Hi I'm Lana,

I'm a Madison-based Secular Humanist Celebrant with a day job focused on economic justice. I've been officiating weddings, funerals and other life events for nearly fifteen years. I love helping people create space that is meaningful for them personally, draws in those they love, and helps everyone feel connected to a reality bigger than us.

More about me

My Values

Check out Humanist Manifesto III. I'm not a fan of the title, but I resonate with the principles in this document.
Rituals, traditions and celebrations are about connecting to one another and to a reality that is bigger than us. When leading events, I prioritize creating meaning for everyone in attendance and affirming our connection and responsibility to the earth and one another.
Love is love; I welcome all couples of any gender expression.
Human reproduction has been full of joy, love, pain, loss, and hard choices from the beginning of time. I'm here for all of it: welcoming babies, saying goodbye to those lost too soon, grieving lost dreams, and affirming hard choices.

My Experience

I have been a Secular Humanist Celebrant since 2019 and was an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA) for 6 years before that. I have been officiating weddings, funerals and facilitating other types of celebrations for nearly two decades. I've officiated weddings for people of many faiths and no faith tradition alike. I have led baptisms, funerals, prayer vigils for large scale human loss, given countless children's messages and taught many adult spirituality and theology classes. I love bringing this experience to my work as a Humanist Celebrant.

My Education & Training

Princeton Theological Seminary, Master of Divinity (MDiv), 2010
- Matthais Memorial Award for Worship and Pastoral Ministry, 2009
- Clinical Pastoral Education (Hospital Chaplaincy Internship), Harborview Medical Center, 2009
Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, Reproductive Loss Workshop, 2010
Lombard Mennonite Peace Center, Mediation Skills Institute, 2011
Lombard Mennonite Peace Center, Clergy in Emotional Process, 2012
New Leaders Council Fellow, 2018

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