Suzanne O’Brien, RN, End-of-Life Doula on “The Four Bodies of Energy”
Click here to watch: https://youtu.be/
Suazanne presents and explains a PowerPoint with extraordinary depth and clarity on the many facets of what a doula does, how they work with dying clients, assist their Families and Loved Ones, dealing with difficult feelings and emotions, hospitals, bureaucracies, and much much more!
Suzanne O’Brien, RN, End-of-Life Doula (Part 2): Discussion and Q-&-A
Click here to watch: https://youtu.be/klP-
After the slide show, Suzanne opens the floor to discussion and questions, and a very moving and important session takes place, covering many aspects of the topic not yet addressed in the PowerPoint, and expanding on many of them as well.
Rev. Susanna Stefanachi Macomb on Funerals & Memorial Services (Part 1) – 2021
Beginning a heartfelt presentation filled with intimate anecdotes, Rev. Susanna not only teaches about funeral and memorial services, she shares her experience of working with the bereaved in a wide variety of places and circumstances. Her presentation is very soulful and personal, including some mystical experiences and insights gleaned along the way. The handouts for this are a valuable resource indeed. (Please note that in case the video of the Jewish Mourners Kaddish does not play within the class video itself, it is to be found on YouTube at: https://youtu.be/
Part 2 of Rev. Susanna on Funerals & Memorial Services
Click here to view: https://youtu.be/
Continuing her presentation, Rev. Susanna moves somewhat from the deeply personal to more general aspects of the topic, while still sharing some of her personal stories. The floor is opened for discussion and Q & A.
Rabbi Scott Matous on Funerals and Memorial Services -2020
Click here to watch:https://youtu.be/lGym-
Rabbi Scot shares his experience and knowledge from a Jewish perspective, of having done many funerals and Memorial services. As Rev. Kathleen points out, some of the Jewish traditions and practices might also be adapted by interfaith ministers to apply to non-Jewish funerals as well. Rabbi Scott described much of the detailed preparations he makes in dealing with the family and Loved ones of the departed.
Rev. Dr. Doris on Funerals & Memorial Services
Click here to watch: https://youtu.be/5hhH4UAcY60
Rev. Doris talked about how she tailors the service to the needs of the families involved, honoring how much or how little they want to be in charge of things. Like Rabbi Scott, she discusses a variety of possible circumstances that might arise in dealing with people’s grief process and the particular situation and relationships of those who knew and Loved the deceased.
2019 – Handout from Jon Mundy on Funeral Development
Guidelines for Funeral Development
2018
Mitchell Rabin on Life After Life (part-1)
Click here to watch–> https://youtu.be/vW4qRA4Zb5g
Deferring to Mitchell’s greater knowledge of his own credentials and background, Jon let Mitch introduce himself, highlighting those aspects of his career and history as a healer, counselor, seeker, and interviewer that seemed most relevant to the topic at hand. For the first 7 minutes we got a glimpse of his humor and background, and shared some of our own. Then Mitch launched into a comprehensive exploration of the subject of death, the experience of mourning and the types of reactions and beliefs people have about death and dying–from culture to culture, within our own society, from person to person, and from one death’s set of individual circumstances to another as different types of death evoke different feelings and reactions as well.
Always keeping it lighthearted, the discussion was enlivening, and never morbid or depressing, and of course, the subject of reincarnation was explored as well, as well as what lives on when the body dies.
Mitchell Rabin on Life After Life (part-2)
Click here to watch–>https://youtu.be/o2DL
Mitchell began the second part of his talk a little surprised and pleased because he had not realized at the end of part 1 that he still had the rest of the morning to continue! he was relieved because there was much more to cover, and indeed the second half got even more interesting, deeper into philosophical issues, ethics, and the purpose of life here on this planet and how much it can be improved, and how we can work to improve it! Mitch Rabin’s own website is called ABetterWorld.tv and much of his personal mission is to do with exactly that–improving our world, even if it is a school or temporary plane–and the discussion in the this segment touches on all of these issues.
My Grandfather’s Amazing Death: The Story of “Papa Ben’s” Prophesy
During the break, while the camcorder was turned off, I shared the rather miraculous story of the last days of my maternal grandfather’s life. I had wanted to tell it to Mitchell to see whether he’d want to incorporate it into the second half of his talk, but afterwards, everyone agreed that it was worth sharing as I had told it. Luckily the webcam was still running, recording the whole class, so this segment is a clip edited out from the live-stream footage, and therefore it is not up to the same video quality as the rest of the class segments. Nevertheless, the story speaks for itself and tells the strange tale of how my grandfather, in his last days on Earth, had kind of clairvoyant prophesy of the future, although from hisperspective he had already died, and he was just asking about how things turned out after some of the events he foresaw.
Jon Mundy on Funerals and Memorial Services
Click her to watch—->https://youtu.be/7LJ2WxLUYdc
Jon shares his practical and experiential wisdom about performing services for those grieving over the loss of a family member or friend. He also discusses how these can be “Celebrations of a Life,” and not necessarily a dreary and depressing affair. With humorous and informal examples from his own experience, he brings the topic comfortably within reach, and adds reflections on his own many years of ministry in general as well.
A Discussion of Ethics by Blaine Allen
After the sermons, Blaine initiated a discussion of ethics in the ministry–how following one’s ethics can sometimes make for difficult but necessary decisions–at the end of life, death, dealing with DNR (do not resucitate) requests, etc. This discussion was enriched by the fact that there are people in this class who have worked in disaster relief, as Chaplains in ERs, Hospices, etc.–a heroic group having a fascinating group discussion of ethics and spirituality.
Rev. Emily Boardman–Standing By at the End of Life: Being Present with the Dying
Rev. Emily Boardman gave an extraordinary talk on being present or “standing by at the end” when someone is dying, a role she herself has been honored and privileged to play for a surprising number of people in her life. Her talk is uplifting, enthusiastic, inspiring, and not at all morbid.
https://youtu.be/XGCRIkIOBm8
Rev. Emily Boardman gave an extraordinary talk on being present or “standing by at the end” when someone is dying, a role she herself has been honored and privileged to play for a surprising number of people in her life. Her talk is uplifting, enthusiastic, inspiring, and not at all morbid.
https://youtu.be/XGCRIkIOBm8
Discussion of Emily’s Sermon & Jon on Funerals
Discussion and Q-and-A session with Rev. Emily about her talk and her wonderfully personal experiences of standing by with dying persons.
https://youtu.be/DHqHdSkUabY