23 July 2026

At the moment, I am doing some pastoral work for another congregation. On one of my visits, I was conversing with an older woman who asked, ‘Who is it who does funerals now?’ In a former day, the answer would have been, ‘The Parish Minister’ but not today. She was searching for ‘The Celebrant’.

When I was a child growing up in Ardrishaig, all the funerals were held in the church. It didn’t matter whether you were a member or not, everyone had their funeral in the church. That never happened in any of my four parishes. Even as a child, I knew that his was very hospitable.

In the village of Forth, funerals were generally held in the home of the deceased. Often crowds of men had to stand outside in the garden and in the rain if the  house was too small. A church funeral was reserved for an elder or active member.

The funeral service used to be followed by a burial or a cremation. This was the normal pattern. Nowadays,  some people prefer to have the cremation beforehand and follow it with the service of thanksgiving. Some prefer not to have the coffin in church. Whilst for others, this  reordering suits the funeral tea.

I have discovered that there are some funerals where the cremation is neither open to everyone nor exclusively for the family. At a direct funeral, the coffin is taken to the crematorium  on its own and there is no-one to witness the disposal of the body except the one who operates the cremator.

Some people with a terminal illness have requested a living funeral. At this event, eulogies are spoken, memories shared with the one who is dying. In this way, they hear their assorted tributes before they die. It is in keeping with the direction of travel.

For the past twenty years, celebrants have been conducting funerals centring their work on the tribute. This has influenced Christian funerals where the expectation is not a funeral but a celebration of a person’s life. The focus is on the deceased person more than the community of faith and the gospel which sustains it.