Funeral & Memorial Officiating
Faith-Centered Funeral and Memorial Services That Honor a Life, a Love, and a Story
Planning a funeral or memorial often comes with decisions you never expected to be making, and usually on a timeline that gives you very little time to think.
You may know exactly what your loved one would have wanted. You may have no idea where to begin. You may have family members offering different opinions, stories you want included, Scripture that matters to you, or simply the feeling that a generic service would not be enough.
Storybrook funeral and memorial officiating begins by getting to know the person you are gathering to remember.
Michelle works with families to create and lead services that are personal, thoughtful, grounded in Christian faith, and true to the life that was actually lived.
A Service That Feels Personal
The best memorial services contain moments when someone in the room smiles through tears and thinks, “That was so them.”
Maybe it was something they always said. A story everyone in the family knows. Their stubborn streak. The way they showed up for people. Their faith. Their humor. The things they loved. Even the quirks everyone teased them about.
Michelle takes time to listen for those details.
The goal is not to turn someone's life into a polished version of itself. It is to create a service that feels recognizable—to honor their personality, relationships, faith, experiences, and the place they held in the lives of the people gathered.
Officiating Services May Include
Family Planning Conversation
A conversation with Michelle to talk about your loved one, the service, family wishes, meaningful memories, Scripture, music, speakers, and anything you want her to understand before she begins writing.
Funeral or Memorial Service
A complete service written and led by Michelle for a funeral home, church, chapel, community setting, or other gathering place.
Celebration of Life
A more flexible gathering shaped around stories, music, photographs, meaningful traditions, and the personality of the person being remembered. Graveside Service A shorter service that may include remembrance, Scripture, prayer, and committal.
Intimate Family Service
For families who prefer something smaller and more private.
Personalized Tribute
Michelle can write a personal message that weaves together memories, stories, faith, and the life of your loved one rather than relying on a standard funeral message.
Help With Family Participation
If family members or friends want to speak, read Scripture, share a memory, or participate in another way, Michelle can help you decide how those pieces fit naturally into the service.
When the Relationship Was Complicated
Some families come together with uncomplicated memories and a lifetime of affection.
Others do not.
There may have been distance, addiction, conflict, estrangement, regret, unanswered questions, or relationships in which love and hurt existed together.
You do not have to rewrite someone's life in order to give them a dignified funeral.
Michelle can help families find language that is gracious without being dishonest and respectful without pretending every relationship was simple.
There is a way to honor a person's humanity without asking the people who loved them to deny their own experience.
A Personalized Memorial Story
For families who would like something lasting beyond the service, Storybrook can also create a personalized memorial story.
This is more than an obituary or written copy of the funeral message. It is a thoughtfully written story created from the memories, characteristics, relationships, and details that made your loved one who they were.
A memorial story may be read during the service or preserved privately by the family, with additional keepsake options available.
After the Service
A funeral marks an important moment, but grief rarely follows the schedule of the service.
Families who would like continued support can also learn about Storybrook grief groups, individual grief support, and Because There Was Love, Storybrook’s six-week grief journey.
What the Process Looks Like
1. Contact Storybrook
You, a family member, or the funeral home can reach out to ask about Michelle’s availability.
2. Tell Me About Them
Michelle will arrange a conversation with the family, in person or remotely when appropriate, to learn about your loved one and what you hope the service will include.
3. Michelle Prepares the Service
Using what the family has shared, Michelle prepares the service, personal message, Scripture, prayers, and other elements that have been selected.
4. The Service
Michelle leads the gathering with warmth, clarity, reverence, and attention to the family and the person being remembered. You do not need to have every detail decided before reaching out. That is part of what the planning conversation is for.
A Note from Michelle
There is something about sitting with a family before a funeral that I have never stopped finding sacred.
Usually, someone begins by telling me the facts.
Then the stories start.
Someone remembers what he always ordered at the same restaurant. Someone else tells me the phrase she said so often that everyone at the table can finish it. There is a story that makes the family laugh unexpectedly. Another one can bring them to tears.
And little by little, I begin to meet the person they knew.
My years as a hospice chaplain taught me how much those details matter. I have also stood on the other side of loss as a daughter and know how difficult it feels to hear an entire life summarized when you are sitting there thinking, But there was so much more to her than this.
That stays with me whenever a family trusts me with a service.
I want to know the more.
I want to know what made your person laugh, what mattered to them, what everyone knew about them, what you will miss, and what deserves to be remembered when people gather to say goodbye.
I will bring Scripture, prayer, and the hope of Christ into the service with care. But I also want you to recognize the person you love in the words that are spoken.
If someone leaves saying, “She really understood who they were,” then I will feel that I have served your family well.
- Michelle
Request Funeral or Memorial Officiating
If you are planning a funeral, memorial service, celebration of life, graveside service, or intimate family gathering, you are welcome to contact Storybrook.
Tell us what you know so far—the person's name, the anticipated date and location if available, and the type of service you are considering.
You do not need to have everything else figured out yet.