Together on the 9th: A Virtual Candlelight Vigil
NOTE: There will be optional, but meaningful, breakout rooms offered as a special 30 minute addendum directly following the event. Please stay and connect with your digital neighbors.
If you can, please show up with a candle to honor those we've lost and those that are suffering during this difficult time.
Order of Ceremony:
- Live Music: Amber Field, multi-instrumentalist
- Bells, Katy Butler, author
- Welcome and Logistics: Brad Wolfe, Reimagine Founder
- Reading & Introduction: Stephanie Rivers, Reimagine Development Director
- Why We Are Here/ Candlelighting: Alua Arthur, Death Doula
- Reflection: Frank Ostaseski, Buddhist Teacher
- Meditation: Mirabai Bush, Wisdom Leader
- Message and Honor Ceremony: Pastor Corey Kennard, Healthcare Advocate
- Concluding Prayer: All
- Concluding Performance and Remarks: Stephanie Rivers
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- Optional Breakouts:
- Final Songs
BIOS
Alua Arthur is the Founder and Executive Director of Going with Grace, an end of life planning and support organization. As a certified death midwife and attorney Alua is able to focus on her clients' practical and emotional needs while giving them the space to contemplate the end of life. She has created and facilitated dozens of unique workshops to explore topics in end of life planning and inspired living and is the author of the Going with Grace Guide to Completion: The First 10 Steps in Completing the Affairs of Your Loved One's Life.
Amber Field was featured in San Francisco Magazine's Best of the Bay for yoga music. They have performed and taught at Wanderlust, Esalen, the Yoga Journal Conference, Grace Cathedral and festivals around the world. Amber studied Western and Indian classical music. They play didgeridoo, djembe, Arabic tambourine, esraj, harmonica and sings like an angel. A specialist in world fusion music, Amber is known for their passionate, heartfelt music. They especially delight in freeing people's voices and seeing how their lives change afterwards! Amber's latest album Serendip is now available. www.amberfieldmusic.com
Corey L. Kennard is Pastor of Amplify Christian Church and also serves as an activist in the field of healthcare. His holistic approach (body, mind, and spirit) serves as the foundation for his desire to see all human beings treated with dignity, honor, and respect in all facets of life. He began his active work in ministry as well as the business sector over 25 years ago. Corey earned a Masters Degree from Ashland Theological Seminary and carries out his passion for people as a daring and devoted agent of change. In addition to serving as a Pastor and healthcare activist, Pastor Corey is a Spiritual Life Coach, Motivational Speaker, and Partner/Board Member for several community organizations that seek to uplift the poor and vulnerable in society. As a credit to his work, he has received the Michigan Chronicle’s Men Of Excellence Award as being one of the Top 50 Most Influential African-American Men in the Metropolitan Detroit Region.
Frank Ostaseski is an internationally respected Buddhist teacher, visionary cofounder of the Zen Hospice Project, and founder of the Metta Institute. He has lectured at Harvard Medical School, the Mayo Clinic, Reimagine, NYC, Google and teaches at major spiritual centers around the globe. Frank is the 2018 recipient of the prestigious Humanities Award from the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine.He has trained thousands of healthcare clinicians and family caregivers. His groundbreaking work has been featured on the Bill Moyers PBS series On Our Own Terms, highlighted on The Oprah Winfrey Show, and honored by H.H. the Dalai Lama. He is the author of The Five Invitations: Discovering What Death Can Teach Us About Living Fully.
Mirabai Bush, a Senior Fellow and co-founder of the Center for Contemplative Mind in Society and served as Executive Director until 2008. She also co-founded the Association for Contemplative Mind in Higher Education.
She co-developed the curriculum for Search Inside Yourself for Google, the first program in mindfulness-based emotional intelligence. A founding board member of the Seva Foundation, an international public health organization, she directed the Seva Guatemala Project.
She is co-author with Ram Dass of Walking Each Other Home: Conversations on Loving and Dying and Compassion in Action: Setting Out on the Path of Service; co-author with Daniel Barbezat of Contemplative Practices in Higher Education: Powerful Methods to Transform Teaching and Learning; and editor of Contemplation Nation: How Ancient Practices Are Changing the Way We Live.
Stephanie Rivers, Reimagine’s Sr. Director of Development, is an accomplished musician, recording artist and nonprofit management professional. Known for building fundraising programs from the ground up and taking stagnant organizations to the next level, Stephanie's passion for the arts and commitment to nonprofit fundraising, marketing, and program development is what brought her to Reimagine 8 months ago, as its first ever development director in the organization’s history. Stephanie’s 16 year career in philanthropy was spent with many notable organizations, including Helen Keller International and Boys & Girls Clubs of America. Stephanie received her BA in Communication from the University of Oklahoma, as well as a Certificate in Fundraising Leadership from Indiana University’s Lilly School of Philanthropy. She is a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals and is working towards obtaining CFRE credentials in 2020.
