Funerals & Memorial Ceremonies 

Whether a celebration of  a loved one’s life or predominantly a ceremony to  support that person in  making  the transition to other realms  with ease and grace , a funeral service  is as individual as the loved one who is being honoured.
It needs to truly allow the gathered  friends and relatives to let go of the person  as a physical presence.
I can help you to create  a beautiful   and tender ceremony,  or perhaps  something  very quirky,  to honour the particular person who  has died, providing a safe space in which people may  mourn  and move through  the mixture of feelings which can arise  at times of loss, to  the beginnings of acceptance.

The ceremony  can be held in  a funeral home,  at a graveside, in a crematorium,  in a town hall, or perhaps in your  own home.  I am happy to  find ways to  create  an equivalent to the traditional rosary,  and removal if you wish. 
 I will  work closely with you,  in order to  intuit a sense of your  family and the person who has  died ,  and be there to support you  and listen to you  during the difficult time between the death and the funeral.
My fee is usually 500 euro., but will be less if the family are of slender means, and  more if  there are two parts to the ceremony 





Some words of appreciation after a Covid funeral of a very longstanding and beloved friend of mine, where I sent a written and audio ceremony by email so that everyone could take part from their own homes, as Zoom wasn't possible .

Hi Jane,

 I love how you have shown us how we can all feel connected and involved with the candles and flowers.
Thank you,
Helen

Hi Jane, .... I just wanted to personally thank you for the last couple of days, culminating in such a beautiful service yesterday in such wretched times and circumstances. It was lovely and I know, my mum would have love it and especially honoured that you did it. Dunc xxx

Some Words of Appreciation 

Jane did a fantastic job as minister for my father Joe's funeral. She was a great help to us personally and a calming, grounding presence to have around….

I am particularly thankful for an extended phone call we had in which I had the chance to outline what I intended to say in the eulogy. After that phone call I felt reassured that what I would say was not only sufficient but worth saying. 

The ceremony was very cathartic for us, the direct family; the attendees who I spoke to afterwards were very touched and felt it was a send-off that my father himself would have liked. In the days after the funeral Jane reached out to me and we had a chance to debrief after what was an extremely intense and emotional experience. We discussed what we took from the experience.

I honestly feel that it helped me to say goodbye to my father. For that I am so very grateful.”

Colm 


 End of Life Plans 

In attending to our deaths  in the midst of life,  many people find that  they  have shed a burden and can live their lives more fully. I can help you to  think clearly about how you would like to die, ideally, and what you would like to happen in the aftermath of your death, ideally,  and go through the process of creating a ceremony, and a statement of your wishes  concerning your dying and your death. This  is a truly loving deed for those close to you, who otherwise in the midst of sorrow may have no idea, or  many different memories of what your wishes would be.

Of course  no one can tell how they will die, and so it is important , having  drawn up your wishes, to then  make sure that no one feels under pressure to  make  your wishes happen if circumstances dictate otherwise. It is a process of making plans, and then of letting them go, as with so many things in life. .

The recognition that death comes to each of us, a recognition at once consolatory and conciliatory, brings us closer to one another and closer still to the innermost truth of our own being.

Words of appreciation 

The Rev Jane Killingbeck has recently guided my husband and I gently through the somewhat tricky task of planning our own funeral arrangements. We took our time thinking and talking everything through with Jane and there was no pressure whatsoever to complete the process until we were ready. The resulting peace of mind was quite overwhelming and I would encourage anyone to make this journey with Jane, so that a potentially difficult time in the future can be made a lot easier for everyone.

Maggie




“Death is not extinguishing the light;
it is only putting out the lamp because the dawn has come.”  Tagore