Just as humanists are once again prompted by legislative possibilities to push the call for equality in marriage law (both on differential privilege for religious services and for full equality for same-sex couples), along comes an excellent piece of evidence of the demand for humanist ceremonies offering a good, value-laden, non-religious approach.

There were more humanist weddings than Roman Catholic weddings in Scotland last year, according to new figures.

The Registrar General for Scotland’s provisional data on marriages by denomination showed humanist weddings were the third most popular ceremony.

There were 1,706 humanist weddings, between January and September 2010, an increase of 35% on 2009, while Catholic weddings remained static at 1,506.

There were 11,430 civil marriages and 5,013 Church of Scotland weddings.

Humanist weddings were granted legal status in 2005.

The Humanist Society of Scotland (HSS) said it expected to see the number of humanist weddings “overtake those of the Church of Scotland in 2015″.

Continues: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-12517893

A report The Co-operative Funeralcare out today looks at funeral practices in the UK, and finds that the way we mark the death of loved ones is increasingly celebratory and personal. It’s a space that humanist funerals have been occupying for some time.

[The report] The Ways We Say Goodbye is the first study of its kind to draw information from the arrangements being made at funeral homes across the UK as well as from the public. The Co-operative Funeralcare, the UK’s largest funeral provider responsible for 100,000 funerals each year, conducted the research across its network of over 850 funeral homes.

… Funeral Directors at The Co-operative Funeralcare report a significant shift-change in funeral preferences in the last five years; requests have included pink Cadillacs, a milk-float cortege, woodland burials and live jazz at the graveside.  Mourners are watching firework displays, wearing bright colours, blowing bubbles and releasing balloons during funeral events.

These findings are backed by a new independent ICM survey, commissioned by The Co-operative Funeralcare, of 2,000 British adults. It revealed that more than half of the population (54%) would prefer their send-off to be a celebration of life than a simple church service with hymns, and almost half of the population (48%) are keen for their funeral to reflect their favourite, hobby, colour, football team or music.

However, while funerals are becoming more contemporary, the subject remains taboo, as 55 per cent of people admit to never having discussed their wishes for their own funeral with friends and family.

Funerals Without God published by the BHA

Humanist funerals should probably be a subset of ‘contemporary’ funerals, but the report separates them out – “67% traditional funerals, 21% contemporary, 12% humanist” – perhaps recognising the significance of the explicitly ‘humanist’ approach. Even in religious funerals there is often non-religious content, with only 36% of funerals in total having “purely religious music” and nearly half of all funerals (49%) best described as “a celebration of life” which must include some religious services.

Link: http://www.co-operative.coop/funeralcare/about-us/News/First-ever-report-into-UK-funeral-customs-highlights-major-change/

The British Humanist Association describes the humanist funeral or memorial as recognising “no ‘after-life’, but instead uniquely and affectionately celebrates the life of the person who has died… Celebrants in the BHA’s Humanist Ceremonies™ network accredited to conduct funerals are friendly, trained and experienced. They will usually meet with the family or friends who are most closely connected with the person who has died. They will want to learn as much about the person as possible, so that the funeral or memorial tribute justly captures the life and personality of that person. Whatever the circumstances of the person’s life and death, the celebrant is there to be understanding and compassionate, not to moralise, nor to judge.”

GEORGE Ball told pals they should put a mobile phone in his coffin when he died – and when he failed to answer at his funeral yesterday they knew it was time to say goodbye.

Hundreds of mourners packed into Bradwell Crematorium to remember the life of the local character they knew as George the Hat.

A floral tribute reading “Never kid a kidder”, Mr Ball’s favourite catchphrase, lay next to his coffin.

… Helen Kara, who conducted yesterday’s humanist service, told the congregation: “One of George’s friends had said to him ‘What are we going to do with you when you’re gone?’.

“George replied, ‘You can put my mobile phone in the coffin with me and ring it and I’ll pop up and say hello and it will all be a joke’.”

A member of the congregation then rang George’s phone and the ring tone came from the direction of his coffin.

But Ms Kara said: “Unfortunately there’s no answer, so we’ll have to continue with the service.”

Mr Ball was found dead after a fire in his flat above the Baa Humbugs sweet shop in Wolstanton High Street.

It started less than an hour after he returned home from the Village Tavern on November 12.

Ms Kara yesterday described Mr Ball as a “happy man” who was known for wearing his trademark red woolly hat and who enjoyed the simple pleasures in life.

She said: “He enjoyed going to the pub to meet people and have a drink and a laugh. He regularly got barred from the pubs for his singing.[" ...]

Mr Ball’s daughter Jayne Harris told the congregation that she hadn’t realised the “little man with grey hair, in sandals and a woolly hat” had been so popular.

She said in a letter to him: “I remember when you came back from Saudi Arabia and I came out of the school gates to see you waiting for me. You’d brought me back many gifts but the best one was finding you standing there.”

The congregation sang Danny Boy and Mr Ball’s coffin was carried out to the sound of Twilight Time by The Platters.

Keith Melbourne, who runs the Village Tavern, said: “I’d known George for 14 years and he was a true character.

