I have just returned home from the funeral of someone who came to a group for the elderly we are involved in.
We went directly to the crem and were loudly greeted in a corridor where there were many signs saying whisper zone by the celebrant as they turned out to be. The celebrant escorted us to the waiting room where there was another cremation taking place right next to it..
The widow plus a handful of people were already in there observing the whisper zone and every time someone new turned up we could hear the loud celebrant greeting them, open the door to the waiting room say there’s (the widows name) then go off to meet and greet the next mourner! The people in the service going on already would have almost certainly heard our party arriving. I felt deeply for them!
Things didn’t get better when the celebrant raced through our service. The Lord’s my shepherd played out and sounded like it had been speeded up, the Lord’s Prayer was delivered so quickly there was no pause for breath. Someone at the back remarked do they have a train to catch!
I know that funerals are critical on timing but honestly I felt that this was not a dignified send off for our loved one at all. We have one chance to say goodbye, it’s really important that we feel that our loved ones had the best send off we could provide rather than bish, bash bosh, and off you trot.
Celebrants do not have to have qualifications in their craft but you’d think there would be a bar to ensure a good standard!
Rant over.
