Funeral Service Times August 2017 May 2019 | Page 15

SOAPBOX: AOIC 15
Soapbox: AOIC
In his regular monthly column, the executive chairman of the Association of Independent
Celebrants (AOIC) Philip Spicksley looks at how our professional world has changed
D
uring my 12-year career as a
celebrant, I have seen many
changes both inside and outside
the profession – from the way in which
funerals are conducted to the obvious
shift towards services now being
performed by celebrants.
The swing towards using celebrants
is understandably concerning for the
church - just recently I was speaking to
a retired Methodist minister, who told
me that his work had drastically reduced
over the last year.
The Church of England’s response to
this shift is to train its own celebrants to
conduct semi-religious funeral services.
Indeed, I am informed that some funeral
directors are now working in partnership
with the church to train celebrants on
the understanding that they will only
promote C of E celebrants. This really
does demonstrate the concerns that the
church has against the onward march of
secular celebrants, who are now taking
the majority of services in some parts of
the country.
www.funeralservicetimes.co.uk
The ever-growing number of
celebrants is of course being helped by
the growing number of groups and pages
on Facebook – the social media platform
that is helping to spread the word.
Generally, the posts from celebrants
are interesting and very helpful to
some, however there are others that
certainly demonstrate how little some
individuals know about the funeral
profession and how inexperienced they
appear to be.
Some of the posts that are placed on
Facebook and other social media sites
do not read all that well. There appears
to be far too much personal detail about
visits made to see clients – along with
concerns about individuals that are
sometimes posted.
This is where professional bodies,
such as the AOIC should step in and offer
guidance and the benefit of experience
– thereby providing a ‘benchmark’. For
example, as Executive Chairman of the
AOIC I have, in the past, found myself
cringing at some of the posts I have come
across on Facebook. In doing so, I have
then telephoned members advising them
to consider their conduct and what they
decide to post.
In my view it is not appropriate to
criticise clients in an open forum, such as
social media – even though some have
clearly been written in frustration, or to
seek advice from other members of the
funeral profession.
I must stress, my comments are not
only about celebrants but about other
funeral professionals also. The bottom
line, in all cases, is that we should
all act in a professional way and not
post anything on Facebook, or indeed
elsewhere, which we would not be
happy reading, should it be posted about
ourselves.
Finally – a reminder! Even if as
Facebook page may be ‘closed’, it is a
fact that nothing is secret on social media
- people cut and paste and share, so
beware!
For more on the AOIC go to
www.independentcelebrants.com
MAY 2019