About Funeral Celebrants

A Funeral Celebrant is a person who can help plan, write and lead a Funeral service. People from all walks of life choose to become a celebrant but all are motivated by a strong desire to help families give the person who has died a good send-off, one that honours, gives thanks for, and, even, celebrates a life.

Some Celebrants are introduced to families by a Funeral Director, others are approached directly. Either way, all will work closely with the family and the funeral director to ensure everything goes to plan.

Association of Independent Celebrants

The AOIC was founded to provide a network of professional, highly trained and reliable Celebrants. It is an organisation that gives its members the chance to join together and support one other, receive recognition from other professions and a "group voice" to lobby in political campaigns. Above all, the AOIC encourages its members to operate under their own right and with their own individuality. more...

British Humanist Association

The BHA is the national charity supporting and representing people who seek to live good lives without religious or superstitious beliefs. It campaigns for an open society, a secular state and for a world without religious privilege or discrimination. Humanists are atheists and agnostics who make sense of the world using reason, experience and shared human values. We take responsibility for their actions and base our ethics on the goals of human welfare, happiness and fulfillment. We seek to make the best of the one life we have by creating meaning and purpose for ourselves and for others. Humanists recognise our human need to mark significant events in life and death. Humanist Ceremonies is the BHA's long-established network of celebrants, trained and accredited to conduct humanist funerals, weddings, partnerships and naming ceremonies. Humanist funerals are increasingly common. They are simply more appropriate for those who neither lived according to religious principles, nor accepted religious views of life or death. A humanist funeral or memorial ceremony recognises no god or "after-life", but instead uniquely and affectionately celebrates the life of the person who has died. Proper tribute is paid to them, to the life they lived, to the legacies they have left. more...

Green Fuse

"Green Fuse trained independent funeral celebrants see the funeral ceremony as weaving together the colourful threads of a life, the last time the person who has died takes centre stage, to be honoured, remembered and mourned by their community of family and friends. Because every one is different, they are extensively trained to listen to families' wishes and provide a distinctive funeral, whether spiritual, agnostic, non-religious, individual, contemporary or traditional. Our celebrants gently encourage participation by family and friends if they wish and take an imaginative approach to creating a personal ceremony which is full of meaning." more...

Institute of Civil Funerals

The IOCF train and represent Civil Celebrants who strive to offer a Funeral that's driven by the wishes, beliefs and values of the deceased and their family, not by the belief or ideology of the person conducting the funeral. Civil Celebrants are happy to include a religious or spiritual dimension in a funeral service, if it would be appropriate. more...

Interfaith Foundation

"Interfaith Ministers seek to promote understanding, harmony and peace among all peoples of the world by respecting and emphasising what is universal in the teachings of the many spiritual paths, traditions and faiths. We promote respect, reconciliation, forgiveness and fellowship between people of all faiths and those who have none. We honour people's choices to worship in a way that most nourishes them. Interfaith Ministers may have a background in any faith or path, come from many backgrounds and are dedicated to serving the spiritual needs of all who seek guidance, counselling and assistance irrespective of religion, ethnic background, gender, sexuality or age. We make no judgements. We are not a "replacement for" but an "addition to" traditional Ministers and Teachers." more...

Finally, there is a large group of

Independent Celebrants

These are people who do not belong to one of the organisations listed above, but nevertheless provide Celebrancy services for families in need. Typically they are well known in their local communities and are happy to rely on personal recommendation.

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