There is a growing trend toward more contemporary services which in many cases are designed for those who describe themselves as spiritual but not religious, or have no organized religious affiliation at all. This service as it is offered at Roney Funeral Home is called a Remembrance Service, which is a completely personalized and unique service for the deceased which incorporates a tribute to the person delivered by Chris Roney, a Licensed Funeral Director and Certified Funeral Celebrant, along with family members and/or friends, which feature music, video tributes and appropriate ceremonies that are professionally written, planned and delivered for each person. These services are completely customized and cannot be used for anyone else. Services may be delivered at the funeral home, graveside, or other location as planned by the family of the deceased. These services can also be offered to supplement a traditional religious service, allowing for additional time for family members and friends to share memories and offer unique elements that are not a part of traditional religious service. These services are available for those families who opt for a viewing with a casket or for cremation as well.

 

The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life released an analytic study today titled, Nones on the Rise, now that one in five Americans (19.6%) claim no religious identity.  This group, called "Nones," is now the nation's second-largest category only to Catholics, and outnumbers the top Protestant denomination, the Southern Baptists. The shift is a significant cultural, religious and even political change. Count former Southern Baptist Chris Dees, 26, in this culture shift. He grew up Baptist in the most religious state in the USA: Mississippi. Today, fueled by young adults like Dees, the Nones have leapt from 15.3% of U.S. adults in 2007, according to Pew studies. One in three (32%) are under age 30 and unlikely to age into claiming a religion, says Pew Forum senior researcher Greg Smith. The new study points out that today's Millennials are more unaffiliated than any young generation ever has been when they were younger.**

 

What is clear is that those who do not have a formal religious affiliation, at the time of the loss of a friend or loved one, need to grieve. There needs to be time to establish the personal and social significance of those we lose, to show one another the power of presence in gathering together, and to celebrate their lives in a meaningful way. The Remembrance Service is built to provide all of these things in a loving tribute.

 

** USA Today “As Protestants Decline, Those with No Religion Gain” Cathy Lynn Grossman October 9, 2012