Recorded Offering | Available Now until June 15, 2026
Animal Funerals and Habitat Memorials
With The Rev’d Sarah A. Bowen, Animal Chaplain
Learn creative methods for honoring the more-than-just-human world and open doorways to conversations and practices to help us cope with the emotions of living in a messy, interconnected world.
Recording Cost: General Public-$135.00 · Affiliated One Spirit Alumni - $100.00 · Affiliate Today!
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In this recorded offering…
You will learn creative methods for honoring the more-than-just-human world.
Over 70% of US households contain a being who is not human. Moreover, humans make up 0.01% of life on this planet, yet are responsible for much of the environmental destruction we see around us. Plentiful research suggests that invalidated grief over interspecies losses, compassion fatigue, and eco-anxiety can have significant impacts on our mental well-being. This workshop explores doorways to those conversations and practices to help us cope with the emotions of living in a messy, interconnected world.
This workshop will help you companion yourself, and others, through the practical and spiritual questions that arise when companion animals are injured, sick, lost, or die. What’s more, it will prepare you to address the heartbreak felt when seeing a deer lying on the roadside or when hearing about the extinction of species on our interdependent planet. In this workship you will:
Learn about the spiritual lives of animals
Hear thought-provoking research about the grieving behavior of myriad species, from cats and dogs to the beings of the forests and oceans
Discover how to create compassionate life transition rituals for animals (and how to engage their human companions in the process)
Learn a powerful self-care technique designed specifically for animal lovers and earth warriors to manage heartbreak and increase resilience
Realize new ways to expand your ministry, spiritual companioning, or healing practice to include animal sanctuaries, environmental nonprofits, veterinary clinics, and animal shelters
This recorded offering is for…
Ministers, Spiritual Directors, Animal Lovers & Earth Warriors by seeking to companion yourself and others through the practical and spiritual questions that arise when companion animals are injured, sick, lost, or die.
Attendees can look forward to leaving this workshop with a wealth of knowledge and tools for cultivating a personal nature-based practice.
What you’ll Explore
The emotional, spiritual, and ecological dimensions of animal death and environmental loss
How rituals, memorials, and sacred storytelling can validate interspecies bonds and foster healing for both individuals and communities.
Cross-cultural and interfaith examples of how humans have honored nonhuman lives and ecosystems, from ancient practices to contemporary contexts
What you’ll Integrate
Practical frameworks for ethical remembrance that acknowledge our entanglement with other creatures.
What you’ll Experience
5 Hours of recorded offering including lecture, meditation, and discussion
Guided reflection about personal and collective experiences of animal and environmental loss.
Brainstorming for creating funerals and memorials that support enduring cross-species connections, ecological restoration, and emotional integration
What you’ll Receive
Resources and inspiration to initiate personal or congregational projects that honor interspecies loss and promote ecological care.
A copy of the course presentation
Access to the Course Hylo Board where you can chat with other viewers, share resources, and connect in community
About the Presenter, The Rev’d Sarah A. Bowen, Animal Chaplain (she/her)
Sarah Bowen is the founder of Animal Chaplaincy Training at Compassion Consortium, equipping humans to offer profound emotional and spiritual care for all beings in the more-than-just-human world. She is author of the award-winning book Sacred Sendoffs: An Animal Chaplain’s Advice for Surviving Animal Loss, Making Life Meaningful, & Healing the Planet (Monkfish Publishing, 2022), which contains tools for surviving animal loss and mindfully extending compassion to the 8.7 million other species we share this interdependent planet. Her current academic research focuses on addressing moral distress and moral injury in animal-centered professionals through trauma-informed spiritual and emotional care.
Where can I access the recorded offering?
All One Spirit offerings are hosted on Hylo - our online community platform. Hylo access will be provided via email after registration is complete. Please check your spam and/or promotions folders for your confirmation email from One Spirit. You will be guided to create a Hylo account, if you don’t already have one, and then given access to the Course Hylo Board, where you will find the Course Materials (when available) and the Course Recording(s).