Join the Fish Interfaith Center staff
Chapman Community Memorial Service
Monday, April 26 at 4 pm PST
to remember the individual and collective loss
we have experienced throughout this year

Memorial services or funerals have been part of every culture and every religious, spiritual, and many secular traditions. One of the hardest parts of the past thirteen months throughout this pandemic, is that so many people have not been able to be with family or friends who have passed away. Many of us have not had an opportunity to grieve and gather for rituals that bring beloved community together in support. We may not even realize the power and strength of sharing moments of grief and even joyful remembrance with others in community, until we share them.

Throughout this year, we have experienced far too many individual losses, as well as community losses. Our hearts are with members of the Sikh American community when some of the members of their community were murdered in an Indianapolis Fed-Ex facility in April, as well as families of others who died in this and recent shootings. Members of the Orange County Sikh community are close friends and members of our Chapman family, and in reaching out to these friends, I am grateful to learn that many are reaching out to offer material as well as emotional support for these Indianapolis families.

Sikh activist Valarie Kaur writes in See No Stranger, “When people who have no obvious reason to love each other come together to grieve, they can give birth to new relationships, even revolutions.” In the past, we held a Memorial Service in the spring of each year in the Fish Interfaith Center to remember students, faculty, or staff who died that year. This year, we broaden this invitation for you to join us virtually with names of anyone close to you, or part of your family or broader community.

Join the Fish Interfaith Center staff for a Chapman Community Memorial Service on Monday, April 26 at 4 pm PST.  We will gather virtually to honor the collective loss we have experienced. The service link is available here.