Memorials

Memorial Officiant Guidance 

Deceased Database Process

Memorial Logistics Process

Add A Memorial To The Upcoming Memorials page on the website.

Guide:  How to Upload Recording to the Memorials Playlist

Memorial Planning Process (Minister Planning)

Volunteer Memorial Process

AV/Simulcast Memorial Process

Simulcast Memorial Process

Template Email Re: Accessing a Simulcast/Zoom Memorial Service

Day of Memorial Process

Memorial Officiant Guidance 

All memorials for Foothills members and non-members who have been regularly participating in Foothills ministries for more than one year will be presided over by a Foothills minister.  However, we do not provide access to a Foothills minister for someone who is not a member or who has not been attending Foothills for less than one year.  Instead, these individuals will be given access to the approved ministrs list, comprised primarily of affiliated community ministers.  Anyone who rents the Foothills' facility (member or non-member) for their memorial must utilize either a Foothills minister or an officiant from the approved officiant list. 

Deceased Database Process

• Congregant Death Workflow (https://people.planningcenteronline.com/workflows/335347/steps/845118/assignees/26474115/ready) 

Step 1: Ministers are notified of death. Elaine, Gretchen, Sean fully are notified by one another, other staff, family etc.

Step 2: Add Death Date to Profile (under Pastoral Care Tab)

Step 3: Outreach from Minister

• A minister reaches out to family members/close contacts of deceased to offer condolences and begin memorial planning. Key questions to explore include:

  • Is there an obituary?

  • Is there a memorial service planned? Be sure to share info with Kelsey for congregation notification/calendar

  • Is there a preferred means for reaching out to family (website, calls, cards, etc)?

  • Refer to meal train or other caring support workflows as needed

  • Caring anniversary reminders/invitation to Tangled Blessings or other support as appropriate (refer to Milestones or other workflows, snooze etc)

Step 4: Communicate to Congregation and Community as Appropriate

• Kelsey will reach out to minister/relevant staff to discern if there needs to be an announcement, and to whom.

• General guidelines (adapt as needed for the particular needs and sensitivities of any given situation)

• -Confirm that any necessary personal calls/reach outs from a minister have been made first

• -If the deceased is a member, send an email to all other active members.

• -If it’it’s someone deeply involved in a particular group, also send notice to participants in that group. Death notice processes are very personal and flexible depending on the deceased.

• -Will always appear in next all-church announcement as small blurb

Step 5: Send to Inactive/Remove from Membership Workflow

• When a name lands in this step, Lauren will check in with other staff then proceed to move the person through the Inactive/Remove from Membership Workflow as appropriate

Step 6: Memorial Plaque

• Ask the family if they would like to order a plaque. Allow for 6 week turn-around time.

Step 1: Ministers are notified of death. Elaine, Gretchen, Sean fully are notified by one another, other staff, family etc.

Step 2: Add Death Date to Profile (under Pastoral Care Tab)

Step 3: Outreach from Minister

Step 4: Communicate to Congregation and Community as Appropriate

Step 5: Send to Inactive/Remove from Membership Workflow

Step 6: Memorial Plaque

Memorial Logistics Process 

• When the deceased is a member, determineDetermine Minister Lead and let Events ManagerJenn know who is taking lead

• Events manager or MinisterJenn reaches out to Family:

• 1) to determine the date to meet with the Minister and Events managerJenn for logistics conversation and planning the service.  and 

• 2) Events managerJenn shares possible dates for memorials services from looking at their calendars and PCO calendar.

Minister availability

• Sean https://usemotion.com/meet/revsean/memorials?d=60

• Elaine See Google Calendar

• Gretchen see google calendar 

Other Ministers available to ask if Foothills' 3 ministers are not available. 

• Rev. Roger

  Jenn Butts

adds Rev.the Christophermemorial Lambdate Celebrantto Lennythe Scovelcalendar Other
in PCO. 

• Notify Minister of final date chosen

  • Minister /notifies EventsMusic ManagerDirector of date and /orpresumed Familymusic fillneeds/updating outafter this Memorialservice planning formwith together. This form will give all details needed for staff planning the service/reception. family

MinisterNotify lead will work with the family and friends for Eulogy and service details

Events Manager then notifies:

leads of the Special Service Volunteer Team to begin recruiting 

Music Director to secure musicians or Event manager asks musicians directly - Minister Lead may contact contracted musician with details.

• With size of service (Estimate)

Notifies AV staff leadteam for volunteers

• Events manager will create and send an invoice via PayPal to the family for any costs: ie: food, flowers, musicians, plaque order. Event manager will manage the payment and notify Bookkeeper.

If Simulcast more volunteers  

Minister shares service details with Jenn for logistical set up/simulcasting needs.

If we are simulcasting, we need 3 volunteers—one in the sanctuary and one on Zoom. Jenn will fill the roles.

