Humanist Funeral

About Humanist Funeral

Each humanist funeral ceremony is special and designed to represent the life of the person who died and those who remember them. You should know that a humanist service is one that does not involve religion in any way. A humanist funeral is for someone without religion who has lived their lives themselves without needing or submitting to a higher power, so there’s no need to sort out a church, hymns or a vicar.

The funeral serves as closure for family and friends. It helps to bring the relationships between the deceased and his loved ones to a close. And, emotional expression helps loved ones to deal with their painful feelings. The humanist funeral service may be held before the interment or cremation, or after the body has been laid to rest as a memorial service.

A standard humanist service has at least seven elements which include:

• Music introduction (not the hymns). This may be either live or pre-recorded.
• Welcome speech or phrases from the celebrant or the person in charge of the operation.
• The tribute – description of the person who died’s life and personality
• Poetry – Family and friends may have the option to step up and read poetry and prose or share personal memories, if they wish.
• Then a time of silence follows, where all present will sit and talk about the deceased with their own feelings.
• The body’s committal is next-either the coffin is moved through the curtains to start the process of incineration, or lowered into the ground if buried.
• The celebrant is now saying closing words and the final music is being played as the mourners depart.