Humanist Funeral Service

[seadog]

Last Monday I had my my first experience of A Humanist Funeral Service.

The service was for my father in law and his family were not too keen on a religous service as he did not have strong views on relgion.

The funeral directors put the family in touch with a lady from the Humanist Society for Scotland and she paid a visit to the family on the Saturday mornng and explained what the Society was all about.

She then took details from the family about his life and put together a folder which the family were able to peruse that afternoon and add or delete anything they were not happy with.

As people were arriving for the funeral service they were greeted with "Big Band Music" which was his favouite.

The service took about 30 minutes and was very moving. There was no religous content whatsoever but this did not detract from the proceedings. She also did the speaking at the cemetary.

I would recomend this type of funeral service to any family suffering a beareavement who do not have strong religous views. She was very sincere and put across the life of my father in law in a very moving manner.

The service was conducted in Ormlie Funeral Parlour, Thurso and the lady is Thurso based.:cry:

[bekisman]

Fully agree, had a good friend with no religious convictions, so the Humanist Celebrant in Thurso came down to Inverness Crematorium and did the 'non-religious' ceremony, as mentioned above by Seadog. All very moving..

"A Humanist funeral is increasingly common. It’s simply more appropriate for those who neither lived according to religious principles, nor accepted religious views of life or death. A Humanist Funeral or memorial ceremony recognises no ‘after-life’, but instead uniquely and affectionately celebrates the life of the person who has died. Proper tribute is paid to them, to the life they lived, the connections they made and have left behind.
Nothing in a Humanist funeral or memorial ceremony should be offensive to those who are religious. It will focus sincerely and affectionately on the person who has died. Humanist funerals, or memorials, allow friends, relatives and acquaintances to express their feelings and to share their memories. They have warmth and sincerity. Many bereaved people find them helpful and are pleased to have provided a ceremony their loved ones would have wanted."

[StacNKel]

That sounds lovely eh, when my dad passed away last year he was not religious at all but his wife was and the whole service i felt wasnt personal to my dad at all and it hurt, but then his whole funeral was such a farce poor dad was probably spinning in his coffin :(

But i think it is a good idea people are aware that there are different types of services as we are all different and have different views on life and the way i see it a funeral should be about saying good bye to the person who passed away and should be done in a way they would want.

[brandy]

i agree with the above. if a person has no religious beliefs in life, it is silly to have them at death.. unless the close family memebers themselves feel the need.
personally, i think all funeral should be a celebration of ones life.
it is not the person who has left us that suffers but those of us left behind. and at the end of the day, it is what offers us most comfort that is the best.
as a religious person, i would like to have God in my service, but for it to be in the context that i have went on to be with God, but to remember the laughter and joy shared here on earth.. and that it will be carried on...
my grandmothers funeral made me very angry, as one of the preachers that stood up to speak.. (she had three) went on about how granny was a good godly woman and that she was surley going to heaven but what about the rest of us? he went on to preach a sermon basically saying that if we wanted to go to heaven and be with her and God we better repent and blahh blahh blahh.. im sorry as much as i love my God, that man was just outta order.. and if my poor mama hadnt been breaking down on the front row i would have prob. said something very nasty to the man.
he was my uncles choice.. so that explains a lot.. gurn gurn gurn
anyhow.... end of rant..
what ever is most helpful to the family, and helps them to get thru their time of need.. then that is the right thing..
and hun, my deepest condolences on the loss of your FIL, and may your family find comfort and joy in the memories that you hold of him.

[DOC ROCK]

It sounds very interesting and personal.

[starry]

I have been to a couple of Humanist Funeral Services and found both very comforting.
I can't say more personal than a religious service as in my experience that has depended on the individual minister rather than the religion.

I have also been to a few weddings undertaken by Humanist which I found just lovely.

I am glad this option is now more widely available.

[SunnyChick]

Common sense at last!

