“Rarely, if ever, are any of us healed in isolation. Healing is an act of communion.”
— bell hooks, All About Love, 1999

While many people plan ahead by having a will, naming executors, and arranging powers of attorney, how many of us decide and share how we would like to be memorialized, lightening the burden on the people we will leave behind?

Ideally a memorial service helps those who are grieving acknowledge their loss, celebrate a life well-lived, share their grief at an overwhelming time, discover stories they never knew about the deceased, and ultimately begin to heal by grieving, laughing and crying in community. Planning a memorial service that will support all those needs is hard, and especially so when grief is shocking and fresh and the deceased’s wishes are unknown.

Are you intrigued by planning the celebration of your own life well in advance but don’t know where to start?

Does it seem like it might be fulfilling and maybe even healing to design a ceremony that reflects who you are and how you’ve lived?

Do you feel that you need more tools and some compassionate communal support while contemplating your mortality?

Have you caught yourself telling people “it’s your funeral” but have so far neglected your own?

Join us for the second annual offering of this free workshop, led by Reverend Stefan Jonasson, lay chaplain Christina Swindells-Nader, and former lay chaplain Darlene Payne.

📅 November 7, 2026
🕙 10:00-3:00 p.m. (celebration-of-life appropriate snacks and beverages will be served, but you may want to bring a light lunch too)
📍 First Unitarian Universalist Church of Winnipeg

We will look at many options — from body disposition to ceremony components, as well as logistics — while exploring our values and wishes to determine which of those options resonate for us.

All are welcome, no matter what your stage of life!