Rev. Elizabeth Rawlings
Ritual Services
Humans need ritual to mark important events in our lives: they are the threshold we pass through from one part of our journey to the next. I offer common ceremonies such as weddings, baby blessings, and rituals around death as well as less common rituals to mark life transitions such as the end of a relationship, miscarriage, infertility, name recognition celebrations, coming of age ceremonies and more. My services range from providing a pre-written ceremony to working with you to create something that fits you to helping you plan events around your day (I am, however, not an event planner who contracts with venues).
Weddings &Commitment Ceremonies
Call me biased, but the marriage/commitment ceremony is the most important part of your big day. This is the moment when you publicly declare your commitment to your partner(s) and your community bears witness to that promise and promises to help you keep your promises. What do you want to commit to? How do you want to express that commitment through word, song, and ritual? How do you want to ask your community to help you honor your commitment? What rituals are culturally connecting and appropriate for you as you make this new commitment?
As a seasoned ordained minister, I can not only help you craft a meaningful ceremony, I can help you think through what kind of support you might need through the ceremony and help you set healthy boundaries if necessary.
Child Blessing/Welcoming
When a child comes into the family, we want to recognize and celebrate its arrival and welcome it into community. Many people who grew up in religious traditions that had a specific way to celebrate a new baby feel at a loss for how to mark this occasion, believing there is a choice between doing nothing or going through the motions in a faith no longer embraced. There are myriad ways to welcome a new life into this world that align with your values and beliefs, and I'm here to help with that.
Rituals of Loss
There are so many types of loss in our lives, and we mark so few of them. Loss of life, infertility, loss through divorce or setting boundaries, being kicked out of our family or friend groups, loss of our dreams, or even loss of faith. Each of these is a change we grieve deeply. It's important we mark these transitions with ritual, but we often don't have the resources or capacity to create ritual. I can help you create a ritual around your loss to help you mark the loss in heathy ways that are appropriate to who you are, as well as help manage any complicated dynamics that might arise.
Joyful Transitions
When we go through the process of discovering our true selves and sharing who that is with the world, it's a moment to celebrate. A ritual around a new name can help make your proclamation to the world and invite people to show up to celebrate the person you are becoming. Gathering loved ones to mark any transition -- birthday, new job, new home, new dream, a year in recovery, a leaving behind of a relationship -- can be an important part in stepping into who you are becoming. I can help you create a ritual and a celebration that affirms who you are in your community of beloveds.