The Family Celebrant

"I believe we need to educate the public to have a Celebrant in mind before it's too late," said Rona Goold, Director of the Australian Celebrants and Celebrations Network (ACCN). "I have established a national support network (ACCN) for celebrants in Australia. My major aim is to assist civil celebrants to educate their own communities about the power of personal ceremony, for them to become the 'Family Celebrant' and thus be there for families when loved ones (or not so loved ones) die."

Celebrants create memorable tributes in funeral services by working personally with the family. But, the number of federally appointed marriage celebrants in Australia has grown over the years and as a result, the lay of the land has changed.

"We have several problems," Goold detailed, "with the massive increase in the number of civil marriage celebrants, many of them are going into funerals. That means there are less funerals to go around and some celebrants are undercutting prices while awaiting appointment or because the 'wedding market has been sliced too thin.' Celebrants average only nine weddings per year, per marriage celebrant, based on statistics. The ex-religious too are moving into 'civil' funerals. Meanwhile, after pioneering civil ceremonies in the 1970s, established independent funeral celebrants are losing referrals from the growing trend of funeral directors now sending their own staff for training and thus controlling the standard of ceremony being offered. The ACCC (Australia's competition watch dog) fined another advocate Celebrant $60,000 for 'price fixing' when he led discussion around raising the funeral celebrant guideline fee, where many celebrants would see he was acting like a unionist or trying to enterprise bargain, which is a type of labour dialogue with management about fees."

With a supportive voice, Goold has played a major role, mostly behind the scenes until now, in trying to advocate for fellow celebrants over the last seven years.

"I have tried to use my independent position, since I resigned from a national association committee, to bring some unity to the training package for Celebrants in Australia," Goold explained. "There have been huge changes in our Australian Civil Marriage Celebrant program, which has been the backbone of work for full-time and part-time civil celebrants. Our celebrant associations are struggling to find a common direction - 19 in all - and lots of anxiety and anger abound. Marriage celebrant numbers have exploded from 1,700 to 5,000+ civil marriage celebrants in 5 years - with little increase in the rate of marriage in Australia. Because of the disunity, I have established this project as a private business. This, too, is a sign of the times where Celebrants are forced to marry money and service - which does not sit very comfortably with many of us, myself included. I see ourselves as self-employed community/family workers. But the truth is that unless we do get sufficient income to cover costs and wages, then in the long run we will not be able to achieve all that we could. I am trying to promote a broader picture of Celebrancy - as 'A Celebrant for All Occasions'.

What Goold is suggesting is also being discussed regularly by Celebrants in the United States and Canada. Independent Funeral Celebrants are being asked to speak at milestone events and birthday parties to share life stories for the living. Many celebrants have resisted the offering, but as funeral homes don't always offer choices to grieving families, independent celebrants must make ends meet as well. Celebrancy is a growing profession in the United States, but it is only a full-time paid position for Funeral Celebrants on staff with an annual salary, not for most independents, who often gain work through funeral home referrals.

Cutting-edge in her ideals and hopes for the future of helping every family, Goold believes in the value of Celebrant services. In fact, she thinks families should not wait for a funeral to celebrate life stories.