Celebration of Life
Celebration of Life and memorial services, led with care
Chaplain Barbel Wray leads and plans Celebration of Life, memorial and funeral services in the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia, in person locally or online.
Chapter 01
A goodbye the family gets to say out loud
Barb has had the privilege of coming alongside individuals and families in their grief. She leads Celebration of Life, memorial and funeral services in the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia, Canada, in person locally or online.
A service is where family and friends say goodbye to that part of the relationship. It is where stories of the beloved person are shared and heard. It matters whether a death was expected because of illness or came with no warning at all.
It is for you and yours, even if the person did not want a service. Often they did not want to be a bother, and did not realize how skipping it can weigh on the people left behind. Those who go without a service often find it harder to move forward from their grief, so Barb is glad to have a conversation about what this could look like for your family.
A plain wooden hall with empty chairs set in rows and a closed upright piano by a tall window
How Barb plans the service with you
Many families ask her how to plan this, and where. Barb can meet with the main planners at a convenient location. Usually that is the people closest to the person who died: a spouse, parent, other family member or friend.
Together you talk through where the service could be held, which can include a place of worship, a funeral home or something more creative, because in these changing times creative solutions can be found. She suggests a time frame of about two to four weeks, unless people are coming from out of the country. In that case a video of the service can be shared with anyone who cannot be there.
She will ask about the loved one: whether they had a particular faith, tradition or wishes, and what music was special to them. Family members who want to take part can speak, sing, read a poem or a piece of Scripture. Barb helps with the program bulletin and the coordination, which can save you the cost of paying separate services to do the same work.
Chapter 03
What the service looks like on the day
Barb leads non-denominational services that reflect the person who died and the family's wishes. If the family holds a specific faith, the service can lean into it. If they do not, it does not have to.
She also sings and plays piano, organ or keyboard, so the music the family chose can be part of the service itself instead of an extra arrangement to chase down. Whether you are gathering in the room or joining online, the aim is the same: a service that sounds like the person.
When you want to learn more, you can email Barb at the address on the contact page and start with a conversation. There is no set script and no fixed package, only what the family needs to say goodbye well.
Chaplain Barbel Wray holds a Certificate of Chaplaincy / Spiritual Care from William and Catherine Booth College (2007) and leads non-denominational Celebration of Life services in the Okanagan Valley, BC.
After the service, love is still unfinished
For the weeks and months after the service, when the unfinished things start to surface.
What helps, and what people say that does not, when you are standing beside a family.
Non-denominational, Bible-based, one-on-one and online, for those who want it.