How to Become a Funeral Celebrant

 A funeral celebrant is a person who works with families to help conduct a funeral service for their loved ones. Their aim is to perform a funeral ceremony that aligns with the family’s beliefs and values. In other words, they will personalise their client’s funerals and guide them through this daunting process. For example, they will collaborate with the client to answer some key questions, such as: 

Typically, many will turn to a funeral celebrant when they don’t want to hold a religious ceremony, though that does not mean a celebrant cannot help guide families that are religious.

It’s easy to confuse the role of a funeral celebrant with that of a ‘funeral director’. While the two jobs are similar, there are a few key differences.

While funeral directors are specifically for funerals, a funeral celebrant is simply a celebrant — this means they can also perform other rites, such as marriage ceremonies. Also, funeral directors often take care of transporting the body, the burial and the location of the service, as opposed to celebrants, who only focus on the ceremony itself, usually fulfilling a leading speaking role. Keep in mind, however, that a funeral celebrant can also be a funeral director. 

Being successful as a funeral director is defined by more than your technical skillset. Personal qualities and attributes, such as empathy, play a tremendous role in helping families send off loved ones.

While training isn’t technically required for this position, for the most part, those who want to become good funeral celebrants will have to enrol in a celebrancy training course. Most funeral directors will only recommend a celebrant who has the proper training, and for good reason. Funeral celebrants are dealing with people at their most vulnerable, which means you must answer their questions appropriately and carefully. Funeral celebrant training will equip you with the right tools to answer their questions and give grieving families the support and guidance they need to hold an important event for their loved one. 

You can choose between a more general celebrant course, which focuses on marriage, family and community as well as funeral celebrancy, or a more specific courses in funeral services. Most funeral celebrants complete a Certificate IV in Celebrancy (CHC41015), since it is nationally approved. The units relevant to you are:

There’s a variety of in-class and online courses where you will learn all there is to know about celebrancy. 

Upon completion of the course, you will learn: