As a humanist, I have no religious faith and do not believe that there is any after-life. All we have is our own finite life, however long or short that may be.

The death of someone we know and love is often shocking and painful, even if it is expected. A good funeral service can really help to ease that pain.

Humanist funerals and memorial services offer a personal and fitting way to say goodbye to those who have lived without religion. Humanist funerals bring people together to express sadness at the loss but they also celebrate the life lived. They focus sincerely and affectionately on the person who has died, paying tribute to the connections they made and left behind and rhe way they lived their life.

You will usually use the services of a funeral director to deal with the practical arrangements of a funeral, what type of ceremony you choose is entirely up to you. Humanist funerals – like all others – can be held in a variety of places, although in practice most are held in crematoria, cemeteries or woodland burial sites.

If you use the services of a British Humanist Association funeral celebrant, you can expect to deal with a sensitive person, empathetic to the experience of bereavement and focused on providing a fitting funeral ceremony.  Humanist celebrants are familiar with cremation and burial procedures and can help you through the whole process of arranging a funeral ceremony.

A humanist funeral celebrant will typically:

• Meet with the family or friends most closely connected with the person who has died to learn more about that person and ensure that the funeral justly captures their life and personality
• Advise on practical matters, such as options for the committal or the amount of time available for the ceremony at the a crematorium
• Listen to your ideas on music or readings and provide their own suggestions if needed
• Share the own ideas and draw on their experience when appropriate
• Liaise with those involved in the ceremony, for example, anyone who will be reading a tribute or a poem/piece of prose
• Write a unique ceremony that’s absolutely fitting for the person who has died and the circumstances
• Be a calm presence on the day, leading the ceremony with warmth and dignity
• Give you a presentation copy of the final script

If you want to learn more about humanist funerals read this leaflet on the BHA website. There’s also a really nice video on the BHA website, too.