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Join us as we bring together four groundbreaking humanist chaplains to discuss their experience being some of the first secular chaplains to work in prisons, hospitals, universities, and the military. This first-of-its-kind event will explore how humanists are...

BY DAVID MERCER • 13 NOVEMBER 2020 - Originally published on TheHumanist.com Editor’s Note: David Mercer, a celebrant endorsed by the American Humanist Association, recently performed a backyard humanist funeral. Because such gatherings are...

Humanists are first and foremost human beings. And like everyone else they might wish to celebrate some of the most important moments of their lives: when a child is born, when children grow from adolescence into adulthood, when they marry the one they love, or when a loved one dies.

For millennia there has been no real alternative for humanists, atheists and non-religious people in general: either you celebrated important life events with a religious ceremony or you would not celebrate it at all. In the best case scenario, a humanist couple could get married in a town hall with a secular state registration, which on average is notoriously neutral and anonymous.

Come discuss how humanist professionals (celebrants, chaplains, invocators, lay leaders) and groups (AHA chapters and affiliates) can work together to support and grow humanism locally. We'll hear from group organizers who also perform ceremonies and invocations, and...