celebrating our chosen names
Jan. 14th, 2008 12:27 pmI'm finally going to change my name legally and have decided to celebrate this milestone with a naming ceremony. My local spiritual community (a Quaker Meeting) is supportive but has never actually done anything like this before so a lot of things, particularly language for both the ceremony and the certificate*, are being left up to me. I'm more than a little stumped and I'm wondering if anyone here can either point me toward resources for this sort of thing or share their own experiences around celebrating a change to a more accurate/appropriate/comfortable name.
Thanks,
Lane
*A note about the certificate. For Quaker weddings (at least for unprogrammed meetings) there is no minister, so to "officiate" a wedding, everyone who witnessed the event signs a big certificate that then goes home with the couple and often gets framed and hung in a place of honor in their home. The people helping me plan my naming ceremony suggested we create a similar certificate of naming so that there is a physical (and somewhat permanent) representation of the community's commitment to respecting/using my chosen name (and pronoun). I really like this idea, I just don't know what it should say.
Thanks,
Lane
*A note about the certificate. For Quaker weddings (at least for unprogrammed meetings) there is no minister, so to "officiate" a wedding, everyone who witnessed the event signs a big certificate that then goes home with the couple and often gets framed and hung in a place of honor in their home. The people helping me plan my naming ceremony suggested we create a similar certificate of naming so that there is a physical (and somewhat permanent) representation of the community's commitment to respecting/using my chosen name (and pronoun). I really like this idea, I just don't know what it should say.