Finding Meaning in Farewell: A Mortician’s Path to Celebrancy
For 15 years I’ve worked in funeral homes, supporting families from every background
and belief system. As a mortician, it is my calling and honor to assist grieving families in
placing their loved ones to rest. As a Humanist, I believe that no matter who walks
through the doors, they should be met with respect, compassion, and a genuine desire
to honor their loved one.
As I’ve grown in my role as a mortician, I noticed something missing in the community.
Families who identify as spiritual or religious often have longstanding support systems.
There are clergy, congregations, and rituals that help guide them through loss. But for
secular or nonreligious families, celebrancy and ritual can be difficult to find. Many are
left to navigate their grief alone, unsure of who can help them create a meaningful
farewell.
Over time, I’ve witnessed increasing numbers of non-religious families choosing to forgo
a ceremony altogether. Others gather informally, without a structured moment to honor,
reflect, or say goodbye. These families are looking for the same opportunities for
connection, authenticity, and remembrance available to those in religious communities,
and that’s the space I felt called to serve.
Finding the right path to becoming a celebrant wasn’t easy. I searched for trainings that
would guide me on my journey and found short oneday courses that promised to teach
everything at once, indepth programs based in the UK, and countless religioncentered
trainings here in the U.S. Yet none of them felt like the right fit. None spoke to the need I
was sensing in my community. Eventually, I set the idea aside.
Some time later, I met a celebrant who led a secular ceremony that was truly beautiful;
rooted in gratitude, full of honor, and deeply personal. That celebrant, Tess Veloso, was
introduced to me by a family I was serving as a funeral director. Her tribute was heartfelt
and inclusive; every person in the room felt seen. After witnessing that first ceremony, I
approached Tess and asked if I could recommend her to families seeking a meaningful,
personalized service without involving religious clergy. With her warm, approachable
nature, she immediately agreed.
Two years have passed since that first meeting. I’ve worked alongside Tess many times
now, and each ceremony continues to impress me. Her professionalism, her presence,
and the way she crafts each tribute always move me. She showed me what celebrancy
can be and helped reignite the calling I thought I’d set aside.
Inspired by Tess’s depth of knowledge and the grace she brought to her work, I decided
to follow in her footsteps and enrolled in the funeral celebrancy program with the Natural Transitions Institute (NTI). Even before I finished the fundamentals portion of the training, I found myself viewing the funerals I oversee through a new lens. My focus moved away from the purely technical and logistical aspects of a ceremony and toward the intention behind those details—the why beneath the how.
As I paid closer attention, I noticed how often celebrants and clergy unintentionally
centered themselves rather than the person being honored. I began to see how
personal connection was missing from so many cookiecutter services. These
realizations have deepened my commitment to creating ceremonies that truly reflect the
life, values, and spirit of the person being remembered.
During the funerals portion of the NTI celebrancy training, we were invited to create a
ceremony from start to finish. The program gently breaks this work into thoughtful,
manageable steps, so even firsttime celebrants never feel overwhelmed. Through our
online discussions, I learned how to express genuine gratitude, how to write about
difficult passings with compassion, and how to weave together all the elements that help
families say goodbye with care and conviction. I found the knowledge and resources I
had been searching for in NTI.
The tools I received through NTI have allowed me to serve my families in a more
personal, heartfelt, and meaningful way. I am honored to serve the community in an
authentic and impactful capacity and am privileged to share the stories I am entrusted to
tell.
For me, celebrancy is not simply another professional role; it is a continuation of the
work I have always felt called to do. It is an opportunity to ensure that every family,
regardless of their beliefs or worldview, has access to a ceremony that reflects the
unique life of the person they love. Every life deserves to be remembered with care,
every story deserves to be told with respect, and every family deserves the chance to
gather, grieve, and find meaning in saying goodbye. Through celebrancy, I am grateful
to help make that possible.
Celia Kipp, Mortician and certified Life-Cycle Celebrant™
Are you feeling called to Celebrancy as a meaningful career path? Schedule a 1:1 Q&A call with us today.
Follow this link: Natural Transitions Institute
