Sunday in the Cemetery
May 4th , 10:00am – 5:00pm
Sunday in the Cemetery is a day-long exploration of mortality at Green-Wood. We invite you to candidly engage with grief and death through a compassionate, supportive lens. This free, open-house style event brings together leading experts for engaging talks, workshops, and guided tours that illuminate end-of-life care, funeral traditions, and memorial arts. Through personal stories and interactive experiences, discover community through shared human experiences and gain insights into how we can each live well and remember meaningfully.
Price: Free. Donations encouraged.
(see details below)
Before Reserving Your Spot, Please Note:
- Registration: Advanced reservation is strongly recommended. We may reach capacity, potentially turning away late arrivals. While registration is recommended, it does not guarantee entry. Only one space may be reserved per person.
- Location: Programs will take place at various locations and times throughout the day. Please check the schedule for details on your selected events.
- Donation: Although programs are free, we invite each registrant to support Green-Wood’s ongoing death education initiatives through a voluntary contribution, enabling us to continue offering meaningful community programs throughout the year.
- Accessibility: The Historic Chapel is a historic landmark structure and is not ADA Compliant. Access requires ascending and descending stairs. The Modern Chapel is not fully ADA compliant, however, accommodations for entrance can be made for visitors using wheelchairs or other mobility aids. Before reserving tickets, we encourage visitors to contact our staff with any questions regarding accommodations and accessibility at 718-210-3080, ext. 1 or events@green-wood.com.
- A Little More About Safety: Walking tour routes cover hilly, grassy, and uneven terrain.This tour is not accessible for those using wheelchairs or other mobility aids and may be difficult for those with balance or other mobility issues. There is no place to sit down during the tour. We strongly encourage attendees to wear suitable footwear.
Movement for Grief
10:00am – 11:30am
Outdoor Workshop, meets at the Modern Chapel
Begin your morning at Sunday in the Cemetery with guided movement meditation, setting a reflective tone for the conversations and workshops later in the day. Led by a teacher from ONEHOUSEYOGA, this gentle practice invites participants of all levels to connect with Green-Wood’s landscape through breathwork, mindful movement, and sound meditation. As we honor the intricate cycles of life and death, this meditative session will ground us in presence, preparing our hearts and minds for the profound explorations to follow.
Art in the Cemeteryscape
10:00am – 11:30am
Walking Tour meets at the Gothic Arch
This interactive walking tour reimagines Green-Wood’s historic landscape as an open-air museum filled with soaring obelisks, intricately carved sculptures, and stately mausoleums. Guide Deborah Chi will lead you to uncover the rich artistry, symbolism, and evolving styles that characterize these memorials, while fostering meaningful conversations about how the emotions they evoke and what they reveal about human expression.
As we move through this evocative space, you’ll gain a fresh perspective on the cemetery as not just a place of rest, but as a profound gallery of artistic achievement where history, memory, and craftsmanship intertwine.
Deborah Chi is a tour guide whose focus is how art and storytelling can help foster human connection and social transformation.
Natural Endings
12:00pm – 1:30pm
Lecture and Optional Walking Tour meets in the Modern Chapel – Chapel B
Around the world, people are answering the call to make our final farewell better for the planet. But with so many new methods, what are the best and “greenest” options? This program begins with a presentation by funeral director Amy Cunningham about the importance of eco-conscious funeral practices, exploring sustainable alternatives to traditional burial methods, and the emergence of environmentally friendly funeral rituals.
Green-Wood memorial counselors will discuss natural burial opportunities at the Cemetery to show you what green burial looks like right here in Brooklyn! After the session has concluded, there will be an optional walking tour to Cedar Dell, an area designated for natural burials.
Amy Cunningham is the founder and owner of Fitting Tribute Funeral Services in Brooklyn, NY, and serves the community through lectures on green burial, cremation, grief literacy and more.
Your End of Life Lineup
2:00pm – 3:30pm
Panel Conversation in the Modern Chapel – Chapel A
This panel brings together four death-care professionals—a funeral director, a thanatologist, a death doula, and a chaplain—for an illuminating conversation on the professionals that make up your end-of-life lineup. Through both moderated and audience-fielded question and answer, these experts will unpack the emotional, spiritual, practical, and philosophical dimensions of death and dying. You’ll get an intimate glimpse into the complex rituals, personal journeys, difficult conversations, and profound transformations that surround life’s most universal transition.
Speakers:
- Emma Acker is the founder of All’s Well Initiative and serves her community as a death doula for mainly unhoused individuals in New York.
- Erica Hill is the owner of Sparrow Funeral home in Greenpoint and a licensed funeral director.
- Matilda Garrido is a certified thanatologist with extensive experience working with the dying, families of the dying, and the bereaved.
- Joo Young Hong is a board certified chaplain and the manager of Spiritual Care and Chaplaincy at NewYork-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital.
Navigating Pet Grief
2:00pm – 3:30pm
Panel Conversation in the Modern Chapel – Chapel B
This panel brings together veterinary grief counselors, cremation specialists, and pet memorial experts to explore the emotional landscape of pet loss and the diverse options for honoring companion animals after death. You’ll gain insights into grief processing, cremation alternatives, memorial practices, and healing rituals that recognize the deep bonds between humans and their animal companions, along with support and practical guidance for moving through one of life’s most tender transitions.
Speakers:
- Lauren Seeley is a death and grief doula for humans and animals, and serves as a death educator with special focus on LGBTQIA+ end-of-life care.
- Jessica Fragola is the lead veterinarian and founder of Paws at Peace.
- Jennifer Muldowney, funeral celebrant and founder of Muldowney Memorials, specializes in services for pets.
Grieving and Weaving
2:00pm – 5:00pm
Hands-on Workshop in the Historic Chapel
Join artist Mary Pat Klein for an afternoon of knitting and crocheting that explores creativity, contemplation, and healing through textile arts. Discover the therapeutic potential of tactile crafts in processing grief. All skill levels are welcome;tutorials are available for beginners and experienced crafters of any medium may work on their new or ongoing projects. A limited number of materials for crafting will be provided on a first-come, first-served basis.
Mary Pat Klein is a renowned yarn craftsperson whose work has been part of Oscar-nominated costume design teams, and has been featured on Broadway and television.
Cemetery Sips & Stories
4:00pm – 5:00pm
Meet and Greet in the Modern Chapel – Chapels A & B
At this intimate and informal gathering Green-Wood’s gravediggers, crematory operators, memorial counselors, local death-care-industry professionals, and community members will join us for candid and supportive conversations about death work. While mingling over light refreshments, you’ll have unprecedented access to the professionals who quietly steward our final transitions and work to demystify death care.