3 minute read
Humanist Funeral Celebrants’ rising to the challenge
The coronavirus pandemic has brought many challenges to the funeral industry and we have all had to adapt and do things differently; from virtual and socially distanced ceremonies to launching a new pre-planned funeral service. Angie Aspinall from Humanists UK takes a look back over recent developments at Humanist CeremoniesTM .
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Earlier this year, as a result of restrictions on attendance at gatherings, Humanist Ceremonies celebrants adapted quickly to delivering funeral ceremonies and memorial services online via Zoom. These virtual ceremonies enabled people to come together to pay tribute to a friend or loved one, celebrate the life lived. In the same way that an ‘in person’ humanist ceremony works, these virtual ceremonies also offered the opportunity for reflection, remembrance, and mourning. Once funerals could once again be attended by more people, with the necessary social distancing rules in place, humanist celebrants were there on the frontline alongside Funeral Directors, delivering personal, meaningful funeral ceremonies. And, because people were becoming more used to hearing about death and funerals in the media, we saw an increase in demand from people seeking help to plan their own funerals.
Humanist funeral celebrant Sheena Bradley, based in Lisburn Pre-planned funeral service
In May, Humanist Ceremonies launched a pre-planned funeral service to help people think through and record their own funeral plans. It’s designed to work in conjunction with prepaid funeral packages offered by Funeral Directors.
Prepaid funeral packages tend to include: • Advice about the certification and registration of the death • Collection and transportation of the body to the funeral home • Taking care of the body prior to the burial or cremation • The coffin • Arranging a burial or cremation However, they do not include planning the style, tone, and what is said at the ceremony, — and that’s where humanist celebrants come in. The Humanist Ceremonies pre-planned funeral ceremony
Belfast-based funeral celebrant Cathy Graham
service allows clients to discuss their wishes for a humanist funeral ceremony with a celebrant who will talk them through each aspect of the ceremony and help them decide what to include. In the same way that paying for a funeral in advance removes the stress of costs for relatives, pre-planning a ceremony service removes the stress of family members trying to guess what the deceased would have wanted in terms of their ceremony.
Taking away the guesswork
When someone has left no funeral plans, it becomes the responsibility of close relatives or friends to ‘best guess’ what they would have wanted, and this can cause confusion and disagreement. According to Funeral Service Times: ‘Over 382,000 funerals take place each year in the UK where family and friends have guessed at what their loved one would have wanted.’ Our pre-planned service allows individuals to discuss their funeral wishes with a celebrant in advance, and know that these have been recorded. Humanist funeral celebrants encourage clients to talk about the type of funeral or memorial service they would like to have, who they would like to be involved, what music should be played, which poems or text should be included, and whether they would like anyone to contribute a tribute or a reading. They can advise on many practical matters, and suggest ways in which to make the ceremony unique and meaningful. Clients wishes are recorded and securely stored. Any notes or scripts that the celebrant has written are kept in a secure repository.
Benefits of the network
In the event of the celebrant being unable to take the ceremony when the time comes, it can be delivered in exact accordance with the written wishes by another member of the network of accredited humanist funeral celebrants. The fee the celebrant charges reflects the level of service required: an enquiry (free of charge); consultation only; script writing; or a full ceremony delivery.
Find a celebrant To find your local humanist funeral celebrant, visit our online map (www.humanistceremonies.org.uk/find-a-funeral-celebrant) or refer to the directory on the inside front cover. Or you can refer to the directory on the inside cover of this Funeral Times.
