Billboard advertisement looks to add more humanist celebrants as ranks continue to grow
For Immediate Release
Contact: Maggie Ardiente, mardiente@americanhumanist.org, 202-238-9088 x116
Kristin Wintermute, Humanist Institute Executive Director, kwintermute@mninter.net, 763-545-8941
(Washington, DC, November 12, 2013) — With an increasing demand for non-religious wedding officiants in the U.S., formal online wedding ceremony training is now available through The Humanist Institute’s Continuum for Humanist Education. The course is available to current humanist celebrants as well as those who are considering becoming one.
The Humanist Institute will fill the growing need for training that has resulted from a steady increase in certified humanist celebrants through the Humanist Society, a group affiliated with the American Humanist Association that has certified celebrants for over 70 years. More courses for additional humanist celebrant services are planned for the future.
In conjunction with the launch of these online training courses, the American Humanist Association is sponsoring a new billboard in Moscow, Idaho, to familiarize the public with the opportunity of becoming a non-religious celebrant through the Humanist Society, which added a streamlined online application system earlier this year. The billboard’s message includes a wedding ceremony image and reads “Join Your Friends In Holy Matrimony,” with the word holy struck out.
“Everyone at The Humanist Institute is excited about offering this new course not only to current humanist celebrants, but to anyone who wants to learn about how to conduct a successful wedding ceremony,” said Humanist Institute Executive Director Kristin Wintermute. “This addition to the other courses offered by the Continuum of Humanist Education is the next step in our ongoing efforts to bring humanist education opportunities to the public.”
The multi-part non-religious wedding course covers areas that include the theoretical understanding of weddings, the role of the celebrant, wedding preparation, what goes into creating vows, different elements of a wedding ceremony, and more.
Details about all the courses offered by The Continuum for Humanist Education can be found at cohe.humanistinstitute.org. More information about the Humanist Institute can be found at humanistinstitute.org and the Humanist Society at humanist-society.org.
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The American Humanist Association (www.americanhumanist.org) advocates for the rights and viewpoints of humanists. Founded in 1941 and headquartered in Washington D.C., its work is extended through more than 175 local chapters and affiliates across the United States.
Humanism is a progressive philosophy of life that, without theism, affirms our responsibility to lead ethical lives of value to self and humanity.