“He was a genuine, hardworking, a very clever man.

“I’d only known him to take his hat off once – and that was to put his bed cap on.

“His table is still here in the pub with drinks on it. Nobody will ever forget him. He is a legend of Wolstanton.”

Full article: http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/news/don-t-answer-let-funeral-continue/article-2935115-detail/article.html

Helen Kara is an accredited humanist celebrant on the BHA  Humanist Ceremonies network. Humanist funerals are well-known and well-respected for speaking to the real life and character of the person who has died, for being unafraid of idiosyncrasy, and for celebrating as much as mourning.

One Father Ed Tomlinson received widespread attention for lambasting humanist funerals on his blog back in October (the BHA responded with a defence of the personalised, celebratory nature of humanist funerals).

Now, Bishop of Chester, Reverend Peter Forster, has similarly criticised modern funeral services for skimping on “proper solemnity” by hand picking music and poetry to the family’s liking, rather than using the Church stuff that he likes. Bishop Forster (who has previously been investigated over homophobic comments and made the highest level of expenses claims of bishops in the House of Lords for 2008-09) seems primarily criticising Christians who don’t realise that his Church believes in bodily resurrection (rather than the detachment of a disembodied soul upon death) but he does also pick out the “celebratory” and personal aspects of modern services for criticism.

He wrote: “My mind has been concentrated by another experience, which is becoming more common: to go to a funeral, only to find that the cremation or burial has taken place earlier in the day, and the funeral has become a celebration of the deceased’s life.

“Why does this jar with me so much? There have always been occasions when of necessity a funeral has been held without a body, but that seems different from a deliberate decision to hold a small private ‘funeral’ before a larger ‘celebration’ or ‘commemoration’. I think there are several reasons why I regret this new trend in our society, and especially when it invades the Church.

“Firstly, it easily gives the impression that our bodies don’t matter much, that the essential ‘me’ is a disembodied soul or spirit. It was precisely such a view, common in the ancient world, that (like Judaism) Christianity rejected. I believe in the resurrection of the body: that statement is not in the Creed for nothing. It emphasises that we are created, taken from the dust of the earth, and that it is this world which God has chosen to redeem and re-create.

“We are not spiritual chips off some cosmic block longing to return home: we are sacred individuals, made in God’s image, body, soul and spirit.

“Secondly, these new funeral practices can seem to put death to one side, to ignore or even deny its reality. Some poems read at funerals give the same impression: ‘I have only slipped into the next room’, etc. Some music chosen at funerals likewise seems out of place, missing the proper solemnity which should mark the death of a child of God.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/religion/7804570/Bishop-of-Chester-criticises-celebratory-modern-funerals.html

The British Humanist Association’s Humanist Ceremonies network provides humanist wedding and partnership celebrations and funeral and memorial services for the non-religious. The BHA also campaigns for reform of marriage laws and for full equality under the law between same sex civil partnerships and marriage.

BHA celebrant, Billy Jenkins, was a guest on BBC Radio 4’s Midweek yesterday morning, alongside Libby Purves and Caroline Charles. Billy was talking about conducting humanist funerals and about his latest CD release – I’m a Man from Lewisham!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00qvmps

George Barnsby, aged 90, “lifetime anti-racist and anti-fascist,” wrote this blog from his hospital bed where he is recovering from MRSA.

Such was my confidence at this time, that I was tempted to revert to the original purpose of the Blog, and advertise the latest bulletin of the British Humanist Association. The BHA represents what is probably, the largest body of people in the world, those who are Atheists or non-believers of every sort. People would be most likely to seek the services of a trained BHA official on the hasppy occasion of a wedding or the less happy occasion of a funeral, and it is interesting to note that at least 3 courses to train such officials, are now underway.

Another issue on my mind has been that of church schools, the majority of which are operated privately and outside the control of the Local authority, which still has to pay the bills even though they have no control over the syllabus or the ethos of the school.

Hopefully I’m not being too morbid when I say that another issue on my mind lately has been that of assisted suicide. The recent case of the mother of a girl who was bed-ridden for 17 years and who had clearly expressed a wish to end her life, being charged with attempted murder, only highlights how much clarification and ammendment is still needed to the law in this country.

http://gbpeopleslibrary.co.uk/blog/?p=2022

The BHA does indeed support a network of celebrants offering Humanist Ceremonies, campaigns on ‘faith’ schools and religion in schools in general, and also on legalising assisted dying for the terminally ill.

Often, a couple will have a formal ceremony at their local Register Office first but regard the humanist Ceremony as the one which marks the beginning of their married life together.

Although a non-religious ceremony can be conducted by anyone you choose, a Humanist wedding will usually involve a Registered Humanist Celebrant who has been trained and licensed by the British Humanist Association.

A humanist wedding can take place at a venue of your choice and does not require a special licence. There are no set formats involved and the ceremony will be personal to you. Your celebrant will work with you to express you feelings for one another in to words. What you say can be totally original or adapted from suggestions from the Association.

http://www.thefizz.co.uk/wedding-planning/humanist-non-religous-weddings/