Ceremonies
Ceremonies or rites of passage, are the rituals we use to note transitions in our relationships with others. In baby or child dedications, we recognize the arrival of someone new to the world, to our families, and to our communities. At weddings, we mark the transitions of individuals into a family. During memorial services, we acknowledge loss and the changed relationship with someone when they die.
There are many other occasions one can mark with a ritual: coming of age, retirement, graduation, obtaining a driver's license, divorce, or adoption to name a few. I am open to co-creating rituals beyond those outlined below.
I provide many ceremonies within the context of my congregational work and offer rites of passage to the broader community when possible. The most common are baby dedications, weddings, and memorial services.
Weddings
Weddings are the only rite of passage that requires the officiant to be an agent of the state, for many clergy this is accomplished through ordination. I meet this requirement through being a Humanist Celebrant with the Humanist Society and by being a Unitarian Universalist Minister.
My approach to weddings is to provide examples of ceremonies that we then edit together. Often, the people I work with are looking for a blend of traditional and contemporary language within a ceremony that is focused on those gathered and those entering into marriage rather than centering a particular deity or religious tradition's language.
Memorial Services
Memorial Services or Celebrations of Life have no legal requirements for the ceremony itself. While there are some traditional structures and cultural expectations about what happens at a memorial service, these can truly reflect the person who has died and those who wish to memorialize them.
​
The memorial services I most frequently officiate include: opening words, a meditation or prayer, candles lit throughout the service by family or friends, a reading, and time for all present to share memories. Sometimes I am asked to share a eulogy of the person, sometimes a family member does this piece, and sometimes the memories shared serve this purpose.
Baby & Child Dedications
Dedications often serve the same purpose as baby namings or baptisms though they can be done with children of many ages beyond infancy. The focus of these ceremonies when I conduct them is not on the removal of sin or assurance of a particular spiritual outcome.
Dedications instead focus on the formal welcoming and naming of a new child to the family and the many circles of care surrounding the young person, their caregivers, the larger family, and sometimes the community in which they will be nurtured.
​
​