Workshop 7: Preparation for Death

Beautiful orange sunset over a deep blue ocean. — Tapestry is Sunsetting

The UUA is no longer updating Tapestry of Faith programs.

Part of Facing Death with Life

In This Section

Introduction
From Facing Death with Life

The dying must often feel this way—steaming along just fine, while on ahead someone has torn up the rails. — Annie Dillard This workshop concerns end of life. Participants will learn about and reflect on medical issues and choices as well as consider how they wish to be remembered. Several weeks…
Workshop-at-a-Glance
From Facing Death with Life

Activity Time Opening 5 minutes Activity 1: Medical Choices at End of Life 30 minutes Activity 2: What Matters in the End 20 minutes Activity 3: Five Wishes or Advance Directives 20 minutes Activity 4: Obituaries and Epitaphs 30 minutes For Next Time 10 minutes Closing 5 minutes…
Materials
From Facing Death with Life

Chalice, candle, and lighter or LED/battery-operated candle Our Covenant from Workshop 1 Handout 1, Looking Ahead to Workshop 8 Five Wishes booklet for each participant or copies of your state’s advance directives or both Three-ring binders with clear plastic covers, one for each participant who…
Preparation
From Facing Death with Life

Invite a medical professional with experience in end-of-life medicine, palliative care, and hospice care to explain some common end-of-life medical choices. Read resources listed in Handout 1, Looking Ahead to Workshop 7, from Workshop 6. Post Our Covenant from Workshop 1….
Opening
From Facing Death with Life

Activity time: 5 minutes Light the chalice and share these words from Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, 20 (NRSV): For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a tim…
Activity 1: Medical Choices at End of Life
From Facing Death with Life

Activity time: 30 minutes Welcome the medical professional you have invited, and ask them to explain end-of-life medical interventions, palliative care, hospice care, and choices that a person or family might have to make. Allow time for participants to ask questions.
Activity 2: What Matters in the End
From Facing Death with Life

Activity time: 20 minutes Show the segment from “Being Mortal” (17:13-23:36). Ask participants to reflect on any experiences with end-of-life decisions for a loved one. Then call attention to color pencils, markers, pens, and pencils….
Activity 3: Five Wishes or Advance Directives
From Facing Death with Life

Activity time: 20 minutes Distribute copies of Five Wishes booklets or your state’s advance directives or both. Invite participants to look at the booklet or document and begin to fill it out….
Activity 4: Obituaries and Epitaphs
From Facing Death with Life

Activity time: 30 minutes Invite participants to form groups of three and, as they are comfortable doing so, to share the obituaries and epitaphs they have written prior to the workshop. Allow 15 minutes for this part of the activity. Then regather the large group and engage participants in a…
For Next Time
From Facing Death with Life

Activity time: 10 minutes Share with participants details about your field trip to a funeral home, a cemetery, or a crematorium. Distribute Handout 1, Looking Ahead to Workshop 8 and remind them about the artistic expression for next time. Tell them that they will not be sharing their advance…
Closing
From Facing Death with Life

Activity time: 5 minutes Share these closing words from Lee Ann Wester: When the time comes, we prepare, as if for a party with close friends for care, or a class, ready to learn. But is preparation really possible? Can we ever really prepare, for death? For life?…
Leader Reflection and Planning
From Facing Death with Life

Make a time for individual reflection and discussion with your co-leader after the conclusion of the workshop. Consider these questions: What worked well in today’s workshop? How can these elements or approaches be repeated or amplified in the future? What was most challenging?…
Handout 1: Looking Ahead to Workshop 8
From Facing Death with Life

The dying must often feel this way—steaming along just fine, while on ahead someone has torn up the rails. — Annie Dillard For Next Time To prepare for the next workshop: Fill in advance directive forms or Five Wishes booklets. Make a plan for sharing them with medical people and loved ones.

Download all of Facing Death with Life (Word) (PDF) to edit or print.

The UUA is no longer updating Tapestry of Faith programs.

Workshop 7: Preparation for Death

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