Not everyone wants a religious funeral — and not everyone should feel they have to have one. The number of non-religious funeral ceremonies in the UK has grown steadily for decades, and today a significant proportion of services have no religious content at all. For families who feel that a faith-based ceremony would not truly reflect who their loved one was, a non-religious funeral offers the freedom to create something entirely personal.
What is a non-religious funeral?
A non-religious funeral is a ceremony without religious content — no prayers, no hymns, no scripture, no references to faith or an afterlife. Instead, it is centred entirely on the person who has died: their life, their character, their relationships, the things they cared about and the people they loved.
This does not mean it lacks structure or ceremony. A well-conducted non-religious funeral can be every bit as moving, meaningful and dignified as a religious one — often more so, because every element of it has been chosen specifically for that person rather than drawn from a fixed liturgy.
Humanist funerals
The most common form of non-religious funeral in the UK is the humanist funeral, led by a trained celebrant affiliated with Humanists UK. A humanist celebrant will meet with the family before the service — asking about the person, listening to stories, helping to shape the running order, and drafting the tribute. On the day, they lead the ceremony: introducing it, delivering the tribute, creating the space for family members to speak or read, and guiding the service through to the committal.
Humanist celebrants are trained specifically in this work. They are experienced in the kind of conversations that precede a funeral, and in holding a room — keeping the tone right, moving through the running order with care, and making everyone present feel that the ceremony belongs to the person being remembered.
We have written a more detailed guide to humanist funerals if you would like to understand the format more fully.
Civil funerals
A civil funeral is a similar alternative — a non-religious ceremony led by a civil celebrant rather than one affiliated with a humanist organisation. The practical difference for most families is small: both offer the same fundamental freedom, the same personalised approach, and the same ability to shape the service around the individual rather than around a set format.
Your funeral director will be able to recommend local celebrants of both kinds, and the choice between them is often a matter of who you feel most comfortable working with after an initial conversation.
What a non-religious service can include
Because there is no fixed liturgy, the content is entirely at the family’s discretion. A typical non-religious service might include:
- Music — any music that held meaning for the person. Classical, pop, folk, jazz, or something entirely unexpected. There are no restrictions on what is appropriate.
- A tribute from the celebrant — drawing on what the family has shared, describing the person with specificity and warmth
- Readings — a poem, a passage from a book they loved, something the person had written, words chosen by the family
- Contributions from family and friends — the celebrant can create space for others to speak, read or share a memory
- A slideshow or visual tribute — photographs shown during a period of reflection or quiet music
- The committal — simply and without religious language
The order of service
For a non-religious funeral, the order of service matters more, not less. A religious service has a familiar structure — most people in the room will have been to similar services before and will know broadly what to expect. A non-religious service has none of that pre-existing framework. The order of service is what orients every person in the room: it tells them what is happening, in what order, and who is speaking. It carries the person’s photograph and name on the front. It contains the words to anything the congregation will join in with. It is the document that makes the ceremony legible to everyone present.
It is also the document they take home. A non-religious funeral, by definition, is designed around the individual — and the order of service should reflect that. A photograph chosen with care, a design that says something about who the person was, wording that came from the family rather than a stock template. When the ceremony has been built around the person, the stationery should be too.
Making your wishes known
If you would like a non-religious service for your own eventual funeral, the most important thing is to say so clearly — in writing, to someone you trust, and not only in a will. Wills are frequently not read until after the funeral has taken place, by which point decisions have already been made. A letter of wishes, kept with your will and known about by a family member or close friend, is a more reliable way to ensure your preferences are followed.
Be specific about what you want and, just as importantly, what you do not. “A non-religious service” is a starting point; what music, what readings, who you would like to speak — these are the details that make the difference between a service that feels right and one that merely avoids religion.
You might also find our article on celebration of life funerals useful when thinking through your options.
If you are planning an order of service for a non-religious funeral, we would be glad to help. Call us free on 0800 612 6484 or send us a message.
