Back to News 
MILLIGAN, Tenn. (May 5, 2023) – Emmanuel Christian Seminary at Milligan and Morris-Baker Funeral Home are partnering to host a one-day funeral celebrant training seminar for area ministers, religious professionals and ministerial students. The seminar will be held from 9:00am-4:00pm, Tuesday, May 9th at Morris-Baker Funeral Home, located at 2001 E. Oakland Avenue, Johnson City, Tenn.
Entitled “The Sacred Journey – A conversation between clergy and a celebrant,” this one-day seminar will feature focused discussions on the changing needs of the families that ministers serve and new skill development to expand the celebrant’s approach to understanding grief as a foundational aspect of the funerals they perform. Attendees will receive ideas, examples, resources and professional development to utilize as they enter the sacred space of working with grieving people.
The seminar is made possible through a partnership between Morris-Baker Funeral Home and Emmanuel Christian Seminary at Milligan. Ministerial students, as well as ministers and religious professionals from area churches, hospitals and hospices are encouraged to attend.
For more than 50 years, Emmanuel Christian Seminary at Milligan has brought together strong academics, a commitment to ministry both at home and abroad, and true discipleship in a loving Christian community in order to train the next generation of leaders in ministry. Emmanuel graduates go on to work in a variety of ministries, including preaching, pastoral care, Christian education, campus ministry, hospital and military chaplaincy, and cross-cultural missions. Emmanuel offers four degrees in order to help students learn to become effective ministers of the Gospel: Master of Divinity, Master of Arts in Religion, Master of Arts in Christian Ministries, and Doctor of Ministry.
Morris-Baker Funeral Home has been serving families throughout the area with compassionate, personalized attention and a commitment to exemplary service since 1915. Long-recognized for its community support and involvement, Morris-Baker Funeral Home has won numerous awards and honors for excellence, including the National Funeral Directors Association’s annual Pursuit of Excellence Award, which it received in 2022 for the eighth consecutive year.
The seminar will be led by Glenda Stansbury, a licensed funeral director who has officiated more than 4,000 funerals. Stansbury is a professor in the Funeral Service Department at the University of Central Oklahoma, Edmond, Okla., and Worsham Mortuary College Chicago, Ill, and co-creator of the InSight Institute’s Certified Funeral Celebrant Training program, which has trained more than 5000 celebrants since 2000. Attendees can register here. For more information, please contact Morris-Baker Funeral Home at 423-282-1521.