Farewells that honor a secular life.
Living a secular life in this society is a choice. Not always an easy one. For some, a courageous and painful choice. Sometimes a lonely choice. If this is the choice that your loved one made in life, it is important to honor that choice at the end of life. The Secular Funeral exists to help families create expressions of farewell that communicate who their loved one was and how that life was lived.
About Bruce Ledewitz
Bruce Ledewitz, the founder of The Secular Funeral, is one of America’s foremost authorities on secular life. A retired law professor, he has published several books on the subject and writes a regular column on secular life in America on the OnlySky website.
Through careful listening, Bruce helps families craft the appropriate combination of ceremony and remembrance, joy and sorrow, that acknowledges the significance and meaning of the life that has ended and the sadness that friends and family are feeling. Bruce will officiate at whatever form of farewell the family chooses, from a traditional funeral home and burial to more unconventional expressions. The purpose of The Secular Funeral is to be faithful to the life of your loved one.
Stories From The Secular Funeral
Families that work with Bruce participate in the growing presence of secular life in America. They participate in creating a new kind of civilization: secular civilization.
Bruce will use the stories the family tells about their loved one to create a meaningful portrait of that life. Bruce will then share this story with family and friends in a eulogy and later, without specific identification, will tell that story to the wider world as well. This effort will culminate in a book, Stories From The Secular Funeral, that will help usher in this new secular civilization. When the book is published, each family that Bruce has worked with will receive a copy.
Death Is Natural
We all hope that it comes gracefully, after a long and fulfilling life. That kind of death defines a life that a family can celebrate, however sorrowful we feel. But death often comes at the end of struggle, or unexpectedly, or even violently. Then it is harder to see death as a necessary part of life and the way of the universe.
However it comes, it is death that makes us human. Death is the fate of all of us. We are all already united. We are each a part of the great chain of life. That understanding can help us accept the death of our loved one and begin the process of healing and remembering.
Reach The Secular Funeral
Call or email, and Bruce will respond personally.
bledewitz@gmail.com · thesecularfuneral.com
