If you’ve found this page following the death of a loved one, my sincere condolences.
You’ve lost someone you love. And they, and/or your family, are not religious. From ceremony composition and officiation to diverse identity advocacy and safe-space support, please know that secular support and resources are available for you.
For secular people, end-of-life planning can be a challenge with funeral homes, celebrants, and other professionals who do not understand nor seek to honor secular identities.
A Humanist celebrant will prepare and deliver a ceremony that is not linked to any religion or belief in an afterlife. However, space can be made for readings, invocations, and personal sharing from family and friends to incorporate religious messages and comfort if that is meaningful for you.
A Humanist Funeral honors someone’s life and memory in a way that reflects their Humanist values and beliefs. The focus is often on celebrating the life of the person who has passed away, rather than mourning their loss; however, if a more traditional, somber memorial is preferred by the family, this can be a Humanist service also.
The ceremony is usually conducted by a humanist Celebrant who works closely with you to create a personalized ceremony that reflects your loved one’s beliefs, values, and wishes.
The ceremony may include readings, poetry, music, and personal stories or anecdotes about the deceased. The officiant may also offer reflections on the meaning and purpose of life, the importance of love and human connection, and the enduring legacy of the deceased.
In a Humanist Funeral, there is no religious or supernatural content delivered by the Celebrant, such as prayers or references to an afterlife. Instead, the focus is on the here and now, and on the lasting impact that the deceased has had on the lives of those who knew and loved them. The Humanist Celebrant is ethically restricted from using religious language; if some religious content is desired, they will help incorporate it through readings and reflections delivered by family or friends.
Overall, a Humanist Funeral is a meaningful and respectful way to honor the memory of a loved one and to celebrate their life in a way that reflects their humanist values and beliefs.
Why are funerals Important?
Important for all Religious, Secular, and Spiritual Identities (RSSI), a funeral is a ceremony or service to honor and pay respect to a person who has died. It’s for family and friends to join together to mourn their loss, offer condolences, and celebrate the life of the deceased.
Funerals are important in the grieving process for many people, providing a safe, meaningful space for loved ones to share memories, offer support, and begin to come to terms with their loss – a point of closure. This ceremony can also be an opportunity to reflect on the meaning and purpose of life and to find comfort and solace in the company of others who are going through a similar experience.
Where is a Humanist Funeral Held?
Many of these services happen at the funeral home if there is a congregational venue available there. A funeral home is a wonderful choice for an end-of-life ceremony. Their staff is trained to support grieving families and their facilities are set up for these services; this is what they do. They will take the planning burden off of the family and ensure that things run smoothly.
Some may choose to have only a graveside service or committal, and the entire service happens at the cemetery or place of scattering.
If you want a more traditional, though inclusive and secular, funeral setting, Unitarian Universalist churches are often Humanist-affirming and their congregational center may be a wonderful option.
The service, however, can be done anywhere you would like (with restrictions if the body will be present), such as a home, garden, or restaurant.
What is in the script of a Humanist Funeral?
This can vary widely based on personal preference – there are no required parts or required order of things. In general, the service will include:
- Opening remarks, Humanist Invocation, welcome
- Reading of the eulogy
- Music may be incorporated before, during, or following the ceremony
- Guests sharing memories or tributes
- Readings or poetry (usually one or two selections)
- Closing words of inspiration and support
Consider a Community Impact Component
A service initiative is a unique addition to a Humanist end-of-life ceremony. The Celebrant can work with you to set up a gift or donation collection for a charity, an on-site service project such as Positive Postcards, or a group park cleanup or other charitable activities in honor of your loved one. This can be done before, after, or during the ceremony. Ask your Celebrant about options.
What is Humanist Advocacy in Deathcare?
Healthcare and Deathcare providers, and some individual professionals, can be faith-biased. This means they have a religious agenda, usually Christian-centric, that is ubiquitously imposed on those they care for even though it may not serve all of the individuals and families that come into their care. In a diverse, pluralistic culture where we have freedom of (and FROM) religion, no one should be forced to pray to or defer to someone else’s G/god(s) at a time of grief. For some minority religious and secular individuals, conversations requesting someone to honor their identity can be anxiety-causing and triggers for other trauma.
A Humanist Celebrant, if willing and qualified, can serve as your advocate, providing non-religious support to you and your family as well as assisting with inclusion-focused conversations with hospital chaplains, hospital and hospice staff, and funeral home staff. Having a Humanist Celebrant with you at the arrangement conference or at other important moments, in person or by phone, can alleviate some of the anxiety about discrimination, faith-bullying, and other very real challenges.
What services can a Humanist Celebrant provide?
A Humanist Celebrant, if certified and ordained through The Humanist Society, is legally recognized as clergy in the United States, being accorded the same rights and privileges granted by law to priests, ministers, and rabbis of traditional theistic religions.
Humanist Celebrants often serve as advocates for the non-religious as well as other marginalized identities. Minority faiths (such as Wiccan) or LGBTQIA+ individuals may engage a Humanist Celebrant for some or all of these services.
