Humanist Celebrant-led funerals

TimmyO

I went to my mother-in-law's funeral yesterday - it was held in a building in a forest and led by a 'humanist celebrant'
There was no mention of god, the hereafter or any of that mumbo jumbo but it was still a beautiful, thoughtful, appropriate celebration of a very loved person's life.

I'm definitely having one of these when I go. 

lustycourtier

Yup. Same here. 

Fretwired

A friend of mine is a humanist celebrant - she also does voice-overs for TV adverts and the BBC. Definitely how I want to go - no mention of God.

Condolences over the loss of your mother-in-law.

TheBlueWolf

Sorry for your loss

Each to their own I guess. The important bit is your mother in law got a decent send off

sweepy

We have had Humanist Funeral services for both of my Parents, much more intimate and involving, usually ending up with more laughter than tears 

p90fool

I've been to a couple of humanist funerals this year, and a Catholic one. All were done with empathy, kindness, more than a little humour and were genuinely moving.

It doesn't matter, as long as it's appropriate for the individual.

octatonic

If I am not allowed my first choice then I'll be having one as well.

EricTheWeary

Sorry for your loss, my mother in law passed away this year.

Never been to a humanist funeral but having been to quite a few funerals in recent years ( my MIL and my cousin this year alone) it is something we have talked about a bit and MrsTheWeary favours a humanist one. Mine will be a very small affair regardless as I'm an anti social bugger.

p90fool

octatonic said:

If I am not allowed my first choice then I'll be having one as well.

Dare we ask?

octatonic

p90fool said:

octatonic said:

If I am not allowed my first choice then I'll be having one as well.

Dare we ask?

Not dying.

ESBlonde

Funerals are for the living. The dead one in the box knows nothing of the proceedings, appropriate celebration of the deceaseds life makes it as right as could be.

digitalscream

My mum's boyfriend had a humanist funeral - about 12 years ago now, before it became a "thing". Of all the funerals I've been to, it was the most easy-to-deal-with, precisely because it was a celebration of his life rather than a whole load of ceremony and ritual. More important than that was that it was sincere - he'd always said that he didn't want any bullshit about what a great person he was; he'd fucked up a lot of things in his life, and he wanted everyone at his funeral to be honest about it all so that there were no awkward silences as people tried to figure out what they should and shouldn't say.

Never been to a religious funeral where that could've been done.

p90fool

octatonic said:

p90fool said:

octatonic said:

If I am not allowed my first choice then I'll be having one as well.

Dare we ask?

Not dying.

Ah, the ol' Plan A.

slacker

A friend/vocalist died of cancer about 10 years ago. The funeral service was in one of those modern village church halls that doesnt look like a church. So the widow makes sure that the hearse driver knows that it isnt the CofE trad thing but a church hall road name etc. We were kept waiting half an hour because they took him to the wrong church. 

A mate of his took the service and explained that the guy (no name on purpose) was late to his own funeral and would have found it funny (he would have). It took the edge off a bit for me. 

There were also instructions that black was banned and bright shirts mandatory. 

octatonic

p90fool said:

octatonic said:

p90fool said:

octatonic said:

If I am not allowed my first choice then I'll be having one as well.

Dare we ask?

Not dying.

Ah, the ol' Plan A.

If (and that is an IF) I do die then I'd also like to be stuffed and kept around the house as a buglar deterrent/hat stand.

Wazmeister

Me ?

There will be lots of mention of God. Less mention of daft Christian stuff, and traditional church thoughts.

But God and his ways ? Oh yes, I'll have a bit of that...

thomasross20

I've been to these, too. Much preferred.

stratman3142

My aunt had a humanist funeral and I recently went to a friends humanist funeral.

It's definitely the way I'll be going, but I've classed myself as a humanist for many years.

Reverend

We used one for my brother back in 2001 and it was really well handled. We were very impressed with the woman  that handled it.
So much so that we used a humanist celebrant for my step dad a few years later as well. 

TheBlueWolf

Many years ago a friend and avid Liverpool fan passed away. Although it was a crematorium funeral his partner asked us all to wear read tops or Liverpool shirts as he would have been happy about that

bluechargeboy

The wake is where the real remembrance happens anyway. Celebration of a life and all that.