When I first read this article about funeral celebrants, I didn’t get what the big deal was. It talked about “a growing trend at funerals: celebrants, whose aim is to make funerals more personal and meaningful while officiating the services.”

It seemed to me that part of funeral officiants’ role has always been to deliver a personal eulogy if possible.

But as I read on, I learned that this breed of celebrant helps “families that are not affiliated with a church and who do not want a religious service.”

I also learned that celebrants are trained by the likes of the Celebrant Foundation and Institute and In-Sight Institute and that they offer storied ceremonies for occasions other than funerals. From the Celebrant Foundation and Institute (which calls these practitioners Life-Cycle Celebrants):

Celebrants officiate at and co-create personalized ceremonies such as weddings, marriages, commitments, renewal of vows, baby welcomings and adoptions, coming of age, step-family tributes, new dwellings, birthdays, graduations, survivor tributes, job transitions, memorials, funerals/end of life tributes, divorce, special achievements and civic and corporate events.

Storytelling is part of the curriculum for those training to be celebrants, and these practitioners sit down with families to gather stories for the ceremonies at which they serve.

Celebrant Foundation and Institute Charlotte Eulette international director affirms what I’ve always believed about why personal storytelling has exploded in recent years:

After Sept. 11, 2001, she said, “people in America wanted something personal, and death became something to be embraced.”

I’m excited to learn of a new way folks can integrate storytelling into a career field.