Guide to non-religious funerals Blog
While religious funerals can be seen as the more traditional type of service, non-religious funeral services are becoming increasingly popular - and it's all dependent on the beliefs of the person who has passed away.
What is a non-religious funeral?
A non-religious funeral, often known as a celebration of life or a humanist funeral, is a funeral service which has no religious connotations. For example, this service may not include hymns, songs, prayers and references to religious beliefs.
This type of funeral service is often chosen if the deceased was not religious themselves, or has specifically requested (either in casual form or a prepaid funeral plan) that they want a non-religious funeral service.
What to expect at a non-religious funeral service
Often, this type of service is led by a humanist celebrant, and typically follows a more casual structure than that of a religious funeral. During a non-religious funeral service, what you could expect on the day could include:
Non-religious funeral readings
Tributes, poems, short passages or general funeral readings may be read at a non-religious funeral service - and these can be performed by friends, family or anyone close to the deceased. At a religious service, these readings would typically be from that religion, for example, Christianity or Catholicism may include readings from the Bible.
However, non-religious services can be more flexible - these can be tributes written by close friends and family, or they can be passages or readings found online, or from the deceased's favourite books, or poems.
Non-religious funeral songs
Similarly, a religious funeral may include hymns or religious songs/chants which may be traditionally played at funeral services. However, a non-religious funeral could include more personal songs that mean more to the deceased, and the people who are attending the funeral.
Typically, these songs are either ones the deceased loved themselves, or ones that could describe the deceased in a certain way that would be emotive to the people in the service. Alternatively, upbeat songs can also be used to make the service more of a celebration of life - which the deceased may have intended to keep spirits lifted during the sad day.
Location of service
Typically, religious funerals often take place in a place of worship, such as a church, temple or cathedrals. However, when attending or planning a non-religious funeral, although the location of the service itself may stay the same (for logistical reasons), parts of the service, or the wake, can be in any sort of location. For example, your local football stadium or even your back garden may be a place you feel the deceased would be comfortable - so holding part of the funeral there would be more flexible when having a non-religious funeral.
Planning a non-religious funeral
Often, when deciding whether someone who's passed away should have a non-religious funeral or a religious one, the answer may be clear. However, in order to ensure that your wishes are known and organised before your time comes, you might consider organising a prepaid funeral plan. Here at Open Prepaid Funerals, all of our funeral plans can be created to match your preferences.
Planning a funeral can be extremely stressful for a bereaved family - so by having a prepaid funeral plan laid out, this can alleviate emotional stress for your loved ones. Find out more about how funeral plans work from our guide, and learn about the different types of prepaid funeral plans we have here at Open Prepaid Funerals.
- Posted 23rd February 2022