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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Barbara Kemmis Phone: (312) 245-1077 499 Northgate Parkway Wheeling, IL 60090-2646 Barbara@cremationassociation.org Every Life Is Worth Remembering Celebrant Training Returns to Chicago this September WHEELING, IL — Gain the confidence to create meaningful personalized remembrance ceremonies with skill and creativity. With Celebrant Training from the InSight Institute, you’ll discover how to celebrate each unique personality, story, and life experience. This in-person training, sponsored by the Cremation Association of North America (CANA), will be held September 22–24, 2026, at the Marriott Chicago O’Hare. Register to acquire the practical tools and techniques to design and deliver meaningful, customized tributes based on thoughtful consultation with families and loved ones. An InSight Certified Celebrant is specially trained to support families during times of loss by crafting tributes that go beyond the traditional. While funeral directors are experts in logistics—arranging services, managing details, and guiding families through decisions—Celebrants focus on storytelling and ceremony. Working in partnership with funeral home staff, they create experiences that are customized and memorable. The training is led by Glenda Stansbury, Marketing & Development Director of InSight Books and Co-Founder and Dean of the InSight Institute Certified Celebrant Program, and Kathy Burns, Graphic Designer for InSight Books and Mortuary School Program Supervisor for InSight Institute. Together, Glenda and Kathy bring extensive experience in education, communication, and funeral service. “The Celebrant has a family meeting, creating a safe space for stories and laughter and tears and grief so they can gather up all the elements that will part of the service,” describes Stansbury. “The Celebrant works with the funeral professional staff assuring that all parts of the service are coordinated and scripted with a story that flows through the entire experience. And, on our best days, after the service is completed, the family will leave knowing that they did their very best to celebrate the life and mourn the death of their family member, and the firm stands as a beacon of brave creativity and professional guidance and support.” Celebrant Training is ideal for those who enjoy working closely with people and have strengths in writing, listening, and public speaking. The program is open to all, including funeral directors, pre-need and aftercare professionals, hospice workers, clergy, chaplains, educators, writers, and others interested in serving families in meaningful ways. Registrants explore the value of funerals and the role of the celebrant, develop skills in conducting family meetings, learn techniques for writing tributes, and practice delivering services as a master of ceremonies. Once the three days of training are complete, participants earn their certificate and pin designating them as an InSight Institute Certified Celebrant. Offering Celebrant services gives funeral homes a valuable option for families who prefer a non-clergy-led service, helping these firms meet evolving consumer needs and expectations. Once they begin to offer Celebrant funerals, word spreads quickly about the power of these meaningful and caring funerals, and the demand for them grows. Learn more and register at cremationassociation.org/CelebrantTraining. About CANA Founded in 1913, the Cremation Association of North America (CANA) is an international organization of over 3,700 members, composed of funeral homes, cemeteries, crematories, industry suppliers, and consultants. CANA members believe that cremation is preparation for memorialization.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Barbara Kemmis Phone: (312) 245-1077 499 Northgate Parkway Wheeling, IL 60090-2646 Barbara@cremationassociation.org
Every Life Is Worth Remembering Celebrant Training Returns to Chicago this September
WHEELING, IL — Gain the confidence to create meaningful personalized remembrance ceremonies with skill and creativity. With Celebrant Training from the InSight Institute, you’ll discover how to celebrate each unique personality, story, and life experience. This in-person training, sponsored by the Cremation Association of North America (CANA), will be held September 22–24, 2026, at the Marriott Chicago O’Hare. Register to acquire the practical tools and techniques to design and deliver meaningful, customized tributes based on thoughtful consultation with families and loved ones.
An InSight Certified Celebrant is specially trained to support families during times of loss by crafting tributes that go beyond the traditional. While funeral directors are experts in logistics—arranging services, managing details, and guiding families through decisions—Celebrants focus on storytelling and ceremony. Working in partnership with funeral home staff, they create experiences that are customized and memorable.
The training is led by Glenda Stansbury, Marketing & Development Director of InSight Books and Co-Founder and Dean of the InSight Institute Certified Celebrant Program, and Kathy Burns, Graphic Designer for InSight Books and Mortuary School Program Supervisor for InSight Institute. Together, Glenda and Kathy bring extensive experience in education, communication, and funeral service.
“The Celebrant has a family meeting, creating a safe space for stories and laughter and tears and grief so they can gather up all the elements that will part of the service,” describes Stansbury. “The Celebrant works with the funeral professional staff assuring that all parts of the service are coordinated and scripted with a story that flows through the entire experience. And, on our best days, after the service is completed, the family will leave knowing that they did their very best to celebrate the life and mourn the death of their family member, and the firm stands as a beacon of brave creativity and professional guidance and support.”
Celebrant Training is ideal for those who enjoy working closely with people and have strengths in writing, listening, and public speaking. The program is open to all, including funeral directors, pre-need and aftercare professionals, hospice workers, clergy, chaplains, educators, writers, and others interested in serving families in meaningful ways.
Registrants explore the value of funerals and the role of the celebrant, develop skills in conducting family meetings, learn techniques for writing tributes, and practice delivering services as a master of ceremonies. Once the three days of training are complete, participants earn their certificate and pin designating them as an InSight Institute Certified Celebrant.
Offering Celebrant services gives funeral homes a valuable option for families who prefer a non-clergy-led service, helping these firms meet evolving consumer needs and expectations. Once they begin to offer Celebrant funerals, word spreads quickly about the power of these meaningful and caring funerals, and the demand for them grows.
Learn more and register at cremationassociation.org/CelebrantTraining.
Founded in 1913, the Cremation Association of North America (CANA) is an international organization of over 3,700 members, composed of funeral homes, cemeteries, crematories, industry suppliers, and consultants. CANA members believe that cremation is preparation for memorialization.