Former pastor fills role at funeral home
ZELIENOPLE — Reid Moon, a former pastor at the Zelienople Church of Christ, has become a certified funeral celebrant and joined the staff of Boylan-Glenn-Kildoo Funeral Homes, which has added this non-traditional approach to its list of funeral options
Moon attended a three-day workshop in Albany, N.Y., to attain the certification.
Moon joined the funeral home staff in August after 28 years of service at the Zelienople church and 26 years as a school bus driver.
He said, “I believe that God has prepared me for such a time as this. Coming alongside of families who are grieving is an honor and a meaningful extension of the skills, experience and heart that I have for this community.”
Pat Boylan, who owns and operates funeral homes in Butler and Allegheny counties said, “It's an honor that Reid has joined our staff. His specialized training brings an added benefit to the outstanding service that our area's esteemed clergy are already bringing to our community.”
Moon said, “Pat Boylan recognized that more and more people were coming and wanting their loved ones cremated without a service. He recognized that that wasn't healthy.”
Moon said, “There has to be a recognition of the significance of the life of an individual. It's the beginning of a healthy grieving process.”
Moon will also act as the funeral home's liaison with the area pastors.
Boylan said, “Reid in no way will replace the necessity of their important work among us. I believe the time has come for us to serve those families that have no religious preference or practice to help them to heal after a loss.”
“A traditional funeral service is meaningful to those who have a connection to a church. I'm concerned with those that don't” said Moon.
“Cremation without a service is not healthy. People have to deal with their grief. That could be using drugs or alcohol or hoarding,” said Moon.
The funeral celebrant training is a new approach to personalized funerals presented by Doug Manning and Glenda Stansbury of the Insight Institute.
At the end of 2016, they had trained more than 3,000 funeral celebrants throughout the United States and Canada.
A funeral celebrant is a layperson, clergy person or funeral director who has been trained in the specific area of conducting funerals for families who wish to have a personalized and individualized funeral service but may have no clergy or church experience.
“What I offer is a non-faith-based service, a secular funeral service,” said Moon.
“What I will do is when the family comes to the funeral home who is not a churchgoer, I will suggest my services,” he said. “Afterward I will go to their home for two hours to gather information to make a celebration of the deceased's life.”
Funeral celebrants are used widely in New Zealand and Australia. In some cases, civil celebrants, who are licensed by the government in those countries, perform more than 50 percent of the funerals and weddings.
