Funeral celebrant Roy Francis convinced Messenger that just as his wife was entitled to a civil celebrant marriage, she was similarly entitled to a civil celebrant funeral. Some 200 people attended and many urged Messenger to continue the work as "much more important than weddings." Messenger credits Dennis Perry, then brother in law of Helen Francis, of being a decisive influence. From this time on some marriage celebrants began to quietly and carefully officiate at funerals when they were asked to do so. On Tuesday 3 May 1977 a group, consisting of some authorised marriage celebrants and some other persons formed an
New Humanist the arms of the Virgin Mary. In 2005 Caspar Melville took over as managing editor of the magazine and CEO of the Rationalist Association. Daniel Trilling assumed the position of Editor in 2013. New Humanist New Humanist is a quarterly magazine, published by the Rationalist Association in the UK, that focuses on culture, news, philosophy, and science from a sceptical perspective. The "New Humanist" has been in print for 131 years; starting out life as "Watts's Literary Guide", founded by C. A. Watts in November 1885. It later became "The Literary Guide and Rationalist Review" (1894-1954), "Humanist" (1956-1971) and the