[lynne duncan]

was speaking to my hubby about this and agree would prefer my service (hopefully not for a long while yet but hey you never know) to be in a local establishment (if it were today) then maybe the francis st club with one of pooners buffets and lots to drink, leave me in my coffin on the table at the side where i can watch the crack, and if anyone wants to say anything about me whether nice or not, then they're more than welcome to carry on. being atheist i really wouldna prefer any mention of god, if when i passover and there is a god then i'll have a long conversation with him then!. i find when i go to funerals just now the only comfort i get is when they speak about the person's life and i find it a bit pretentious when they say how great a person was and never mention any of their faults, cause i know that if they did this at my funeral i'd be laughing my head off. so a humanist funeral sounds fine but i'd still rather a good old fashioned knees up.

[northener]

The lady from Thurso is Kate Buchanan who is what's known as a 'Celebrant' with the Humanist Society of Scotland.

She is excellent at what she does, I attended a friends funeral a few months back which was conducted by her. Very, very good.

http://www.humanism-scotland.org.uk/

[bekisman]

The lady from Thurso is Kate Buchanan who is what's known as a 'Celebrant' with the Humanist Society of Scotland.

She is excellent at what she does, I attended a friends funeral a few months back which was conducted by her. Very, very good.

http://www.humanism-scotland.org.uk/

I echo that; Kate was the celebrant at our friends ceremony

[scotsboy]

Listened to a broadcast by Tom Robinson (2-4-6-8.........sing if your glad to be gay.........but not anymore seemingly) where he reflected on his upbinging in the Anglican faith, his father having turned his back on religion still thought it important for the Children to be brought up that way. The broadcast centred around the prayer/hymn God be in my head, ad how when faced with his impending end Robinsons father scofed at the idea of a Humanist service and opted for the Anglican servce, even though he had long since renounced his religion.

[northener]

Listened to a broadcast by Tom Robinson (2-4-6-8.........sing if your glad to be gay.........but not anymore seemingly) where he reflected on his upbinging in the Anglican faith, his father having turned his back on religion still thought it important for the Children to be brought up that way. The broadcast centred around the prayer/hymn God be in my head, ad how when faced with his impending end Robinsons father scofed at the idea of a Humanist service and opted for the Anglican servce, even though he had long since renounced his religion.


Everyone's different, I suppose. That story reminds me of the old expression "you won't find any Atheists in a foxhole". Although I personally would dispute that claim.....

I suppose that many people, faced with the reality of their own demise, will look to something that gives them hope. For many that hope will be of another life to move on to. Atheism certainly won't offer any support for anyone wanting to extend their concious existance.

I'd like to think that I'll be happy to reflect on what has passed in my lifetime and to find comfort in all I have seen and done - not cling to some desperate hope that, somehow, this is not really the end.

Each to their own an' all that.

[cuddlepop]

Last Monday I had my my first experience of A Humanist Funeral Service.

The service was for my father in law and his family were not too keen on a religous service as he did not have strong views on relgion.

The funeral directors put the family in touch with a lady from the Humanist Society for Scotland and she paid a visit to the family on the Saturday mornng and explained what the Society was all about.

She then took details from the family about his life and put together a folder which the family were able to peruse that afternoon and add or delete anything they were not happy with.

As people were arriving for the funeral service they were greeted with "Big Band Music" which was his favouite.

The service took about 30 minutes and was very moving. There was no religous content whatsoever but this did not detract from the proceedings. She also did the speaking at the cemetary.

I would recomend this type of funeral service to any family suffering a beareavement who do not have strong religous views. She was very sincere and put across the life of my father in law in a very moving manner.

The service was conducted in Ormlie Funeral Parlour, Thurso and the lady is Thurso based.:cry:

That sounds like it was indeed a wonderful service that celebrated the life of the deceased and didnt go on about "the lack of attendance on Sundays".:)

[bagpuss]

My mum- not conventionally religious had a Humanist service with music and poetry she loved.

One of my friends has written her own funeral script - she has no relatives living nearby and her solicitor needs that information to instruct the undertaker when her time comes- something that single people should really do- especially if they've outlived family and have no close freinds able to make those decisions for them.

disturbing true- but sadly necessary