Humanist officiant

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A humanist officiant is a person who performs secular celebrancy services for weddings, funerals, child namings, coming of age ceremonies, and other rituals. Some Humanist officiants are ordained members of the Humanist Association of Canada (HAC), the American Humanist Association (AHA), the Society for Humanistic Judaism (SHJ), and the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA).

Humanist officiants often perform alternative and nontraditional ceremonies in places, and under circumstances where mainstream religious clergy will not. Many Humanist officiants perform same-sex weddings and commitment ceremonies. Humanist wedding officiants often perform ceremonies in parks, on beaches, on boats, on hiking trails, in hotels, in banquet halls, in private homes, and many other places. Humanist Officiants may perform secular services for interfaith couples and families, as well.

Laws in each state of the United States vary about who has the right to perform wedding services, but Humanist Celebrants or Officiants are usually categorized as "clergy" and have the same rights and responsibilities as ordained clergy.^[1] In Canada and in the US State of Massachusetts, where same-sex unions are legally recognized, Humanist officiants perform many LGBT weddings.

Outside of the USA, Humanist Officiants can be found in many other countries, including Scotland, where following a June 2005 ruling by the Registrar General, Officiants (or Celebrants) of the Humanist Society of Scotland are permitted to conduct legal wedding ceremonies. Scotland is one of only three countries in the world where Humanist wedding ceremonies are legal, the third being Norway.

Officiants differ from Chaplains in that Officiants serve the unaffiliated public at large, while Chaplains are usually employed by an institution such as the military, a hospital or other health care facility, etc.