Drafting The Funeral Celebrant Accord
The Funeral Celebrant Accord and the accompanying Working with Funeral Celebrants: Points for Excellence are essential resources for celebrants and funeral directors alike.
They were developed to raise standards through a mutual understanding of how we define an excellent celebrant.
Through the use of these resources, we have set the bar for excellent celebrancy, and, in doing so, seek to develop and improve the relationship between funeral directors and celebrants, and establish appreciation of the value of a good celebrant.
In 2018, the Council conducted a national survey amongst over 500 funeral celebrants, the first survey of this kind ever performed. At the time 76% said they belonged to one of 23 professional associations.
As a result of the responses to the survey it was noted that there was no common standard of celebrancy.
Consequently, the Council worked collectively to draft a document outlining the qualities and proficiencies of ‘an excellent celebrant’.
This document was published as The Funeral Celebrant Accord in 2018 and presented to the funeral sector at the National Funeral Exhibition that year.
Two complementary questionnaires were also created, for use by funeral directors and arrangers. These were published to help identify best practice in the sector and to promote good working relationships between celebrants and others working with bereaved people.
There has been broad nationwide uptake of The Accord and the Questionnaires by celebrants and funeral directors alike.
Who drafted the Funeral Celebrant Accord?
The Accord was conceived and created by a council of established professional associations and training providers within the funeral celebrancy sector, working together for the first time.
All organisations on the council had equal say in the final content.
Why we need The Accord and the Checklists
The quality and calibre of the celebrant makes a great difference to any funeral ceremony.
A funeral is a critical part of the grieving process and is often the only opportunity for people to publicly express and share their feelings and memories of the person who has died.
Good funerals, which are meaningful to bereaved people, play a huge part in the grieving process. Ensuring that funeral ceremonies are created to the highest standard is a responsibility that celebrants and funeral directors share, and the Accord and Checklists have an important part to play in this.
Funeral celebrancy is a relatively new development in the 21st century, offering a person centred alternative to traditional funeral ceremonies. There may or may not be religious content in the ceremony, this is entirely the choice of the bereaved client.
Unfortunately, the varying standards of practice and training reflect poorly on this currently unregulated profession. Without a common standard, the quality of ceremonies is inconsistent, and bereaved people cannot be sure that they are being provided with a celebrant who is the best person to write and deliver a funeral ceremony for them.
The Funeral Celebrancy Council developed a definition of an excellent celebrant which you can see here.
We feel that bereaved people should expect no less. We encourage funeral directors to only recommend celebrants who aspire to meet the criteria set out in The Funeral Celebrant Accord, and we have offered them Working with Funeral Celebrants: Points for Excellence as a simple checklist resource.
