Humanist ceremonies
Neither religious ceremonies, nor civil ceremonies, truly reflect my secular worldview... What do I do?
In life we often encounter important social rituals such as weddings, baby naming ceremonies, funerals, that we want to endow with our personal values and beliefs. The traditional religious version doesn’t resonate with many agnostic atheists or other secular wordviews. Those people usually have to choose a civil ceremony – plain option, devoid of any important higher values. Alternative already exists! (In some countries...)
Humanist ceremonies are all about love, not traditionality, and they always put you at the centre of everything. Every wedding, naming, coming of age or funeral is different because each one is built around the person or the people celebrating. We want to represent your values, feelings and experiences. Every humanist ceremony is unique, personal and meaningful.
Czech Humanists have a vision to bring humanist ceremonies to the Czech Republic!
To see how humanist ceremonies look like in other countries, we recommend to check out Humanist Ceremonies by Humanists UK or any other organization, which is part of European Humanist Services Network.
Information about our ceremonies:
We are looking for celebrants
We offer new name ceremonies
Lithuania’s exemplary humanist ceremonies
To illustrate our goals, we talked to our humanist friends from Lithuania where there already is an established humanist organization providing ceremonies – be it weddings, funerals, baby naming ceremonies or memorials.
Laimingas Žmogus (also known as Humanists Lithuania) is a pioneer when it comes to providing ceremonies among humanist organizations. They are also on the forefront of the effort to recognize marriage for all in Lithuania.
In their project “Freedom to Love” they offer free wedding ceremonies for queer couples. These ceremonies might be symbolic, but they are no less meaningful. This has increased visibility of gay and lesbian couples in Lithuanian society, while also giving them encouragement and a beautiful celebration of their love.
Gerda Surgautaitė founded Laimingas Žmogus with her best friend Urtė Žukauskaitė-Zabukė because Urtė wanted a meaningful wedding ceremony, but without religion. After Urtė discovered humanist ceremonies she was very inspired to have one. Gerda helped her by becoming the historically first Lithuanian humanist celebrant and leading the wedding ceremony. Gerda was very kind and shared with us her thoughts on humanist ceremonies, being a humanist celebrant and their organization.
Why do people choose humanist ceremonies? People choose humanist ceremonies because they want something personal, meaningful, and true to who they are, without religious content that doesn’t reflect their beliefs. A humanist ceremony focuses entirely on the people at the heart of it: their story, their values, their relationship with each other and with their loved ones. Whether it’s a wedding, a funeral, or a naming ceremony, each script is created from scratch, so no two ceremonies are the same.
Is there some advantage over just a civil marriage? Yes, in Lithuania, civil marriage ceremonies are usually very short (around 10 minutes), formal, and identical for everyone. A humanist ceremony is personal, unique, and emotionally rich. It can include the couple’s story, personal vows, music, symbolic rituals, humor, and involvement of loved ones. It allows full creative freedom, takes place wherever the couple chooses, and creates a truly meaningful and memorable experience.
What was the general feedback from the couples? The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. Couples often say the ceremony was the most emotional and memorable part of their wedding day. They appreciate how personal, heartfelt, and true to them it felt - many guests even assume we’ve known each other for years!
Full interview is here