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2013
FCAEM Annual Gathering Speaker Series
Saturday, March 2, 2-4pm
First Unitarian Society in Newton
1326 Washington Street, West Newton, MA 02465
The Rise of the Religiously Unaffiliated
According to the Pew Forum on Religion and Private Life Report “Nones on the Rise” released in October 2012, one in five American adults — nearly 20 percent of the US population — now describe themselves as religiously unaffiliated. Within this broad category, some people do have spiritual and religious beliefs — they just don’t identify with any specific religious group. How does this shift affect who provides spiritual end-of-life care and bereavement services, especially funerals/celebrations of life?
Featuring:
Katrina M. Scott received her Masters of Divinity from Harvard Divinity School (05) and is the Oncology Chaplain at Massachusetts General Hospital where she provides spiritual support to patients, family and staff. She is the author of several articles on the National Consensus Project for Quality Palliative Care (NCP) Clinical Practice Guidelines Domain 5: “Spiritual, Religious and Existential Aspects for Care” (2008) and is dedicated to promoting a multi-disciplinary team approach to end-of-life care. Endorsed by the American Ethical Union (Ethical Culture) for Health Care Chaplaincy, Katrina is an Officiant of the Ethical Society of Boston and Board Certified by the Association of Professional Chaplains. She lives in Newton with Fred (spouse) and Moxie (dog).
All are welcome. Refreshments too!
First Unitarian Society in Newton is accessible via MBTA bus, and there is a municipal parking lot nearby.
Location: 1326 Washington Street, West Newton MA 02465; Phone: 617-527-3203
Directions: http://www.fusn.org/content/directions
Please make every effort to come and help increase attendance by spreading the word.
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Final Rights: Reclaiming the American Way of Death is officially released!
The only book of its kind, Final Rights is a must-read for consumers and policy makers. Library Journal gave it a great review, calling it an "essential purchase" and highlighting the books features: "They look at the components of burying the dead, including choosing caskets and markers, dealing with cemeteries and funeral homes, understanding pre-need funeral purchases, and new and revived trends such as home funerals and green funerals. They offer numerous real-life examples of manipulation and questionable practices and provide tips for consumers to help avoid rip-offs, such as misleading perpetual-care arrangements and exorbitant embalming costs. There is practical advice on filing a complaint when wronged by the industry and a cautionary chapter on the Federal Trade Commission and what the authors see as its failure to enforce its own consumer protection rules."
Order the book here and more than half the cover price goes directly to the national FCA to support their work. |
The FCAEM 2013 newsletter is available.
Click here to read it.
What Does the Funeral Consumers Alliance Do?
- Provides members with information about laws, practices and forms
pertaining to death, burial, cremation, anatomical gifts and
related subjects.
- Helps you plan for your funeral while you are healthy and able to
make decisions that are right for you and your family.
- Provides information for those who might wish to care for their
own dead.
- Gives you forms on which to record the kind of arrangements you
prefer. Do you want family and friends to make charitable gifts in
your memory to your favorite charitable organization rather than
send flowers?
- Provides reciprocity with other affiliates around the U.S. if you
move or die while traveling.
- Maintains information on funeral directors who are willing to
cooperate with your choices.
- Monitors legislation pertaining to funeral practices to insure
that freedom of choice in arrangements is preserved.
- Provides speakers on request to various civic or religious
groups.
Plan Ahead
Death is something no one wants to think about. But, when a death
does occur, there are many important decisions to be made. These are
decisions which should not have to be made at such a difficult and
painful time. To ease the burden on your family and friends, there are
things that you can do now and plans that you can make today. Check out
our benefits of membership.
For a helpful article on Planning a Funeral from Boston Consumers'
Checkbook click here.
Do It Yourself
It is perfectly legal in Massachusetts, as in most other states, to
care for your own dead without using a funeral home at all. Or, if you
wish, you might want to use only limited services, for example, help
with transportation, or the necessary paper work. Whether planning for
yourself, or someone close to you, see our advice on doing it yourself.
FCAEM helped revive this time honored tradition in the 1990s by
clarifying the law with the state after the funeral Board of
Registration had led many to believe that the practice was illegal.
Click here for details of that
history.
2011 Funeral Service Survey Results
The FCAEM Board conducted a new funeral home survey in January
2011. Massachusetts Funeral homes were asked to answer a survey and
send us their General Price List.
You can view the responses to the 2011 and earlier surveys and the
General Price Lists of those who responded by clicking here.
[last updated 2012-01-03]
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