaches to personalized funeral service. Celebrants work with the funeral home and together they deliver the service a family requests.

Most importantly, Celebrants listen. They hear a family’s heart ache, they share a family’s tears, and they also share family smiles at those special memories. Celebrants are passionate about their work, leading their cause is a sincere heart to help families who are in a crisis situation. Many of the families are facing an unexpected death, maybe the death of a baby, maybe the death of a child, or maybe the death of a sibling. Even when families face a terminal situation for their loved one, sometimes no one is prepared for the actual death. It is an overwhelming time of emotion and they need someone to listen. There is shock, there is grief, and ultimately, there is healing in being heard by the funeral home and by the Celebrant.

Celebrants offer a new option to help the healing begin by putting the family needs first. The Celebrant option should be made available to each and every family around the world because every life is significant in its own way and there is healing in meaningful, personal funeral service for families. Funeral homes who offer the service are receiving positive feedback from their families.

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