We are proud to have former owner, PAM JANSSEN, on our staff, both as a Funeral Director and as a Certified Funeral Celebrant / Life Transition Professional. Pam was trained by the Insight Institute, with training held at the National Funeral Directors Association headquarters in Brookfield Wisconsin and has had the honor of accompanying and serving several area families as their Funeral Celebrant.
But… what exactly is a Celebrant?
A Funeral Celebrant is a lay-person, clergy person, or professional funeral director who has been trained in the specific area of conducting funerals for families who wish to have a personalized and individualized funeral service experience and might not have any affiliation with a church, or would not be comfortable with a traditional religious funeral ceremony.
Celebrants offer personalized funeral services, tributes, memorial services, celebrations of life services, graveside memorials and other committal services, personalized memory sharing on the day before a traditional funeral service… whatever the family would need. The celebrant will also collaborate with a family’s clergy person, if that is what the family desires.
Celebrants are trained to lead all kinds of services, both secular and those with a spiritual background. They spend eight to ten hours, on average, meeting with families, LISTENING and sharing stories, gathering information, and then putting each particular family’s needs all together in creating a meaningful funeral service.
Pam is a familiar face at the funeral home and in the area, and is a great fit for those who want something outside of a traditional church service. In addition to serving as a funeral director for over 45 years, Pam has a degree in Theology from Silver Lake College. Combined with her experience and familiarity with the area and its people, her studies, her resourcefulness, kindness, and her ‘gift’ for storytelling, we believe she is an excellent choice to help you honor the life of your loved one.
“It takes just one service to truly understand what a celebrant offers a funeral home and the families it serves. It is priceless to witness the relief and gratitude on a family’s face when someone has listened and understood and created a service that gave them the sacred gifts of memories and healing.” (Glenda Stansbury as quoted in The Director, the monthly publication of the National Funeral Directors Association)
The Funeral Celebrants Training is a new approach to personalized funerals presented by Doug Manning, Glenda Stansbury, and Kathy Burns of the InSight Institute. Since training began in 1999, over 5000 people have been certified by the InSight Institute, both in the United States and in 46 other countries.
We’re here if you have questions, and we’d be happy to let you see how a Celebrant Service can be a wonderful experience for you in honoring your loved one.
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