Funeral celebrant and the director. A celebrant, by this definition, does not come from the standpoint of any doctrinal belief or unbelief. A trained celebrant usually operates professionally on the principle that their own beliefs and values are not relevant. An acknowledged pioneer of civil Celebrancy, Dally Messenger III claims to have officiated at the first funeral celebrant ceremony. This was in the sense that the client sought a service from Messenger, as a government appointed civil celebrant, and as a professional ceremony provider. There had occasionally been secular funeral ceremonies before this date, but they were extremely rare and informal, e.g.
Humanist celebrant as part of Humanistischer Verband Deutschlands are well-established across Germany and are particularly prominent in many of Germany's cities, where majorities of residents are non-religious. As in Scandinavia, humanist coming-of-age ceremonies are very popular, due to secularisation and a pre-existing tradition of religious confirmation. "Jugendweihe" ceremonies have been on offer since at least 1852, although these days they are more likely to be referred to as "Jugendfeier" (youth celebration, as opposed to youth ordination). 8,500 young Germans took part in these ceremonies in 2015. Humanist celebrant A humanist celebrant or humanist officiant is a person who performs secular humanist celebrancy