Celebrant Foundation and Institute
The Celebrant Foundation & Institute (CFI) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit educational organization dedicated to the education, training and certification of professional secular officiants known as Life-Cycle Celebrants. CFI was founded in 2001 and has headquarters in Montclair, New Jersey.
Professional Life Cycle Celebrants are educated and trained to serve their community. Ceremonies include life's milestones: weddings, commitments, renewal of vows, coming of age, baby welcomings and adoptions, memorials and end of life tributes, retirements, job transitions or any occasion that is important and personal.
Celebrancy is a growing occupation in the United States, Canada and Mexico. In 2007, the Celebrant profession was named by CNN and Money Magazine as the #3 best job for those over 50 and ready for a change. [1]
Life-Cycle Ceremonies: A Handbook for Your Whole Life the book published by the Celebrant Foundation and Institute has received rave reviews. It is available wherever books are sold. http://www.amazon.com/Life-Cycle-Ceremonies-Handbook-Your-Whole/dp/0990440605
Life-cycle Celebrants
Life-cycle Celebrants are professional ceremony officiants who advocate the power and effectiveness of ceremony and ritual to serve basic needs of society and the individual. They collaborate with their clients to create and perform personalized ceremonies that reflect the clients’ beliefs, philosophy of life and personalities; not the Celebrant's.[2]
Professional practice
Life-cycle Celebrants officiate for individuals, couples, families and organizations at virtually every life event, with a focus on custom-made ceremonies to reflect the needs, beliefs and values of people from all walks of life. Specialized ceremonies include occasions such as: weddings, vow renewals, commitments, baby blessings and naming, coming-of-age, rites-of-passage, survivor, seasonal and earth-based rituals, retirements, family reunions, celebrations-of-life, memorials, and funerals.
As a change of career the Foundation offers training to become a professional ritual maker and ceremony specialist. The course studies offer graduates an opportunity to start a natural career and a new business opportunity for many women and men that enjoy writing, public speaking and creating ceremonies for people for all walks of life.
Training
Celebrant students follow an interdisciplinary program focusing on the history and art of celebration, symbolism, rite of passage and world traditions; and the theory and practice of ceremony, rituals and public speaking[3] via distance learning (online) classes taught by the Celebrant Foundation faculty. Following graduation, those trained through the Celebrant Foundation & Institute become certified and earn the title of Life-Cycle Celebrant.
The Celebrant Foundation & Institute offers educational programs taught via Web-based classes. Individuals looking for a change in career either as an independent, full-time, or part-time job have taken courses at the Celebrant Foundation in the pursuit of starting a career as a Certified Life-Cycle Celebrant. The Celebrant Foundation & Institute offers graduates three tracks of study: Weddings and other Ceremonies for Couples, Funerals and other Ceremonies for Healing, Ceremonies for Families and Children. Individuals and societies in North America and Europe have increasingly utilized the services of Celebrants, due to the needs of many diverse cultures, beliefs and backgrounds.[4]