My TEN promises to Funeral Directors  

This is my guarantee to Funeral Directors who may recommend me as a celebrant. You need to know that I am prompt, reliable, efficient and thoroughly professional. You also need to know that I will deal with the family in a caring, respectful and compassionate way. Here is my promise to that effect.

❶

When you call, I will always answer my telephone promptly. If I’m in a meeting, I will ring you back immediately after. I will have my diary and will provide an instant response if I can conduct a ceremony at the time you wish.  If I can’t do the ceremony, I can use – if you wish – the Humanists UK regional network (on WhatsApp) to quickly find an alternative .

❷

On accepting the request, I will immediately (if appropriate) contact the family or friends to arrange a meeting at the earliest opportunity. As you would expect, I will be sensitive, caring and respectful in my dealings with the family at all times.

❸

At the family meeting, which can take place wherever they feel most comfortable, I will work out with them the type and shape of the ceremony they wish. While able to provide experienced advice on how to put together a ceremony, with all the potential elements involved, I will always be clear it is their ceremony. I will also work with the family in painting a portrait of the person who has died that will capture their personality, their life and what they meant to the people around them.

❹

If the meeting is difficult because of disagreements between family members or any other reason, I will use all my skills of tact and diplomacy to achieve the best possible outcome for all concerned.

❺

If the family wants a broadly non-religious funeral but wishes to include one or more religious components (e.g. a prayer), I am happy to accommodate this if that component is undertaken by one of the mourners.

❻

Immediately following the meeting, I will produce a draft Order of Ceremony for the family to approve and send to the Funeral Director to design a printed version – if that is what is wanted. Soon after, I will produce a draft script of the ceremony and invite comments and suggestions and will then make changes until the family is happy with the result. I will keep the Funeral Arranger in the loop throughout the process.

❼

I will arrive at the venue for the ceremony well before it is due to start to check everything is in order and to greet the family. In the extremely unlikely event of an emergency, I will contact the Funeral Director/Arranger and propose a contingency plan.

❽

I will work smoothly and efficiently with the Funeral Director and their staff together with the crematorium staff to ensure a faultless ceremony, in particular one that meets the time constraints of the booking. I will give a special version of the ceremony script with the music cues highlighted to the member of the crematorium staff responsible for coordinating the music.

❾

I will give a beautifully produced presentation copy or copies of the ceremony script to the family in a Humanists UK folder. This will also include a copy of a feedback form though they are also invited to complete this on-line.

❿

I will write to the family usually two or three days after the ceremony to thank them for the privilege of conducting the ceremony on their behalf and to wish them well for the future. I also write to the Funeral Director/Arranger to make sure they are happy with how things went.