Imogene Rigdon's Memorial Service at Bay Village on January 18, 2019

Opening Prayer: Chaplain Chuck

Hymn: On Eagle's Wings: Cheryl Smith

Scripture: 1 Cor. 13 Bridget Mary (Message translation)

Text of 1 Corinthians 13 from The Message

If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. 

If I speak God's Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, "Jump," and it jumps, but I don't love, I'm nothing. 

If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere.

So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love. 

Love never gives up.

Love cares more for others than for self.

Love doesn't want what it doesn't have.

Love doesn't strut,

Doesn't have a swelled head, 

Doesn't force itself on others,

Isn't always "me first,"

Doesn't fly off the handle,

Doesn't keep score of the sins of others,

Doesn't revel when others grovel,

Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth, 

Puts up with anything,

Trusts God always,

Always looks for the best,

Never looks back, But keeps going to the end. 

Love never dies.

Inspired speech will be over some day; praying in tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit. 

We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete. 

But when the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be canceled.

When I was an infant at my mother's breast, I gurgled and cooed like any infant. When I grew up, I left those infant ways for good.

We don't yet see things clearly. We're squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won't be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We'll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us! 

But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation:

Trust steadily in God,

Hope unswervingly,

Love extravagantly.

And the best of the three is love.

Sharing: A Time of Memory and Hope

Family and Friends- Bridget Mary, Chaplain Chuck

Bridget Mary: Comfort, O comfort my people says, our God.  (Isa 40:1-2)

We have felt your comfort through the presence and words of one another.

As we share memories about our beloved Imogene, we laugh, cry, I give thanks for Imogene’s loving presence in our community. I give thanks for her leadership and service to Mary Mother of Jesus Inclusive Catholic Community from our earliest days and especially for a new model of inclusivity and partnership that was circular and community oriented. From time to time she reminded us that small was beautiful and that our size or growth in numbers was not her major concern but our faithfulness to living the Gospel with love and passion. She blessed us all and we will miss her. 

Prayer: Chaplain Chuck

Song: Sing to the Mountains- Cheryl Smith

Benediction: 

Loving God, we entrust our beloved Imogene to you this day.

Now it is her time to leave this earthly place for an eternal one.  May the Spirit of comfort embrace us all in our loss.

Go in peace, dear Imogene. We will miss you.  We love you.

We will remember you always. We raise our hands and hearts in loving blessing as you go forth into the fullness of God’s tender embrace. Blessed Be. Let It Be So. Amen.

Piano Postlude: Cheryle Smith