End-of-life services may include:
- The Celebrant may visit the hospice or hospital to provide Humanist support to the dying and their family, as many secular families are frustrated by – even traumatized by – religious predators, at this difficult time, in the faith-biased healthcare industry;
- The Celebrant can assist with finding an affirming funeral home provider (that will be affirming of a diverse identity such as Humanist, Atheist, minority religion, or LGBTQIA+);
- The Celebrant may provide Humanist support or presence in communicating with funeral home, cemetery, and other professionals, as secular families may be discriminated against, harassed, Preyed upon, identity washed, and other challenges faced in the faith-biased funeral industry;
- The Celebrant may attend a religious service or ceremony, and deliver a Humanist invocation or reading only, to honor the deceased or to be inclusive of those attending the service who are of diverse perspectives and/or non-religious identities;
- The Celebrant can compose a custom ceremony, working with the family to select wording, readings, and invocations;
- The Celebrant may be asked to write the obituary and/or the eulogy (sometimes a family member chooses to write this part or to closely collaborate with the Celebrant);
- The Celebrant may serve as the officiant for the funeral service;
- The eulogy – story of life and tribute to the deceased – is delivered as part of the service. This can be read by the Celebrant, or a family member may elect to do this. The Celebrant stands by to offer support.
- The Celebrant may be asked to attend, and sometimes deliver a Humanist invocation or reading, at the visitation or viewing, graveside service or committal ceremony, or other ceremony such as a scattering or tree planting.
- The Celebrant may be asked to attend or make a visit to the reception or repast.
Sample Humanist Readings for Funerals
How is a Humanist Celebrant Paid?
The Celebrant usually charges an honorarium for end-of-life services. This style of ceremony and service fee is a “suggested amount”. Some families add gratuity and travel or extra time compensation to the fee, others pay less if they are unable to afford the ceremony fee. No one should be left without clergy representation and support, and Humanist advocacy where needed, at such a difficult time in their life.
Finding Affirming Providers
The best way to ensure that you have selected a funeral home and other professional services that are knowledgeable about and affirming of your identity is to pre-plan. Planning ahead, before there is a crisis, gives you a lower-stress opportunity to interview and research providers. Your Humanist Celebrant can guide and assist you with that process as well.
Humanist Celebrant Orlando’s owner, Tee Rogers, is also a pre-planning advisor in the funeral industry. She would be glad to answer any questions you have about pre-planning.
You can use tools such as the Identity Affirming Deathcare Directives to reflect on your identity-related end-of-life wishes and provide loved ones and professionals the guidance and tools to honor those wishes.
Humanist Celebrant Orlando, funeral service reviews
Looking for a speaker for your event? Perhaps one or more of these topics might resonate with your members/audience. If you have another topic in mind, please don’t hesitate to ask about custom presentations.
Volunteering as an Atheist at Faith-Biased Organizations
We are all needed in the work to solve challenges facing our communities, but volunteering is not part of most people’s life routine. Barriers to volunteering impact everyone, but for secular people, there are even more to overcome. Let’s talk about understanding and overcoming the barriers.
Your team or group will come out of this with a plan of action to improve your kindness footprint.
Feel good about the life you live and take control of your kindness legacy. I bet your kindness footprint is already larger than you realize!
Positive Postcard Project (Presentation & on-site service project)
The mission of the P3 Project is to connect humanity with words of encouragement and hope.
At the Positive Postcard project table, attendees fill out positive messages. I can suggest target audiences (such as domestic violence shelters, deployed veterans, or LGBTQ+ service centers) or we can focus on a charity your business or organization already supports.
In addition to the service component, we educate about respect for the religious, secular, and spiritual diversity of those who receive the messages and about the importance of secular messages that uplift and encourage every recipient.
Secular Identities (gamified!)
Aren’t all non-religious people called Atheists? Or Humanists? Or Secular? Or Freethinkers? Or… wait…what was that word i heard the other day?
How many identities will you know? This game comes with silly prizes – but the best prize is learning something new! (and i bet we all will!)
Living Without God (suited to an interfaith audience)
Secular people are among our friends, families, colleagues, teammates – yet many don’t know much about the value system, lifestyle, or even the basic worldview of a non-religious person.
We’ll talk about specific challenges secular people may face in our culture, discuss the basis & formulation of secular values, and reflect on how secular people can live happy lives of purpose and fulfillment.
Minority Blood Donation
There are many hidden undercurrents of discrimination against black & brown Americans that few talk about – and this is one we should definitely be discussing.
People of color represent less than 1% of blood donors, yet genetically similar blood is crucial for those who need repeated transfusions – as do those suffering from sickle cell.
Perhaps a portion of the low donorship stems from how the community was treated in the past; let’s confront that pain head-on and talk about why – and how – we must overcome this and other barriers to minority blood donation.
Secular Gratitude
Gratitude is an emotion felt by everyone, but is often mistaken for a religious value or assumed to be connected to G/god(s) or other supernatural forces or entities. We can all participate in and benefit from the practice of intentional gratitude. Here’s why. Here’s how.
The Global Sneeze Project
Oh, boy. Somebody sneezed. “What do i say? Do i have to say anything at all?”
As a Humanist and openly secular person, I get asked SO often what to do when someone sneezes. This discussion is specifically around how sneeze response impacts and reflects inclusive attitudes. We’ll talk about how other cultures respond to sneezes and gain a better understanding of alternatives to bless language and why some people choose to use them.
Beyond Interfaith: Religious, Secular, and Spiritual Inclusion
The word interfaith is an antiquated term. In our increasingly secular world, we need to model inclusive language that fosters bringing together the voices and hands of Secular Americans so that we can all be part of social and political collaborations to facilitate positive change in our communities. But if the word “interfaith” is othering and negating, what word should we use?
Open dialogue with an Atheist
Invite your employees or members to meet for an open dialogue and Q&A. I’ll give a brief introduction about Humanism & Atheism in general and incorporate any specific topics you want to be included as a focus (such as the Atheist experience in the workplace), then lead an open discussion.