Bixby Knolls Christian Church will hold a memorial service on Sunday, Aug. 1 for anyone, regardless of religion, to celebrate the lives of loved ones who died in the past year.
Barb Peebles, who helped organize the memorial, said the event was “very personal” to her. A month before the pandemic, her mother died. Shortly after, she was immobilized by a broken foot. By the time she was able to organize a memorial, everything had shut down.
“There was no way I could do anything to celebrate her life,” Peebles said. “As the pandemic progressed, I saw more and more people, the only thing they could do—if they were lucky—was to bury them graveside. There were no services. There were no celebrations of life.”
At a church board meeting, she proposed the idea of an all-inclusive memorial—a one-day service where residents could collectively mourn and celebrate the lives of those they lost.
“We wanted to give a place where people could come and feel the comfort and the love of our community,” Peebles said.
The memorial and celebration of life is open to members of all religions.
“Our church has a very open and affirming congregation. It doesn’t matter what your religion or creed is, if you want to come and celebrate you are welcome to. We have no parameters at all,” Peebles said, noting that the church’s pastor begins sermons by stating his pronouns.
Attendees are encouraged to submit names and photos of their loved ones to be shown during the service. Those who attend can also bring a printed picture and one-page biography of their loved one to be displayed for all.
The church has also created a small garden where attendees can write the names of their loved ones on a flat rock and take it with them or put it next to their succulent, “so that they will know that there’s someone thinking and praying for them,” Peebles said.
Organizers have “gone away” from a traditional church service. Peebles said the hall will be filled with calming music and have performances by a vocalist and a clarinetist. Church members are currently decorating the hall for the event and will have light food and refreshments available.
The Bixby Knolls Christian Church has only done one memorial in the past 20 months, she said, during a short period in June when the state loosened its health restrictions.
Some community members lost loved ones but don’t have anyone to help organize a service, which she said can be “almost impossible” without assistance.
“Being able to celebrate these people, I think is important, giving them a place to do that,” she said. “Coming together, we will start strangers, but we’ll end friends. And we’ll have more knowledge of each other from that.”
Peebles, who is also the church’s music director, said that after years of organizing memorial services, she’s come to find beauty in the minutiae of people’s lives. Regular people, she said, do marvelous things that often go under the radar until their lives are laid out during memorial services.
“Once you’re past that grieving, weeping, moaning stage, you want to celebrate the wonderful things that person has done,” Peebles said. “Many people don’t fly to the moon, but they do small things […] At their memorial, you learn so much more about them that you didn’t know, and what a fascinating thing that is and to pass that information and celebrate that person’s life that way.”
The memorial service will take place Aug. 1 at 10:15 a.m. at Bixby Knolls Christian Church at 1420 E Carson St, Long Beach. Those wishing to send names and photos of loved ones can email Barb Peebles at pianopeebles@verizon.net.
