The marriage officiant and civil celebrant in today’s society understands that a wide range of ceremonies are necessary to fulfill the needs of the average person, to add meaning and purpose to lives and as a result benefit society as a whole.
Most officiants and celebrants conduct wedding, name giving, funeral, commitment and renewal of vows ceremonies, but there are a plethora of other ceremonies being conducted to serve the needs of people in today’s world. For example, coming of age, divorce, healing, step parent/stepchildren acceptance, home blessing, retirement, special birthdays and anniversaries.
When you really think about it, our lives are full of ritual and ceremony in one way or another. Our calendars are punctuated with regularly occurring civic, cultural, religious and sporting events.Christmas rituals, Sabbath observances,citizenship ceremonies, Olympic games to name a few.
It was a strongly held belief of American anthropologist Joseph Campbell, that the level of civilization in a society is directly proportional to the number of ceremonies practiced in that society.
Officiants an civil celebrants re-established the performing of name giving ceremonies to fulfill the needs of many Christian people who do not or who no longer believe in infant baptism. Hence, the often used term, “secular baptism.†Recorded history tells us that name giving ceremonies were first practiced in ancient Greek and Roman times. A child was not a member of the family until he or she had been named in a name giving ceremony by the officiant or celebrant.
Over half of all marriages performed today end in divorce and this presents a situation where many dislocated families require assistance to get their lives back on track. Divorce ceremonies are now commonly conducted by officiants or celebrants to assist with the moving on process post divorce.
Home blessing and dedication is another popular ceremony performed by the marriage officiant, but by far the most common ceremony conducted by officiants and celebrants is the marriage ceremony. The personalization of ceremonies and vows and the fact that ceremonies can be held wherever and whenever the couple choose (In UK there are specified venues for the legal marriage ceremony) makes it a popular choice with couples.
When choosing an officiant or celebrant, like most people, you will find they are all different.You will be entrusting a very important task to them so its important that you relate to one another, that you have utmost trust and confidence in him or her. If it is possible, make appointments to meet with two or three or at least phone them and have a chat and decide for yourself. If you have friends who have had ceremonies recently ask for a recommendation from them, you may find that helpful. There is more to choosing an officiant or celebrant than just the price of their professional services.
A wide selection of Elizabeth’s ceremonies are available in e-books:
www.thevowsbook.com – a compilation of marriage ceremonies
www.renewalofvows.net – renewal of vows ceremonies
www.spiritualceremonies.info – spiritually inspired ceremonies
www.weddingvows101.net – 101 marriage or commitment vows
www.2ndmarriageceremonies.com – second marriage ceremonies
www.gaycommitmentceremony.net – gay commitment/marriage ceremonies
www.namegivingceremonies.com – name giving/naming ceremonies
www.wedding-ceremonies.net – more marriage ceremonies
www.divorce-ceremony.com -Â divorce ceremonies
www.ring-vows.com – a selection of wedding or commitment ring vows
(Acknowledgement for portions of text in above article, “Ceremonies and Celebrations†D. Messenger III)
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