THE NATURAL TRANSITIONS INSTITUTE STORY
Our Beginning—the Best of Both
The Celebrant Foundation & Institute
In 2001, the founders of what would become the Celebrant Foundation & Institute (CF&I) traveled to Australia to discover the celebrancy tradition taking place there. After 9/11, it became clear how much individuals, survivors, and families needed the healing power of ceremony to process the tragedy. The first Celebrancy Certification Training was birthed to meet this need.
Through the years, CF&I took on the mission to certify Life-Cyle Celebrants™ in the art of ritual and in the craft of creating one-of-a-kind ceremonies. CF&I was predicated on the belief that affirming life's milestones through customized, thoughtful ceremony strengthens the bonds of families, partnerships and communities and deepens the human connection across generations.
Since 2001, over 2000 graduates have embarked on practices dedicated to serving both individuals and communities with empathy and sensitivity to all cultural and spiritual traditions and inclusivity of persons of all gender identifications.
Natural Transitions
In 2003, three women, Faith Davis, Shanti Green, and Karen van Vuuren, founded Natural Transitions (NT). They envisioned it as an organization dedicated to supporting families to care for their own dead, bringing ceremony and ritual into the home—reviving an age-old tradition practiced in many cultures.
Over more than twenty years, Natural Transitions expanded its work, forging the way for the evolution of the death doula movement, and the expansion of green funeral provisions in the US.
Its accomplishments include:
- Publishing the Natural Transitions Magazine—the only magazine on conscious, holistic approaches to the end of life
- Organizing workshops and national conferences on natural death care
- Sponsoring two film festivals
- Co-founding the National Home Funeral Alliance (homefuneralalliance.org)
- Co-founding The Natural Funeral
Natural Transitions Institute—the best of both
Now as one unified platform, Natural Transitions Institute continues the legacy of:
- Equipping celebrants with the necessary tools to craft and enact personalized rituals and ceremonies for life-cycle moments in people’s lives
- Equipping families and deathcare professionals with green and holistic resources for End-Of-Life guidance
Under one umbrella, these two ground-breaking organizations begin a new chapter on how to bring meaning and story to life-changing events.
OUR MISSION
NTI’s mission is:
- To promote transformative ceremony for life’s milestones through a gold standard celebrant training and certification program as well as through mentoring and support of the alumni community.
- To support conscious and holistic approaches to end-of-life through leading-edge educational offerings and resources.
In addition, NTI seeks to:
- Promote holistic death care in which traditional and non-traditional families and community play a key role, reconnecting them to the rite of passage that is death.
- Promote celebrant-led ceremonies that acknowledge, support, and celebrate the joys and profound meaning of the human experience across the life cycle.
- Build connection and meaning through supporting engagement in our vibrant Institute community.
OUR VALUES INCLUDE
Integrity
Inclusivity
Client-Centered Ceremony
Community-Centered Ceremony
Real World Relevance
Environmentally Responsible Choices
The celebrant code of ethics
The Celebrant agrees:
- To support the goals and the mission of NTI by setting and maintaining a professional standard of service to the public that will bring credit and recognition to NTI, and its individual members.
- To serve each client with respect, sensitivity, and professionalism, and to provide all services in a timely manner.
- To offer every client a personalized ceremony that includes their story or information as revealed to the Celebrant through interview and questionnaires.
- To ensure that clients have complete choice of and final say over their ceremonies, and that the Celebrant’s personal beliefs are immaterial to this process. To encourage clients in choosing and/or approving a ceremony that is satisfying to them.
- To respectfully provide a ceremony that is as accurate as possible in all respects, including the pronunciation of the names of people, places, and things.
- To conduct a rehearsal where necessary to the ceremony.
- To perform the ceremony in a professional, prepared, and appropriate manner.
- To gift the client/honoree a keepsake (hard copy or electronic) copy of their ceremony.
- To provide a service that recognizes the unique personalities of the client, being sensitive to their needs, wishes, values, philosophical and spiritual beliefs, and cultural backgrounds.
- Not to discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, sex, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran status, or national origin, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination or harassment (including all forms of sexual harassment and sexual violence) under any program or activity.
- To comply and keep current with all laws and regulation regarding the performance of marriage and any other ceremony in every country, state, province, or municipality in which the Celebrant practices, including personally obtaining the necessary legal authority to solemnize marriages and appropriately filing client marriage documentation as required by law.
- To be aware of and work with your clients to avoid and discourage rituals, elements or language that trivialize or adopt aspects of other cultures outside of their own, without proper recognition, representation, and respect.
- To be aware of and in compliance with all Copyright and Intellectual property regulations and uphold the highest standards of attribution and citations to all sources of origin for any works reference in ceremonies, marketing, or branding purposes.
- To promote and educate the public about Celebrancy and Celebrant services by communicating the importance of marking the milestones in life in a personal and authentic way through ceremony and to be an advocate for the mission of Natural Transitions Institute.
OUR FACULTY
Our trainings are led by world-class facilitators and presenters recognized for their innovative approaches
Jen Boyes-Manseau
TEACHES: Fundamentals of Celebrancy, Funerals and Celebrancy Across the Life Cycle Certifications
Elisa Chase
TEACHES: Fundamentals of Celebrancy, Weddings, Funerals, Life Cycle Celebrancy Certifications and Biz360
Ben Martin
TEACHES: Fundamentals of Celebrancy, Funerals, Ceremonies Across the Lifecycle
Catherine McColl
TEACHES: Fundamentals of Celebrancy and Weddings
Lenny Scovel
TEACHES: Fundamentals of Celebrancy
Karen Van Vuuren
TEACHES: End-of-Life trainings
BECOME A CELEBRANT
Train with us to create memories that matter
Through customized, thoughtful ceremonies, you can positively impact lives.
become a celebrantEND-OF-LIFE COURSES
Deepen your wisdom about the End-of-Life transition
Find comfort and empowerment through greater understanding.
Explore End-Of-Life Courses