If the deceased is a member, the Minister writes a letter to the congregation that includes the date and time of the memorial service.  This letter is shared with Communications staff,Kelsey, who sends it to members of the congregation and publicizes details.

Order of Service - made by admin. Team.

• Admin.

  Jenn’s meeting with the family will followcover:

  the

notes

in

Logistics of the memorial planningday

form under

OOS.

Make sure all contact info and names of family assisting with the memorial are collected - relationships to the deceased clear.

Ask family if there will there be a reception

Help family determine what they want to serve/ what we provide

Memory tables ?

Set up a time to bring items

Flowers?

Share local florists  / preferred vendors

Extra flowers for tables? Onstage / guest book table / food tables

Ask family for correct DOB and DOD for OOS

Ask for a image - high resolution preferred for OOS

Show family sample of OOS

Ask family if they want to have a slide show during the service or during the reception at all / other option is picture on boards etc.

If yes to slide show, have family drop it off 2-3 days before the service if possible to make sure it works with our tech

Preferred progrhttps://docs.google.com/document/d/1qc0CJr5Gpp7XV2vRssdIZlFkbd9wtw2fjEcAlRvJn5E/edit?usp=sharingam for slides is Google slides or powerpoint

Remind the family that multiple images on one slide does not read well to the congregation. 

Guest book? We can make one or family brings one

$$ for musicians - will handle that once Jenn knows what music needs are

Go over we have volunteers

Ask if they want a plaque made for $350 / 6 weeks to manufacture / no guarantee it will be ready by time of memorial

Jenn orders plaque

Share about the family room on day of and go over arrival times for family/flower delivery/caterer delivery

Minister’s meeting with the family will cover:

All service details

Items on chancel: ashes, photos, etc.

Pastoral check-in: How can we support you on the day of the service? 

Music:

• Minister contacts Benjamin about music needs.  

Benjamin is responsible for:

Music slides

Securing guest musicians

Submitting check requests for musicians (Jenn will placehand checks on day of/ or assign someone to)

Program:

Minister should have all order of service details entered into PCO Services ideallyat 3least 4 days in advanceadvance. of the service. 

E.g. For a Saturday service, Admin.Caitlin needs all details by the Tuesday prior. 

Ping Admin. TeamCaitlin when OOS in PCO servicesit is ready.

EventIn manager“Notes” willinclude:

share with

Admin. team

Birth ifand theredeath aredates quotes

Name family wishes is used (e.g. )Dick instead of Richard or imagesvice toversa….)

include.

Donation request (if applicable)

Quote

Information about reception

Obituary

Other inserts or songsheets.

Once OOS is made, the minister or Event Manager will share with the family to confirm everything is correct and ready to print.  Admin team will print copies depending on the size of the memorial. If 100 guests are expected, we print 100. Leave a copy of the OOS for more copies in Event Manager's mailbox. 

The Memorial volunteers will fold the OOS on the day of the service.

Add A Memorial To The Upcoming Memorials page on the website. 

1. Step 1: Create Event in PCO Calendar

   1. Log into Planning Center Online (PCO).

   2. Navigate to the "Calendar" section.

   3. Click on "Add Event" and enter the necessary details for the memorial service.

2. Step 2: Tag the Event

   1. After creating the event, add the tag "Memorial" to help in categorizing and searching for the event.

3. Step 3: Add Image and Timing Details

   1. Create in Canva a Memorial slide with date and time of the service with deceased image, and DOB-DOD HERE

Upload the memorial image to the event under settings.event.

Enter the date and time of the memorial service. Include set up and clean up times. ie: set up is 90mins. before, cleanup is 1 hour after the service and reception.

If the specific time is not yet decided, make it an "all-day" event.

Step 4: Make Event Visible on Church Center

1. Go to the visibility settings of the event.

2. Select "Visible on Church Center" to make the event publicly viewable.

Step 5: Add Additional Information

1. If  the servicethere is being simulcasted, create the uniquea Zoom link for the memorial service, add it to the event description AND in the notes. Share which Zoom room is being used as well.description.

2. Add a link to the obituary in the event description.

3. Provide the address where condolence cards can be sent.

4. Make a note in the description if the memorial service will be recorded in Notes.recorded.

Step 6: Confirm Event Listing

1. After abouta 15reasonable minutestime has passed, check to see if the event is correctly listed on foothillsuu.org/memorials.

Post-Memorial Steps

1. Step 7: Upload Recording to YouTube

   1. If the memorial service was recorded, AV team lead immediately uploadsupload the video to YouTube following the service.YouTube.

   2. Make sure the video is set to "Unlisted".

   3.  Add it to the "Memorial Services" playlist on YouTube.

   4. Share link of video with events manager, who will email the family the link to the video.

Guide:  How to Upload Recording to the Memorials Playlist 

https://scribehow.com/shared/Memorial_Service_Archive_Process_How_to_Upload_an_Unlisted_Video_on_YouTube_Studio__KlehyC1zTSqqYlVkZkobvw

Memorial Planning Process (Minister Planning)

• MinisterRev. LeadElaine contacts the family, secures a date and time for memorial after checking with Events manager.Jenn.

