September 2000
The Director - Features
Meaningful Funeral Ceremonies: Poppycock or Possibility?
Funeral directors have the potential of starting grieving people on the road to emotional wholeness as they begin their grief journey. This road begins with a meaningful funeral ceremony.
Meaningful Funeral Ceremonies: Poppycock or Possibility? discusses the challenges funeral directors face in creating meaningful ceremonies and gives some suggestions for funeral directors to creatively meet the needs of the bereaved. The article provides advice on planning a meaningful ceremony during the at-need conference, initiating a program to educate the public and the clergy on the value of funerals, seeing the funeral process from a different point of view, and using a preplanning program to create meaningful funeral ceremonies.
The article was written by Dr. Karl Menninger and Bill Hilbrick. Menninger is the founder of the Menninger Clinic. Hilbrick is the total care coordinator for Brintlinger's Funeral Home in Decatur, IL, a certified preplanning consultant, and has published Before the Hurt Hits Home: A Guide to Preplanning.
