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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...
The County Celebrant Network
The County Celebrant Network is based on the belief that our customers' needs are of the utmost importance. Our Celebrants are committed to meeting those needs. We create each Funeral Ceremony to be completely unique to the deceased and a written copy of the whole text is provided so that the ceremony can be followed easily. The Civil Funeral Ceremony provides a comprehensive framework to make a range of choices about the content and style of the final Ceremony. In short, a Ceremony unique to the deceased is created: a tribute to and a celebration of their life. Choices are made from the wide selection of poems and readings available. Additional pieces that hold special meaning and significance for the deceased can be included. We offer help and advice on all the options available and in deciding how the selections should be arranged and presented. Family members and friends may also be included in the ceremony as well as any music that is appropriate. The Ceremony is designed and conducted in such a way as to reflect the express wishes of the deceased and that of the family. As experts in a range of ceremonies our members can help find the right words for your service. We aim to give clients the highest standard of service over a range of ceremonial needs, and attention to detail is a hallmark of our profession. more...
Fellowship of Professional Celebrants
The Fellowship of Professional Celebrants (FPC) is a self-regulated professional body which sets flagship standards for best-practice in training and fosters professionalism within celebrancy. All of our members are professionally trained to the highest standards and hold either our Foundation Certificate in Funeral Celebrancy or The Diploma in Funeral Celebrancy (awarded by our Associated Educational body, The International College of Celebrancy, Australia). Members are encouraged to continually update their skills through ongoing professional development, and are encouraged to work together to achieve more for the profession in which they work and for the families they serve. The FPC supports and fosters diversity within celebrancy, treating all celebrants, families & professional colleagues equally. We ensure all of our celebrants work to the very highest standards, and each celebrant members signs up to work to a set standard of service and professional ethics, which is laid down by the Fellowship, always listening to the needs & wishes of those they are working with. All of our members are Independent Celebrants which means that they can either conduct a funeral ceremony which is totally non-religious, or a more personalised service which still includes a small element of religion ie, a hymn, prayer or blessing to reflect the beliefs of the person who has died, or the wishes of family and loved ones left behind. 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
The Interfaith Foundation is an educational charity which celebrated its 15th anniversary in 2011. There are around 500 ordained Interfaith Ministers throughout Great Britain and Ireland, seeking to promote understanding, harmony and peace among all peoples of the world by respecting and honouring the choices of the individual. Interfaith Ministers are not creating a new religion, but filling a growing spiritual gap in modern society by supporting people who wish to enquire more deeply into their own spiritual tradition or values. Interfaith Ministers create and lead ceremonies uniquely tailored to individual spiritual beliefs and the Ministers, who adhere to a Code of Ethics, will work closely with you to create a very personal and meaningful ceremony reflecting the true spirit of the person whose life is being celebrated, and encompassing all who attend. The Interfaith Foundation joins in the awakening of an inclusive global spirituality through training and enabling open-hearted men and women to serve people of all faiths and none in our diverse communities. more...
Society of Bereavement Practitioners
The Society of Bereavement Practitioners is a professional membership body for all practitioners engaged in bereavement care and end of life care. Professional Membership of the Society, denoted by the letters MSBP after the holders name, indicates a high-level of professional attainment, expertise and a commitment to the highest professional standards and personal integrity. Associate Membership of the Society, denoted by the letters ASBP after the holder's name, indicates that s/he is working towards full membership of the Society, or is wholly committed to its aims and objectives. 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.
