Poems for the Funeral Celebrant: Turning Tears of Grief Into Tears of Joy

by Richard A. Phipps, Fred O. Berry III (Foreword by)

Overview

A funeral is naturally associated with grief, totally focused on the finality of the loss of a loved one or friend. This overwhelming emotion often has a tendency to overshadow who the decedent actually was and the positive impact that individual made on the lives of those attending the ceremony, a community, a work place, a church, or even the world as a whole! The role of the Celebrant is designed to change all that! A Celebrant's goal is to creatively highlight those life impacts through loving, meaningful words, songs, and even dynamic visual displays--to turn tears of grief into tears of joy! Nothing can set the stage for such a celebrative atmosphere more than a poem applicable to or personally descriptive of the one we have lost. Reverend Phipps wrote Poems for the Funeral Celebrant to give you, the Celebrant, or any who may face the challenge of leading a funeral/memorial service, a guide and resource from which to help families through this difficult time in their lives.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781532647680
Publisher:	Wipf & Stock Publishers
Publication date:	04/26/2018
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	110
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Richard A. Phipps has served as a Senior Pastor for many years. He is a graduate of Luther Rice Seminary, with a Master of Arts degree in Church Ministry. Richard also served twenty-eight years as an Arabic linguist in the United States Navy, retiring as a Master Chief Petty Officer. For the last six years, Reverend Phipps has expanded his ministry through the funeral industry as a Funeral Service Assistant and Certified Celebrant in Knoxville, Tennessee. He is also the author of Poems for the Pastor (2008).

Pastor Richard A. Phipps has served as Senior Pastor in Jacksonville, Florida; Severna Park, Maryland; and his current home of Knoxville, Tennessee. He holds a bachelor of science degree in business management and the Arabic language from the University of the State of New York and a master of arts degree in church ministry from Luther Rice Seminary. Prior to going into the full-time ministry, Pastor Phipps proudly served in the United States Navy as an Arabic linguist and retired in 1998 as a Master Chief Petty Officer. During those twenty-eight years of service to his country, he also served bi-vocationally at every duty station in music, administration, evangelism, and education ministry. He has had opportunities to help build the Kingdom in numerous states within our great country, as well as throughout the world in Greece, Spain, and Cyprus. He has three grown and wonderful children; however, his loving wife and ministry partner for nearly thirty-five years, Diane, lost her long battle with breast cancer and went home to be with the Lord on September 16, 2007.

Table of Contents

Foreword Fred O. Berry, III ix

Letter to the Funeral Celebrant 1

Meeting with the Family 3

Poems for the Funeral Celebrant

A Portrait of Mel 9

With All Her Heart 10

A Road Trip of Life 11

Her Hands 12

Sitting Along the Coast in Yachats, Oregon 13

I Wish I Could Dance 15

Numbers 17

Let Me Talk about a Fella 19

His Garden, His Passion (1) 21

His Garden, His Passion (2) 23

With Her Eyes 25

I Tried My Best 27

They Call Me the Mule 29

A Man of Generosity 31

Tenderly, Lovingly 33

I Am Switzerland 35

A Recipe of Grace 37

Doors of Honor 39

Could It Possibly Be? 41

A Casablanca Romance 43

The Loves of My Life 45

A Recipe from Above 47

A Man of Honor 49

Our Promise 51

Through Eyes That Loved the Color Blue 53

I Was Only Twenty Nine! 55

My Spirit Needed to Fly 57

The Ultimate Fixer Upper 59

The Star Witness 61

Nana's Cookies 63

The Most Important 65

A Good Ol' Country Boy 67

The Life of a Cowgirl 69

My Blood 71

Stand Up Straight 73

A Tribute to Shorty 75

It Was Always … Always about You 77

God Loves You, and So Do I 79

O Brother, Where Art Thou 81

Now Fly Away 83

Beyond the Ultimate Zenith 85

I Only Dreamed of You 87

The Navy Cook 89

While on Deck at Sea 91

Thy People Are My People 93

This Maiden 95

End It with "At Night" 97

New York Grace 99