• Minister leadElaine meets with family to discuss the service, eulogy, and music choiceschoices.

  and

invites Events

Jenn manager to join at the beginning or end of the meeting to go overgets details of flowers, catering, stagedesire setfor up,an altar, memory tables, plaqueand orders,AV imagesneeds beingfrom used for the order of service,Family and when to drop off slide show and items at the church prior to the service.Elaine.

Volunteer Memorial Process

There are two Memorial Team Volunteer Leads (MTL) - who take turns leading the volunteers for our memorials

The MTL will be notified by the events manager about an upcoming memorial, sharing with them:

the date and time of the upcoming memorial the predicted # of attendees what type of reception - ie: catered sit down meal, or coffee and cookies, etc., how many round tables and chairs, etc. Flowers needs memory tables

The MTL will then reach out to their group of volunteers inviting them to sign up in one of these roles:

Greeter/Ushers - 3

Flowers - 1-2

Memory Tables - 1-2

Reception Set up - 3

Reception Clean up - 3

The MTL will stay in touch with the Event manager to let them know when they have their team filled, and then shared the names with the event manager and enters them into PCO services in the memorial plan. 

The team arrives 90 minutes

 

AV/Simulcast Memorial Process 

Simulcast Memorial Process

Template Email Re: Accessing a Simulcast/Zoom Memorial Service

Date and Time:

[Date of Service], [Time of Service] ([Timezone])

Location:

The memorial service will be held in person at Foothills and virtually via Zoom.

How to Access the Zoom Memorial Service

1. Go to the Foothills Unitarian Church's Memorials webpage: Foothills UU Memorials (foothillsuu.org/memorials)

2. Click on the specific memorial service for [Deceased's Name].

3. You will find the Zoom link there, which you can click to join the memorial service.

Basics of Accessing a Zoom Meeting

If you're new to Zoom, here's how you can join the meeting:

• Click the Zoom link provided.

• You may be prompted to download the Zoom application. If you already have Zoom installed, the meeting should automatically open in the app.

• Once in the meeting, you'll have the option to turn on or off your video and audio.

• There is a "Chat" function if you wish to send messages during the memorial, if appropriate.

Recording Availability

We understand that not everyone may be able to attend the live service. A recording will be made available under the "Past Recordings" section on the Foothills UU Memorials (foothillsuu.org/memorials) webpage three days after the service.

Day of Memorial Process

• Pre-Service 

  • Plaque is installed ideally a week before by Rich Roberts.

  • Space is prepared 2 hours before the service or the day before.

  • A classroom is set up in RE for the family to gather before the service.

  • Flowers can be delivered the day before or 2 hours before the service.

  • Guestbook is set out to be signed.

• Before Service 

  • Family arrives an hour before the service with items for the memory tables.

  • Caterers arrive at least 30 minutes before to set up food.

  • Volunteers arrive 1 hour before.

  • Minister visits family after sound check, about 30 minutes before the doors open.

  • Family takes their seats right before the service begins.

  • Print up eulogy for the family.

• Post Memorial (Day Of)

  • Memorial service takes place.

  • Reception / guests can visit the memorial garden.

  • Checks collected for musicians.

  • Clean up - requires 3+ volunteers.

  • Send the guest book home with family/partner or make copies of pages and send home with multiple family members.

  • Send home flowers and left over foods

  • Send home pictures, memory table items

  • Have a copy of the sermon available for the family

  • A few order of services to go home with family

• Post Memorial Process 

  • Pictures taken of event shared in a google album with family

  • Video of the recorded service is shared on a private page on our Youtube channel with family members.

  • 
    

Memorial Email Templates

Invitation to fill out Memorial Form

Hi [Family Members], 

I want to begin by sharing how truly honored I am to be part of the process of creating a memorial service for [Name of deceased]. It is a privilege to help honor her life and legacy in a way that reflects her spirit and the love you all shared.

As we begin this process, the first step is coordinating the completion of the Memorial Planning Form at foothillsuu.org/memorialplanning. The form only needs to be filled out once, so you may want to work through it together as a family. We’We’ve also produced a short video that will guide you through the process, which you can view at this link.  Please don’don’t worry if you don’don’t have answers to all the questions—questions—this is just the beginning of the planning process, and we’we’ll work together to fill in any details later on.

Once the form is completed, we can find a time to meet via Zoom to continue planning the service. Please let me know if there are times you are all generally available to meet.

Jenn Powell will be in touch soon to coordinate logistics, but I will take the lead on planning the service itself.

Again, I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to help honor [name of deceased]’’s life, and I look forward to walking with you through this process.

Warmly,
Rev. Sean
Foothills Unitarian Church

These are the questions asked of the family to plan the memorial